Build the test matrix first
Create a locale matrix with the canonical language URL, market, currency, expected hreflang/locale metadata, and content owner. Include the default language, each published translation and fallback behavior. Use a fluent reviewer for customer-facing quality; automated checks can find missing strings but cannot reliably judge tone, accuracy or cultural fit.
Outcomes can vary by destination address, product, variant, cart value, market, payment and shipping configuration, and customer session. Record all of these with each result.
Step-by-step checklist
Open the intended language URL directly
Test root, product, collection and policy URLs. Confirm the language path, subdomain or domain remains stable and does not redirect every visitor back to the default locale.
Inspect locale and alternate metadata
Check the document language, canonical URL and hreflang or alternate-locale signals where implemented. Each localized page should point search engines and customers to the correct equivalent rather than a mixed-language duplicate.
Test country and language selectors
Use keyboard, touch and mouse. Confirm labels are understandable, the selected language persists appropriately, and changing country does not silently reset language or currency without explanation.
Review theme and system strings
Check header, navigation, search, filters, buttons, cart drawer, errors, empty states, availability labels and accessibility text. Theme updates and apps often introduce new default-language strings.
Audit product and merchandising content
Review titles, descriptions, variants, size information, media alt text, collection copy, SEO titles and meta descriptions. Confirm that market-specific products do not expose untranslated fallback fragments.
Check policies and pre-payment checkout
Open shipping, returns, privacy and terms pages in each locale. Continue to checkout without paying and note untranslated or inconsistent fields, validation messages, taxes and delivery wording.
Test notifications separately
Use an authorized test order or notification preview to inspect confirmation, shipping and account emails. Storefront success does not prove that transactional templates or third-party app messages use the right language.
Common failure modes
Mixed-language pages
Theme sections, metafields, apps or newly added content can fall back independently, leaving a page partly translated.
Selector and URL disagree
The interface may show one locale while the path, document language or canonical metadata indicates another.
Policies remain in the default language
Product content is often translated first, while important shipping, returns or legal information is overlooked.
Checkout and email are assumed to match
These surfaces have separate templates, platform controls and app integrations. They require their own authorized tests.
What the public storefront can—and cannot—prove
Can be observed on a tested public path
- The public language URL and visible selector state
- Document locale metadata exposed in the storefront
- Visible product and theme text on the tested URL
- Whether the submitted product remains available for the selected market
Needs manual, Admin or operational verification
- Translation completeness across the entire catalog
- Linguistic accuracy or cultural suitability
- All checkout and customer-account states
- Transactional emails, app notifications and admin-side translation configuration
The free scanner is intentionally narrow: it does not claim automatic duties, localization or catalog-wide scanning, and it does not prove every customer journey.
Frequently asked questions
Does hreflang replace a language selector?
No. Search metadata helps discovery, while shoppers still need a clear, accessible way to choose or correct their country and language.
Should machine translation be published without review?
Use human review for important commercial, safety and policy content. Automated translation can accelerate a draft but does not guarantee accurate meaning or brand tone.
Does Drishq MarketCheck check translations?
No. The current scanner does not audit language URLs, hreflang, untranslated strings, policies, checkout localization or emails. Use this manual checklist for those areas.
Related guides
Sources and further reading
This guide paraphrases platform concepts and adds an independent QA workflow. Consult current official documentation and qualified advisers for your configuration.