You have picked Zid, opened an account, and now face a dashboard full of settings. This guide takes you through a Zid store setup in the order that avoids rework: the documents to have ready, the settings to complete first, an Arabic and English catalogue, VAT, payments, shipping, your domain and the test orders to place before launch. It is written for English-speaking owners and bilingual teams in Saudi Arabia, and every menu we mention was checked in Zid's help centre in October 2026.
In short:
- Prepare documents first. Online payments are approved against your freelance document or commercial registration, ID, bank account and national address, and the names must match.
- Switching on English does not translate anything. Every product, option and policy must be written again in English.
- Set VAT before you enter prices, so you know whether each price includes the 15%.
- Connect your own domain before applying for Business platform authentication; Zid says the default address cannot be authenticated.
In this guide
What to prepare before your Zid store setup
Most delays in a new Zid store have nothing to do with design. They come from paperwork that does not line up: a bank account in a slightly different name, a registration whose activity does not cover the products, or an unreadable scan. Zid's help centre lists what its payment partner needs before approving online payments:
| You sell as | Documents Zid asks for | What usually trips people up |
|---|---|---|
| Individual | Freelance document, national ID, commercial bank account linked to the document, national address certificate | The document's activity must match what you sell; the account holder must be the document holder |
| Establishment | Commercial registration (CR), national ID, commercial bank account, national address certificate | The CR must be valid for at least two more months; the account name must match the CR |
| Company | CR, IDs of all owners, articles of association, commercial bank account, national address certificate; investment licence for foreign companies | Owners' IDs must match the articles; the bank certificate must show the beneficiary name in English |
If some products fall outside your CR's activity, Zid says to add the sub-activity through the Ministry of Commerce before applying. Download the bank certificate from your bank's app; it needs the bank's stamp or a barcode.
If you are a foreign resident or your company is registered abroad, settle the legal route before you build. The freelance document is issued through the government freelance platform and needs an Absher account, and Zid lists an investment licence for foreign companies. A store you cannot take card payments on helps nobody.
Decisions to make on paper first
- The store name in Arabic and English.
- Whether you are VAT-registered, and whether you will type prices with or without VAT.
- Where you ship from, which cities you deliver to, and whether you accept cash on delivery.
- A domain name registered in your business's name.
- A product spreadsheet with names in both languages, prices, stock and options.
- Return, privacy and shipping policies in both languages; our Saudi website legal requirements guide explains what they should cover.
Zid store setup step by step
After you subscribe, the dashboard shows a checklist: official papers, products, store link, theme, shipping and payment. The order below saves you from entering products twice or repricing later. Zid's help centre is in Arabic, so menu names here are our English renderings; your dashboard may word them differently.
1. Sign up and choose a plan
Register with an email or Google account, verify your email and mobile number, then answer a few questions: store name, business field, where you sell from and business type. Zid lists a free entry plan, while custom domain linking and advanced payment methods appear on paid plans, so read Zid's plan comparison before you commit.
2. Complete store details and documents
In Settings › Store › Store details, check the name, link and email. Zid shows your email, phone and CR number in the store footer. Under business details, choose individual, establishment, company or charity and upload up to five documents (JPG or PNG, up to 8 MB each), then add your commercial address.
3. Switch on English
In Settings › Languages and currencies, enable English before adding products, so the English fields are there as you work. Keep the riyal as the base currency; Zid notes that with its own payments, customers pay in the base currency even when prices are displayed in another.
4. Set VAT
Answer the VAT questions in Settings › Tax settings now; they decide what every price in your spreadsheet means. Details are in the VAT section below.
5. Set your identity and theme
Under Online store › Store identity, set your colours by hex code, upload Arabic and English logos and a browser icon, and replace the default copyright line in both languages. In Online store › Themes, themes with the enhanced interface let you edit the header, desktop and mobile logos, an announcement bar, page sections, footer links, fonts and colours, with a preview and a change history before you publish. Login, registration and checkout pages are not customised this way.
6. Add products and categories
Create sizes and colours once in Products › Options library, then add products from Products › Create and assign their categories, or import a spreadsheet.
