Checkout address fields for the Gulf: phone, landmarks, address line 2

For Gulf deliveries, go to Settings > Checkout in your Shopify admin and set Shipping address phone number to Required if your courier calls before delivering. Keep Address line 2 on Optional, and set Company name to Don't include unless you sell to businesses. Shopify's checkout has no landmark field in any GCC country, so ask for landmarks in a cart note or your confirmation message.

Which checkout settings matter for Gulf deliveries?

All of these are in Settings > Checkout, in the customer contact and customer information options. Shopify says changes can take up to 30 seconds to show on your checkout.

These are starting points. Change them if your courier or customers need something different. One reason to avoid Required for company name: Shopify says customers who pay with Apple Pay or Google Pay then have to type a company name when their wallet doesn't include one.

Should the phone number be required?

For COD, usually yes. A courier may need to call to find the building or agree a delivery time, and without a number that call can't happen.

Shopify's settings work like this:

• Customer contact method decides how the shopper identifies themselves: Phone number or email, or Email only. Email is the default on new stores. Shopify says there is no option to require both an email address and a phone number as the contact method. If you require customers to sign in, they can only check out with an email address.
• Shipping address phone number is the phone field inside the shipping address. It is Optional by default on new stores, so the field shows but doesn't block checkout. Shopify suggests Required when your payment provider or shipping carrier needs the number.

So to be sure you get a phone number on every order that ships, set Shipping address phone number to Required. Shopify notes this only applies when checkout has a shipping address step, which happens when at least one item in the cart needs shipping.

Shopify's address data lists each Gulf country's calling code: +971 (UAE), +966 (Saudi Arabia), +965 (Kuwait), +974 (Qatar), +973 (Bahrain) and +968 (Oman).

What is address line 2 for?

Shopify says the Address line 2 (apartment, unit, etc.) field should only be used for the apartment or unit number. It warns that setting it to Required or Don't include can stop some customers from buying, depending on their type of home.

That fits the Gulf well. A villa may have no unit number, while a flat in a tower needs one. Optional lets both through. Ask for the building number and name in the first address line. Shopify's address data marks the UAE as a country where an address needs a building number.

What does Shopify's checkout ask for in each GCC country?

Shopify publishes its address data, including the regions its checkout asks for, in its open-source worldwide project. Here is what the data shows for each Gulf country:

Every format also has the name, company, two address lines and a phone field. Three points follow from this:

• Don't depend on postcodes. They are missing in the UAE and Qatar and optional elsewhere, so you can't count on having one.
• Regions exist only in the UAE and Kuwait. In the other four countries, the city is the only area the form records. Rules based on location have to use city names there.
• A neighbourhood field may appear. Shopify's data also describes a more detailed layout for the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, with a separate neighbourhood or district field marked as required. Shopify's checkout help says some regional fields, such as Neighborhood, are required in certain countries and that you can't change this. Whether your checkout shows that layout is Shopify's choice, so place a test order with a Gulf address and look.

Khaleeji COD follows the same data: it offers emirate rules for the UAE and city rules (in English or Arabic) for every Gulf country. See how to limit COD by emirate, region or city.

Where can shoppers add a landmark?

Shopify's checkout has no landmark field, and address line 2 is meant only for the unit number. You have three places to collect landmarks and delivery notes:

1. The cart note. Shopify says order notes let you collect special instructions about how to prepare and deliver an order, and any free Shopify theme can show one on the cart page. In the theme editor, choose Cart, click Sections, click Subtotal under Template, check Enable cart note and save. Label it clearly, for example "Landmark and delivery notes". Shoppers who skip the cart page won't see it.
2. Your confirmation message. Ask for a landmark or a map pin when you confirm the COD order by phone, SMS or WhatsApp. A reply also tells you the shopper is expecting the parcel.
3. A checkout field (Shopify Plus only). A checkout UI extension can add a field to the shipping step. Shopify says extensions for the information, shipping and payment steps are available only to Shopify Plus stores.

UAE and Saudi address systems can replace a vague landmark with something exact. See better UAE addresses: landmarks, Makani numbers and delivery notes and Saudi National Address and fewer failed deliveries.

How do you check your settings work?

1. Save your settings and wait about 30 seconds.
2. Open your store, add a product that needs shipping, and go to checkout.
3. Choose a Gulf country and fill in the form. Check that the phone field is required and that address line 2 is optional.
4. Repeat with a second Gulf country you ship to, because the fields change with the country.
5. If you offer an Arabic checkout, check the labels there too.

Good address data is only one part of fewer failed COD deliveries. For the full checklist, see ways to cut COD refusals before the order is placed.