The Arabic RTL Ecommerce Checklist Most Iraqi Stores Get Wrong

The Arabic RTL ecommerce checklist most stores get wrong

Machine-flipping a design from LTR to RTL is not the same as designing for Arabic. Here's what we check on every Mesopo build.

Layout and direction

• Directional icons (arrows, chevrons, back buttons) must flip — a "next" arrow pointing left in Arabic reads as "back"
• Number formatting: prices and phone numbers usually stay LTR inside an RTL page — mixing this up confuses IQD pricing
• Form field alignment and label position

Checkout-specific issues

• Payment gateway widgets (FIB, FastPay, Zain Cash) often ship LTR-only — test each one inside your actual RTL checkout, don't assume
• Address forms need Arabic-first city/neighborhood naming, not just translated labels
• Order confirmation and WhatsApp messages should match the site's language, not default to English

Typography

• Real Arabic web fonts with proper line-height — Latin fonts substituted for Arabic text render badly
• Bidi text (Arabic mixed with English brand names or SKUs) needs explicit direction handling, not left to the browser to guess

Testing

• Test on real Android devices common in Iraq, not just desktop Chrome
• Have a native Arabic speaker review the live site, not just the design file

How Mesopo handles this

RTL isn't an afterthought in our ecommerce and web development builds — it's part of the base design system. See our ecommerce launch checklist for Erbil for the full pre-launch list.

Get your store reviewed before launch.