7. Turn on shipping and payments
Shipping sits under Logistics, online payments under Payments. Payments need at least one published product before you can apply.
8. Publish legal pages and tune checkout
Settings › Store › Legal pages holds the privacy policy, terms, exchange and return policy, complaints page and licences, each editable in Arabic and English. Settings › Checkout page settings controls guest checkout, Apple Pay quick purchase, sign-in by SMS, email or WhatsApp, customer notes and a one-page checkout.
9. Connect the domain, authenticate, test
Link your domain, authenticate the store on the Business platform with a DNS record, then run test orders. Both are covered below.
Product pages in Arabic and English
The key fact about a bilingual Zid store: enabling English is not a translation feature. Zid's help centre says you must write product details and pages such as the about page and return policy again in English. Skip a field and English visitors see gaps or Arabic text. Here is one illustrative product with every field filled in:
| Field in Zid | English example | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Product name | Sukkari dates gift box | Zid notes a clear name helps search visibility |
| Option | Weight: 500 g, 1 kg | Names and values are entered in both languages once in the options library |
| Customisation field | Gift message (optional) | Text, number, date, time, image or file fields; a text field can carry a price |
| Description | Contents, origin, storage, shelf life | Written for each language, not machine-translated |
| Search title | Sukkari dates gift box, 1 kg | Zid advises about 70 characters at most |
| Search description | One or two sentences on product and delivery | Zid advises about 320 characters; if empty, the name and description are used |
| Page link | sukkari-dates-gift-box | The last part of the product URL |
Write the English for an English reader rather than word for word. An expat buyer wants storage and delivery details in plain terms; a company ordering gift boxes wants to know about VAT invoices and bulk orders. Price, barcode, weight and stock stay identical in both languages, because they belong to one product. Use badges such as "limited quantity" sparingly, and switch off "requires shipping" for services and digital items.
Photos that load quickly
Zid accepts PNG, JPG, JPEG or GIF product photos, recommends 1000 × 1000 pixels and allows up to 5 MB each. Treat 5 MB as a ceiling, not a target: most shoppers browse on phones, and heavy images slow every category page. Compress square photos, shoot the range on one background, check your theme's banner sizes, and make separate Arabic and English banners when an image contains text. Our article on why website speed drives sales explains what slow pages cost.
Importing a larger catalogue
From the actions menu on the products page, the Excel import can add products, update them, update stock only, or replace the catalogue. Delete the template's sample rows, and host photos online first: the sheet takes a link for each image, not the file. Export the catalogue regularly once you are live.
Payments, VAT and e-invoicing
Activating online payments
Open Payments and choose to activate online payments. There are three stages: account information (taken from your store details, so gaps there stop you), your expected monthly payments and the bank account for deposits, and the payment networks to enable. Zid says the expected volume does not change your fees. You need one published product that matches your registered activity, and any other active payment gateway is switched off when Zid's payments go on. Zid reviews the application and emails the result; if rejected, you correct the details and resubmit. The usual causes are predictable:
- A bank account name that differs from the registration or freelance document.
- Products outside the registered activity.
- An expired document, or a CR close to expiry.
- A blurred scan, or a bank certificate without the beneficiary name in English.
Meanwhile, bank transfer and cash on delivery, which Zid's pricing page lists as basic payment methods, keep you selling.
VAT settings, question by question
Saudi VAT is 15%. After you enable VAT in Settings › Tax settings, Zid asks three questions:
| Question in Zid | Yes means | No means |
|---|---|---|
| Are entered prices VAT-inclusive? | A price of 115 is read as 100 plus VAT | Zid adds VAT on top of the price you type |
| Charge VAT on shipping? | VAT is added to the shipping fee | Shipping shows as configured |
| Show prices with VAT in the store? | Every product price includes VAT | VAT appears only on the invoice at checkout |
For consumer stores, VAT-inclusive prices on every product avoid a surprise total at checkout. Then add Saudi Arabia with your VAT number, rate and certificate; Zid asks Saudi stores to display the VAT number and certificate in the footer, and both are options on that screen. If you are not VAT-registered, leave VAT off and ask your accountant when registration applies.
