Frequently asked questions
Do I need Shopify Plus?
No. The sync, the theme blocks and the checkout enforcement all work on every Shopify plan. Checkout enforcement uses Shopify Functions through a checkout validation, which Shopify makes available to all plans; it is order routing customisation that is Plus-only, and Region Lock does not need it.
Does it work with my theme?
The two storefront blocks need an Online Store 2.0 theme whose product template accepts app blocks, which covers most current themes. You add them in the theme editor next to your buy buttons. Checkout enforcement works regardless of theme, because it runs inside Shopify’s checkout.
What does the buyer see when their region is out of stock?
The Add to Cart button is disabled and reads “Out of stock in your region”, with a second button underneath: “order anyway, ships from another region”. Clicking the second button adds the item with a line property recording the choice. If every region is out, the buyer just sees your theme’s normal sold-out state.
Can a buyer get around the gate?
The storefront gate is a product-page UI, so paths that skip the product page, express checkout buttons elsewhere, shared cart permalinks, other sales channels, do not see it. That is what hard mode is for: a checkout validation that blocks any gated line without the consent property, whatever path it arrived by. In soft mode the gate is advice only, by design.
Does the app change my inventory or my prices?
Never. It has no write access to inventory and does not touch prices, markets or routing. It reads per-location stock and writes it to metafields on your own variants, and that is the whole of what it changes in your catalogue.
What happens when stock changes?
Shopify sends the app an inventory webhook, and the affected variant’s regional numbers are recomputed within seconds. A full backfill of the whole catalogue can be run from the app at any time, and runs automatically after you change the location mapping.
A region has no warehouse. What happens?
A region with no mapped location is never gated: its buyers see your store exactly as they do today. The gate only ever appears where you have told the app a region’s stock actually lives.
Does it slow my storefront down?
No. The storefront reads metafields that are already on your products; there are no calls to the app from the product page. The blocks are small Liquid plus a few kilobytes of script.
What happens if I uninstall?
Gating stops immediately, because the app’s discount on your attention is only metafields: your theme blocks disappear with the app, and the checkout validation is removed. Leftover metafield values stay on your variants as plain data until you remove them or reinstall.
Does it work with bundles apps?
The gate reads per-variant stock, so a bundle product that tracks its own inventory gates like any other product. Offers built from several products (complete-set apps and similar) need each component in regional stock; surfacing that signal to bundle apps is on the roadmap.