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A Shopify store for Kuwait: payments, cash on delivery and delivery

A guide to a Shopify store for Kuwait: payment options without Shopify Payments, a decision list for cash on delivery, the Kuwait checkout address and the tax questions to ask first.

ESTASOFT
11 min read
Cover image for a guide to a Shopify store for Kuwait, listing payment methods, cash on delivery, address and courier, and questions to ask.
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      Three choices shape a Shopify store for Kuwait. How will customers pay? Will you accept cash on delivery, and who handles the cash? And how will the courier find the door? Shopify's own pages answer part of this. For the rest, the honest answer is a question for an adviser, a payment provider or a courier.

      This guide uses pages we opened on 3 November 2026. We could not open Kuwait's tax, customs or ministry pages, so it does not state Kuwait's rules and writes those parts as questions. We have offices in Dubai, Erbil and London, not in Kuwait, so this is research from public pages and not local experience.

      Tax, customs and licensing: what the sources do and do not say

      Kuwait is a GCC member. PwC's Qatar tax summary, last reviewed on 17 September 2026, says the GCC states signed a common VAT framework and that Saudi Arabia and the UAE implemented VAT in January 2018, Bahrain in January 2019 and Oman in April 2021. It does not say Kuwait has introduced VAT. Baker Tilly Kuwait, an audit firm, says on an undated page that VAT has not been implemented in Kuwait and that no official date is set. A Fiscal Solutions news article dated 27 July 2026 says the same of Kuwait. These are secondary sources, not Kuwaiti authority pages, so do not build on them.

      Put these questions to a Kuwait-qualified adviser or the relevant authority before launch:

      • Is VAT charged on online sales in Kuwait today, and has any start date been announced?
      • Do other taxes or fees apply to an online store, or to payments from abroad?
      • Does an online store need a commercial licence or registration, and what must its website show?
      • For parcels from abroad, what duty applies, who pays it, and what paperwork does the courier need? Do not assume another GCC country's figures apply.
      • Which products are restricted or need approval before sale?

      Shopify's tax page says tax is your responsibility. It lets you set manual tax rates in most countries and advises checking with a local tax authority or an accountant. Ask your developer to keep your tax settings easy to change.

      Payments: Shopify Payments is not on offer in Kuwait

      Shopify Payments is for businesses located in the 41 countries on Shopify's list. Kuwait is not one of them. A store with a Kuwait address uses a third-party provider. Shopify says the provider list in your admin is filtered by your store address, and that appearing on its payment gateways page does not guarantee access. Its pricing page lists a transaction fee by plan for orders paid through an outside provider, so read the rate for your country on the day you buy.

      The pages we opened name these methods and limits. They are vendor pages, and we name providers as examples, not recommendations:

      • KNET. PayTabs' Shopify plugin page, last modified on 30 January 2024, groups credit cards and KNET, shown as KN Pay, under Kuwait. MyFatoorah's Shopify App Store listing also names KNET among its local methods. The listing says the app is free, supports Arabic and English, and serves merchants in the local GCC market and Egypt.
      • Apple Pay. Apple lists Kuwait among supported places (page published 27 October 2026). The PayTabs page says its Shopify plugin does not support Apple Pay because of Shopify's rules for payment apps. Shopify says Apple Pay needs a provider that supports it, so ask each provider.
      • Instalments. Tabby's Shopify page names only Saudi Arabia and the UAE as markets. Do not assume instalment cover for Kuwait.

      Ask every provider the same questions:

      • Which methods will a Kuwait shopper see, and in which currency do you charge and settle?
      • Which documents do you need from a business in Kuwait, and how long does approval take?
      • What are the fees, the settlement timing and the refund process?
      • Is your checkout in Arabic, and does it work with Shopify's checkout and Apple Pay?

      Connecting a provider is checkout work for whoever builds your eCommerce store.