E-invoicing with Fatoora
Zid includes a free link to ZATCA's Fatoora platform under Settings for the integration phase of e-invoicing. You enter the legal name, VAT number and business address, then paste a one-time code generated in the Fatoora portal. Whether that phase applies to you yet depends on ZATCA's rollout, so confirm your status first.
Shipping options and the national address
Direct shipping, no contract
In Logistics › Shipping methods, carriers are grouped as express, standard, economy (lockers and branch drop-off), care-required and international. Activate one and it appears at checkout; when an order is set to "Ready", Zid issues the shipping label.
Your own carrier contract
Logistics › Custom shipping connects an account you already hold, using the carrier's credentials. If orders will not move to "Ready", Zid points to wrong credentials or e-commerce service not enabled by the carrier.
Each carrier can be customised by region: different prices per city, fixed or weight-based fees, and cash on delivery only in chosen areas. Zid notes that cash on delivery is not available with the parcel-locker services.
Logistics › Settings sets the order in which carriers appear, free-shipping conditions (handled through discount coupons), payment and shipping restrictions by product or region, and sender details for each warehouse's labels.
A worked example: a Riyadh store selling dates and coffee offers a same-day courier inside Riyadh, a standard carrier elsewhere, cash on delivery only in Riyadh where returns are easier to handle, and free shipping above a basket value it chooses, with the most popular option listed first.
Require the national address
To avoid delayed shipments, Zid advises requiring the short national address for deliveries in the Kingdom. Update warehouse addresses in Products › Inventory addresses, then enable the national address (SPL) option under Settings › Checkout page settings › Customise customer address. Customers in Saudi Arabia then cannot check out without one. Publish delivery areas, times and fees on a shipping page as well.
Your domain and Business platform authentication
Every Zid store starts on a default address. To use your own, open Settings › Online store link, choose to connect an existing domain, and enter the root domain only (example.com, no www). Change the nameservers at your registrar to Zid's and press verify; the domain shows "pending verification" until the change takes effect. Only one domain is active at a time.
Zid's help centre also describes one free domain on its Growth and Professional plans, and refers to domains "owned by Zid". Our advice: register the domain yourself, in your business's name, so it stays yours if you ever change platform. A .sa domain is registered by the merchant through SaudiNIC.
Authenticating the store
Saudi online stores are expected to be authenticated on the Saudi Business Center's Business platform; our legal requirements guide covers the general conditions. The Zid-specific part is proving domain ownership:
- Sign in to the Business platform with Nafath, choose your registration or freelance document, and enter the store link, contact details and bank IBAN.
- Choose the TXT DNS record method; Zid says the root-file method is not supported.
- Copy the code. In Zid, open Settings › Store › Online store link › View details, add a TXT record and paste the code.
- Return to the Business platform and complete verification.
- Once approved, add your ten-digit Business platform ID under Online store › Store identity.
Domain first, DNS second, authentication third. The default Zid address cannot be authenticated.
Test orders, launch day and the first weeks
Zid recommends a trial order once shipping and payment are active: open the store from the dashboard, sign in as a customer, add a product, enter an address, choose shipping and payment, and confirm. The order then appears under Orders. One order proves the store works; a short series proves it works for every customer:
| Test | What to check |
|---|---|
| Card order on a phone, in Arabic | Payment page, confirmation and the email or SMS that follows |
| The same order in English | No Arabic left on English pages, banners, options or policies |
| Cash on delivery to another city | It appears only where allowed, with the right fee |
| Bank transfer | The customer can upload the transfer receipt |
| Product with an option and gift message | Both reach the order page |
| Coupon and free shipping | They apply only when conditions are met |
| Order set to "Ready" | The label prints with the right sender details |
| Cancellation and refund | You know the steps before a customer asks |
| Footer | CR, VAT details, Business platform ID, contact details and policies in both languages |
Our website launch checklist adds general checks, such as analytics, that apply to any site. In the first weeks after launch:
- Ask for reviews. Settings › Communication › Review messages sends review requests by SMS, email or WhatsApp a set number of hours after an order is completed; WhatsApp templates need Meta's approval first.
