If you are selling internationally on Shopify, you already know that the "unboxing experience" is the most important physical touchpoint with your brand. But there is a common friction point: shipping a package to a customer in Germany or Japan with a packing slip printed only in English.
Localized shipping documents are no longer just a "nice-to-have", they are essential for building global brand trust, ensuring customs clarity, and reducing customer support inquiries. However, Shopify’s default templates don’t make it easy to switch languages on the fly.
In this guide, we’ll show you how to use Order Printer Pro to fully automate your multilingual packing slips and invoices, providing a local experience to every customer, anywhere in the world.
Why Your Global Store Needs Multilingual Packing Slips
When a customer receives a document in their native language, it solves three critical business problems:
- Eliminates Confusion: Customers can immediately verify their items, sizes, and quantities without using a translation tool.
- Reduces Support Tickets: Clear, localized information about partial shipments or backordered items prevents anxious "Where is my stuff?" emails.
- Speeds Up Customs: While you need a commercial invoice for officials, a localized packing slip helps the recipient understand the contents and any tax/VAT breakdowns clearly.
The Problem: Shopify’s Single-Language Limitation
The standard Shopify admin allows you to edit your packing slip template, but it’s a "one-size-fits-all" solution. If you translate it into French, your American customers will receive French slips. To solve this, merchants often resort to manually editing code for every order, a process that is impossible to scale as you grow.
The Solution: Automating Translations with Order Printer Pro
Order Printer Pro was built to solve the complexities of international fulfillment. It goes beyond simple printing by adding an "intelligence" layer to your documents.
1. Smart Language Detection
Order Printer Pro identifies the language your customer used during checkout. If a customer placed an order through your Spanish-language Shopify Market, the app can automatically select and print the Spanish version of your packing slip.
2. 20+ Professionally Translated Templates
You don’t need to hire a translator or copy-paste into Google Translate. Order Printer Pro comes with high-quality, pre-translated templates in over 20 languages, including French, German, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, and Japanese. These templates are compliant with international standards right out of the box.
3. Multi-Currency Accuracy
International customers want to see the price they actually paid. The app pulls the exact currency used at checkout, ensuring the invoice or packing slip matches the customer's credit card statement perfectly, even if your store's base currency is different.
4. International Tax & VAT Compliance
Selling in the EU or UK? Order Printer Pro allows you to include essential international fields like VAT numbers, EORI numbers, and HS codes. You can even set up different templates for different countries to ensure you meet local tax legalities automatically.
Advanced Pro Tip: The "Digital-First" Strategy
Printing costs and paper waste add up, especially with high-volume global shipping. With the Automated PDF Pro extension, you can automatically send a localized PDF link in your Shopify shipping confirmation emails. Your customer gets a digital packing slip in their language the second the label is scanned.
Best Practices for Global Fulfillment
- Use Universal Visuals: Including product images helps bridge the gap when languages differ. It allows the customer to verify the item visually regardless of the text.
- Show Only What’s in the Box: For international split-shipments, use Order Printer Pro’s "Partial Fulfillment" feature to ensure the packing slip only lists the items inside that specific package.
- Localized Return Instructions: Clearly state your international return policy in the customer's language to reduce the perceived risk of buying from an overseas brand.
Scale Your Global Brand
International expansion is about more than just shipping, it’s about the customer experience. By automating your multilingual packing slips, you remove the "foreign" feel of the transaction and replace it with professional, localized service.
Stop fighting with code and manual translations. Deliver a better experience and save hours of fulfillment time every week.
Ready to go global? Install Order Printer Pro on Shopify.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I translate my Shopify packing slips into different languages?
The standard Shopify admin only allows for one active packing slip template. To provide slips in multiple languages, you can use Order Printer Pro. The app automatically detects the customer’s checkout language and selects the correctly translated template for you.
Can I print packing slips in the customer's local currency?
Yes. Order Printer Pro pulls the exact currency used by the customer at checkout via Shopify Markets. This ensures that the prices on the packing slip match their bank statement, which is essential for reducing customer confusion and price-related support tickets.
Do I need to manually translate my invoices for international orders?
No. Order Printer Pro comes with professionally translated templates in over 20 languages (including French, German, Spanish, and Japanese). You simply enable the languages you need, and the app handles the translations automatically for every order.
How do I show VAT or Tax IDs on international Shopify invoices?
Different countries have different tax requirements. With Order Printer Pro, you can set up country-specific rules so that VAT or EORI numbers only appear on orders shipping to the UK or EU, keeping your domestic documents clean and your international ones compliant.
Is it possible to send digital packing slips in different languages?
Yes. By using the Automated PDF Pro extension with Order Printer Pro, you can include a "Download PDF" link in your Shopify shipping emails. The link will automatically generate a PDF invoice or packing slip in the customer’s preferred language.