      Currency: choose it before you add products

      Shopify's market pricing page says only Shopify Payments and Adyen support selling in local currencies. Orders through other providers are processed in the store's default currency. A Kuwait store using a local provider should therefore expect to sell in one currency. Shopify's API lists the Kuwaiti dinar as a valid currency code, but that does not show that your provider can settle in dinars. Ask it.

      Set the currency before you load the catalogue. Shopify's page on changing store currency says product prices keep the same number in the new currency, so 20 USD becomes 20 CAD. It also says shipping rates are not updated and gift cards with a balance in the old currency stop working. Place a test order and check every price, shipping line and receipt, including fractions of a dinar.

      Cash on delivery: a decision list

      Shopify treats cash on delivery as a manual payment method. Its page says such orders show as unpaid until you mark them paid, and the payment instructions you write appear on the order confirmation page. It also says you are not charged third-party transaction fees on manual payments, and that multi-currency manual payments need Shopify Payments. Shopify Payments is not listed for Kuwait, so plan on one currency.

      Shopify provides the mechanism. The rules are yours. Decide each point before launch:

      1. Who may use it. Everyone, some areas, or orders below a value you set? Shopify's pages give no refusal rate, so set limits from your own order history and your courier's advice.
      2. Phone number. Shopify lets you set the shipping address phone number to required and says to do so when a carrier needs it. For cash orders, require it.
      3. Who collects the cash. Ask the courier how and when cash reaches you, what it charges and what proof you get.
      4. Refused or failed deliveries. Decide who pays the return trip. In Shopify, cancelling an order restocks inventory and notifies the customer by default. You can switch both off.
      5. Marking orders paid. Mark an order paid when the courier confirms the cash, and match the courier's statement to your orders every week.
      6. Customer message. Write the rules in the payment instructions and on the returns page, in Arabic and English.

      Our guide to selling online in Iraq also covers cash on delivery, for another market.

      Delivery and the Kuwait address

      Kuwait has its own address fields in Shopify checkout. Shopify's address page says regional address components change the shipping and billing form to match local formats, and that they show only for Brazil, Kuwait, Panama, Peru and the Philippines. For Kuwait the page's table shows a district field, labelled Block, and an additional information field, labelled Apartment, suite, etc. It shows no street name or building number for Kuwait. The page says you cannot change which of these fields are included or whether they are required. They do not show with some accelerated checkouts, such as Apple Pay, which use standard address fields. Place one test order by card and one with Apple Pay, and ask your courier whether both carry enough detail to deliver.

      On shipping rates, Shopify offers flat rates, free shipping and carrier-calculated rates. Its page names UPS, FedEx and USPS for connecting your own carrier accounts and does not describe couriers in Kuwait, so ask yours how rates and orders will be handled. Put these questions to any courier:

      • Which areas do you cover, and what delivery times do you quote?
      • How do my orders reach you: an app, an API, a file or manual entry?
      • How is cash handled, and when does it reach me?
      • What happens with refused parcels, returns and exchanges, and what do they cost?
      • Do you give tracking and proof of delivery?
      • What paperwork do you need if I ship stock from abroad?

      Arabic

      Shopify's language page lists Arabic among the languages with translations for checkout and the default content of Shopify themes. It says the newest Horizon-family themes support right-to-left languages such as Arabic, and advises you to confirm right-to-left support for any other theme. Our guide to Arabic and English on one store covers the build. For the wider region, read selling across the GCC from one store.

      A launch checklist

      1. Ask an adviser the tax, customs and licence questions above.
      2. Send each payment provider the same question list.
      3. Set the store currency before you add products.
      4. Decide your cash on delivery rules and write them for customers.
      5. Agree terms with the courier, including cash, returns and how orders reach them.
      6. Test addresses with a card and with Apple Pay.
      7. Review the Arabic store on a phone, including emails.
      8. Place test orders: one by card, one with cash on delivery and one refused delivery.

      This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Check the current rules or ask a qualified adviser before you decide.

      ESTASOFT can help plan and build the store through its eCommerce service. Send a short brief on the contact page. If you are comparing markets, read our guide to a Shopify store for Qatar too.

      Sources

      Written by
      ESTASOFT

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