Setting up the Currency Converter app

Here comes a universal truth: no one likes surprise fees or hidden costs. If your visitors don’t know how much they’re spending, they’re unlikely to make it to the end of the checkout process. Yes, forcing customers to calculate exchange rates is a quick way to lose sales 💔.

The Currency Converter in Vitals provides real-time, automatic currency conversion based on the location of your visitors.

The Currency Converter app in Vitals is one of our flagship apps, and setting it up correctly it's vital for every merchant.

We follow Shopify's recommended best practice not to modify your theme files - so install with total confidence.

To configure the currency converter, you'll first need to prepare your store for currency conversion.

How to prepare your store for currency conversion?

Before using the Currency Converter app, you should edit your store's currency format for the app to function correctly.

You'll first need to access the Settings General section in your Shopify admin - then scroll to the Store Currency section of the page and click on Change formatting.

If your store's default currency is USD, replace the  HTML with currency field with this snippet:

<span class=money>${{amount}} USD</span>

Next, replace the  HTML without currency field with this snippet:

<span class=money>${{amount}}</span>

This would result like the following:

Needless to say, you should adjust the currency symbol and abbreviation to match your store's default currency. If it's EUR, for example, the two snippets should look like this:

<span class=money>€ {{amount}} EUR</span>
<span class=money>€ {{amount}}</span>

How to adjust the currency format to properly distinguish Dollar-based markets

Shopify's best practice when you're selling to various Dollar-based markets (like US ⇒ USD, Canada ⇒ CAD, Australia ⇒ AUD, Hong Kong ⇒ HKD) is to adjust your currency format like below: 

<span class=money>$ {{amount}} USD</span> 

This is for both HTML with currency as well as HTML without currency. Basically, use the currency 3-letter name to make it crystal-clear for your customers in what currency the costs are displayed.

The final result should look like this:

That's it. You've now prepared your store for currency conversion.

You can now add the currencies you want to display in your currency switcher, modify the app's settings as you need them, and you're good to go.

Don't forget to force-refresh your browser to see the changes reflected on your store instantly.

Frequently-asked Questions (FAQs)

Our store currently has multiple currencies enabled. Is this still going to work with the Currency Converter app?

There are some functionalities of the Currency Converter app that will not work if multiple currencies are enabled, as the settings will be overridden by the settings found in Shopify. For a quick comparison of how our Currency Converter app works with stores that only have one enabled currency vs stores that have multiple currencies enabled, you may refer to this article.

How can I tell if the Currency Converter is working or not?

To see if the Currency Converter is properly running on your store, you can open your store in a Chrome incognito window while a VPN is activated and a different location (country) is set.

You can find more details here: Checking Location-Based Features.

Can I set the exchange rate manually?

For our currency converter app, we use fixed conversion rates the same as Shopify is using.

So changing the rates cannot be done.

I changed my default currency, and the converter doesn't work anymore.

When you change the store currency, the currency format is also removed, and you need to create it again. To do this, follow the steps listed in your admin account for preparing the store for conversion above. 

Why isn't the Currency Converter working?

The app may not work if you have or had another Currency Converter app installed. Usually, extra code is left behind, even after that other app's uninstallation, which leads to conflicts. Both scripts, ours and the ones in your theme are consecutively adjusting the prices in some cases.

Until that code is removed, no currency converter will be able to function correctly. You can either start with a clean version of the theme or ask a developer to look into this. Starting clean is, in most cases, much better. We always advise our clients to have a backup of their theme before starting to install apps. This way, you can easily roll back to a good version if things go south.

You can also contact us to look into this for more details.

Can I have more Currency Converter apps installed at the same time?

Having more than one currency converter app on your store can cause many conflicts, and none of your apps will properly function. The conflicts are due to both scripts, ours and the one in your theme, consecutively adjusting the prices.

Many apps also leave code behind that alters your theme, which may also cause other apps to malfunction. Make sure your code is clean before installing the app.

Why are prices not converted during checkout?

Only stores using Shopify Payments can allow their customers a checkout experience in their local currency. This feature is called Selling in Multiple Currencies, and Shopify provides it.

The Currency Converter in Vitals was actually the first to integrate with and extend to Shopify's Multi-Currency. The Currency Converter in Vitals can continue to convert prices for currencies that are not eligible or not activated to Multi-Currency and will use its geo-location feature to redirect the visitor to an enabled currency, a feature that's only available for Shopify Plus plans.

However, Shopify only allows customers to checkout in their local currency if they pay by card, via Shopify Payments:

Only Shopify Payments can process payments in a customer's local (presentment) currency. If your customer chooses a payment option from a different payment provider, then their payment is made in the currency of your store.

Read more about it here: Currency conversions and risk.\

How can the currency switcher's position be adjusted?

You can do this using the position settings available here (rmember that you'll need to be logged into your account for this type of link to work).

If you consider placing the app in your header/menu, unfortunately, we don't provide an out-of-the-box placement yet. But don't worry, this is where our support team comes in. Just contact us, and we will be able to make this customization.

Another option is that you can contact your theme developer, who may be able to help you with this custom integration by injecting our HTML snippet of the Currency Converter app below:

<div id="vitals-currency_converter"></div>

Why are prices not being rounded?

The prices will not be rounded by our Round prices setting if you use the multi-currency feature from Shopify payments.

When using Shopify multi-currency, Shopify is handling the conversion and format of the prices. Because of this, no converter can round the prices, as Shopify is in complete control when it comes to the supported currencies from Shopify payments, and the rounding rules cannot be changed.

You can find more info about the rounding rules here.