Did you know the average e-commerce bounce rate hovers around 47%? That number is roughly double for international visitors when they land on a store that doesn't speak their language or show the right prices. A poor localized experience (which includes wrong currency, missing language options, or limited payment methods) doesn’t just frustrate buyers. It drives them straight to the back button.
What’s pushing your customers away
Several common issues send global customers packing before checkout:
- Faulty redirects that send them to the wrong region or language.
- No clear selector for country or language, leaving them unsure how to proceed.
- Late price conversions, often only visible at checkout, creating sticker shock.
- Lack of clarity around shipping costs and delivery options.
These problems gradually reduce trust, making customers feel uncertain about whether your store is reliable. Instead of focusing on your products, they become distracted by doubts about pricing, availability, or even whether the store can deliver to their location.
That sense of friction pulls attention away from the purchase itself and leaves international shoppers feeling the experience just isn’t built for them.
The result is lost revenue and missed opportunities that could have been avoided with a smoother, more localized experience.
The hidden cost
When the shopping experience feels broken, the damage goes far beyond a single lost sale. For international customers, the effects can be even more pronounced, reshaping how they perceive your brand and whether they’ll ever try to buy from you again.
- Loss of trust and cart abandonment: when shoppers encounter unexpected language barriers, sudden currency changes, or unclear shipping details, their trust in the store starts to fade. Instead of feeling welcomed, they begin to wonder if the shop is even meant for them. That doubt leads directly to abandoned carts, and often to customers leaving with the impression that the brand isn’t reliable or prepared to serve their market.
- Support overload from price surprises: another recurring issue comes at checkout: customers who have spent time browsing and filling their cart suddenly see the price jump when they select their country. Extra costs, new taxes, or last-minute shipping fees feel like a bait-and-switch, and the frustration spills over to your support channels. These are preventable interactions that not only slow down your team but also leave customers with a negative experience of your brand.
How to fix the experience with Orbe
Recovering international sales doesn’t require reinventing your store; it’s about removing friction and making the journey feel effortless from the very first click. With the right setup, you can turn confusion into clarity and hesitation into trust. That’s exactly what Orbe allows you to do:
- Detect location from the first visit: instead of leaving customers guessing, automatically recognize their location as soon as they land. This way, they’re greeted with the right storefront, in the right language, with prices already adjusted to their currency. That first impression sets the tone: the store feels prepared for them.
- Provide a clear and visible selector: automatic detection is helpful, but customers still want control. A prominent country and language selector reassures them that they can easily switch if needed. It removes uncertainty and signals transparency, which builds trust.
- Adapt currency and pricing immediately: shoppers shouldn’t discover their real price only at checkout. Displaying accurate currency and payment options from the very beginning prevents sticker shock, reduces drop-offs, and makes the buying process feel straightforward.
- Show shipping options upfront: don’t wait until the last step to reveal whether you deliver to their country or how much it will cost. Displaying this information early avoids disappointment and sets clear expectations, ensuring buyers don’t waste time filling a cart only to discover they can’t complete their order.
- Maintain SEO and attribution integrity: proper redirection preserves UTM parameters and SEO value, ensuring that marketing efforts aren’t lost and search rankings remain unaffected. This way, the customer journey improves without breaking tracking or visibility.
Orbe makes this entire process seamless. With its geolocation popup, Shopify stores can automatically detect location, display the right currency and language, and set clear shipping rules. The result is a localized experience that feels natural and consistent (and leads directly to higher international conversions).
Turning experience into growth
International customers need to feel understood and guided, not confused. A localized experience builds trust, reduces abandonment, and boosts your chances of turning first-time visitors into loyal buyers. Orbe helps you remove all those barriers so that your customers can simply enjoy buying from you, wherever they are in the world.
If you’re ready to unlock that potential, here’s a little extra push: get 30% off any Orbe paid plan. Just click the link and you’ll be taken straight to the plans page with the discount already applied.
With Orbe, Shopify stores can automatically connect multiple regional storefronts and present the right version of the store to every shopper. From detecting location and adapting language to showing accurate prices, payment methods, and shipping options upfront, Orbe makes the international buying journey seamless. The result is fewer abandoned carts, happier customers, and more sales across all your markets.