- Recover abandoned carts with the reminders in Zid's marketing tools.
- Start with one offer, such as a launch coupon, so you can measure it.
- Watch the numbers on the dashboard home: sales, orders, visits and conversion rate.
- Moving from another platform? Settings › URL redirects sends old links to new ones with 301 redirects, one by one or by Excel import.
Set it up yourself, or bring in a designer?
Zid is built so a merchant can set up a store alone, and many do. The choice depends less on technical skill than on time, languages and how much the store's look matters to your brand.
| Your situation | Doing it yourself works when | Help is worth it when |
|---|---|---|
| Catalogue | A small range with few options | Many products and variants, or an import from another platform |
| Languages | Arabic only, or English written in-house | A full Arabic and English store, banners and policies included |
| Brand | A ready theme with your logo and colours is enough | The store must match an established brand |
| Time | You can spend several evenings on setup and testing | Your launch is tied to a season or campaign |
Still unsure about the platform? Our comparison of Salla, Zid and WooCommerce sets out the differences; if you need full ownership of the store's files, see the WooCommerce guide for Saudi Arabia, and for the wider picture read ecommerce website development in Saudi Arabia.
How Webnaa can help with your Zid store
Webnaa is a Riyadh-based web design company. Our Salla and Zid store design service covers theme customisation in your brand, banners, categories, product entry, the payment and shipping options the platform offers, pages and policies, search titles, and a handover of the daily routine. The Zid account and subscription stay in your name and you pay Zid directly. Store work is priced by a written quote after we understand the scope.
If you also need a company website, our website design prices start from SAR 39 a month. On every website we write the content, send the design on a preview link within 24 hours of receiving your complete information, and include 3 revision rounds before launch, with no setup fee and cancellation of renewal any time. See the refund policy and our price calculator.
Your Zid store, set up in your brand
Tell us what you sell, roughly how many products you have and which languages you need. We will reply with the scope, timeline and price in writing.
FAQ
How do I set up a store on Zid?
Sign up, answer the onboarding questions and choose a plan. Then complete store details and documents, enable English if needed, set VAT, choose a theme, add products, activate shipping and payments, publish legal pages, connect your domain and place test orders.
Can a Zid store be in English?
Yes. Enable English in Settings › Languages and currencies. Zid does not translate content automatically, so every product, option and policy needs its own English version.
Do I need a commercial registration to sell on Zid?
To activate online payments in Saudi Arabia, Zid asks individuals for a freelance document and establishments and companies for a CR, plus ID, a commercial bank account and a national address certificate. Foreign companies also need an investment licence.
How do I connect my own domain to Zid?
In Settings › Online store link, connect an existing domain, enter the root domain without www, point your registrar's nameservers to Zid's and press verify. Custom domain linking is listed on paid plans.
How do I add VAT in Zid?
In Settings › Tax settings, enable VAT, answer the three questions on prices, shipping and display, then add Saudi Arabia with your VAT number, the 15% rate and your certificate.
Why was my Zid payment activation rejected?
Usually a bank account name that differs from the registration, an activity that does not match your products, an expired document, an unclear scan, or a bank certificate without the beneficiary name in English. Correct the details and resubmit.
Summary
A smooth Zid store setup is mostly a matter of order. Get documents with matching names ready, switch on English and set VAT before adding products, and write every field in both languages. Activate shipping and payments, publish your policies, connect a domain in your own name and authenticate the store with a DNS record. Finish with test orders on a phone, and launch day becomes a formality.
Sources: Zid help centre: creating a store for Saudi merchants (Arabic), Zid help centre: online payment requirements (Arabic), Zid help centre: languages and currencies (Arabic), Zid help centre: Business platform authentication (Arabic), Zid pricing, all as of October 2026. Menu names are our English renderings of Zid's Arabic labels; Zid updates its dashboard and plans, so confirm details in your account. Webnaa: Salla and Zid store design, Saudi website legal requirements.