Shaam Store

Online shopping in Syria has its own rules. Many customers prefer to pay in cash when the parcel arrives, prices need to make sense in both US dollars and Syrian pounds, and delivery has to reach every governorate, not only the capital. Shaam Store was built around those realities from day one.

Overview

Shaam Store is a Syrian online marketplace based in Damascus. It brings together trusted sellers, products from Syrian artisans, workshops and factories, and selected items from global brands, in one store that works in Arabic and English. Nexlla designed and built the platform: the storefront, the shopping and checkout flows, the customer account, the Android app and the AI shopping assistant.

The Challenge

A marketplace lives or dies on trust. Shoppers need to know that a seller has been checked, that the price is clear, and that the order will actually arrive. In Syria that also means supporting cash on delivery and local payment options, showing prices in two currencies, and giving customers a way to follow their courier. The catalogue itself is broad, from fashion and baby clothing to electronics, perfumes, carpets and Syrian crafts, and it all had to stay easy to browse on a phone.

What We Designed and Built

• A bilingual storefront with a full right-to-left Arabic version and a USD/SYP currency switch on every price.
• Departments and categories for fashion, baby and kids, toys, electronics, perfumes and beauty, carpets and rugs, and Syrian crafts and gifts, plus brand pages and a “Made in Syria” collection with each maker’s story.
• Trust badges for sellers reviewed by the Shaam team, ratings, and easy returns requested within 48 hours of delivery.
• Checkout with cash on delivery, Sham Cash, Syriatel Cash, MTN Cash or bank transfer, and delivery to all 14 governorates with the courier on a map and a secure delivery code.
• Customer accounts with orders, wallet and rewards, a “Sell on Shaam” path for new sellers, and an Android app.
• Yasmin, an AI shopping assistant on the website, in the app, and on WhatsApp where Meta’s platform allows, who can find products, manage the cart and follow orders, and always asks for confirmation before any action that affects money or an order.

Approach

We designed Shaam Store to feel familiar to anyone who has shopped on a large online marketplace, while being clearly Syrian in its products, language and payment options. Light, uncluttered surfaces and a deep green accent keep the large catalogue calm. Product cards show the discount, the rating, the price in USD and the price in SYP together, so customers never have to do the conversion themselves.

Arabic and English were built as equals. Layouts mirror for right-to-left reading, and the same content, navigation and checkout work in both languages on web and mobile.

The Experience

A shopper in any governorate can browse by department, open a product, see the price in both currencies and order with cash on delivery. After ordering, they follow the courier live and confirm delivery with a code. If they need help, Yasmin answers in their language and can hand them over to a member of the support team.

Outcome and Impact

Shaam Store is live at shaamstore.sy as a complete marketplace for Syria: a bilingual storefront, local payments, nationwide delivery with live tracking, an Android app and an AI assistant, all designed and built by Nexlla.