A sale that reads clearly in English can fall flat, or mislead, in another language. Promotional copy is short, idiomatic and full of numbers and deadlines, which makes it harder to translate than a product description. This guide covers what to translate for a sale, what to adapt instead of translating word for word, and how to check it before launch.
List everything the sale touches
Sale copy is scattered across the store, and the pieces that get missed are the ones added at the last minute. Make a list before you translate anything, so a shopper does not move from a translated banner to an English cart message.
- Storefront: Announcement bar, homepage banner, collection titles and badges
- Product pages: Sale labels and any offer text in descriptions
- Checkout and emails: Shopify shows checkout and email notifications in the customer's language once that language is published, so check any custom text you added
- Policies: Return and shipping terms that change for the sale
- Search listings: SEO titles and descriptions that mention the offer
Adapt, do not just translate
Some parts of a promotion are cultural, not linguistic. Black Friday is widely recognised, but not everywhere, and other seasonal events vary by country. Wordplay and urgency phrases rarely survive a literal translation.
| Element | What to check |
|---|---|
| Event name | Whether shoppers in that market use the English name or a local one |
| Slogans and puns | Rewrite the idea in plain terms instead of translating the joke |
| Urgency phrases | Use the tone that is normal for retail in that market |
| Formality | Keep the same form of address as the rest of your store |
Get the numbers and dates right
A mistranslated headline is embarrassing. A wrong price or deadline is a broken promise. Check every figure separately from the words around it.
- Discounts: Percent signs and number formats differ between languages
- Currency: Thresholds such as "free shipping over" should match the currency the shopper pays in
- Dates: Write the month as a word, since day and month order varies
- Deadlines: State the time zone for start and end times
- Shipping cut-offs: These differ by destination, so do not copy your domestic date
Keep the terms consistent and legal
Offer terms need to mean the same thing in every language. Decide how key terms are translated once, and reuse them. A translation glossary is the simplest way to do that.
- ✅ One agreed translation for "final sale", "store credit" and "exchange"
- ✅ Discount codes left exactly as typed
- ✅ Translated policy pages updated with the sale terms
- ❌ Do not leave exclusions in English only
Rules on how discounts and reference prices are advertised vary by country, so check the requirements where you sell.
Review before launch and tidy up after
Sale copy is usually written late, which is when translations get skipped. Build in time for a fluent reader to check each language on the live storefront, on mobile as well as desktop. See machine translation vs a human translator for where review matters most, and keeping translations in sync for removing sale text in every language when the sale ends.
Doing this at scale
LinguaFlow drafts AI translations for each language you add and applies your brand glossary and tone rules. You review and edit before publishing, and it publishes through Shopify's native Translations API with no theme edits. An audit log with rollback records each change. See LinguaFlow.