Foundation · 2 min
What you need to know
How should dates be displayed internationally?
Display an unambiguous localized format and include month names or ISO-style ordering where confusion is costly. Store dates in a canonical representation.
How should time zones be handled in ecommerce?
Store event timestamps consistently, retain the relevant zone, and display them in the context that matters; customer, store, warehouse or carrier. Always label deadlines that cross zones.
How should weight units change by market?
Show the unit customers expect while retaining a canonical shipping weight. Conversion and rounding must not alter the carrier value or regulatory declaration.
How should measurement units change by market?
Localize length, volume, temperature, and size information when it helps decisions, but preserve original specifications and state units beside every value.
How should decimal and thousands separators be localized?
Use locale-aware formatting rather than replacing punctuation in text. Parsing and storage should use canonical numeric values independent of display separators.
How should currency symbols and formats be displayed?
Format symbol position, spacing and decimal digits according to currency and locale, and include a currency code when the symbol could be ambiguous.
A quick store check
Switch locale and time zone and verify one price, dimension, deadline and event timestamp remain unambiguous.
Foundation · 2 min
Frequently asked questions
Is UTC the best display for every shopper?
It is useful for storage, not usually for customer-facing deadlines.
Can converted dimensions replace original specifications?
Show helpful conversions while preserving the authoritative value and units.