Definition
What a storefront is on the App Store
On the App Store, a storefront is Apple's official term for a single country or region's instance of the store, bundled with its currency, language settings, tax handling, and price-point set. The App Store has 175 storefronts, one per supported territory.
From Apple's StoreKit documentation: a storefront represents the country or region associated with a user's App Store account. The user's storefront determines which apps they can buy, what currency they pay in, and which prices they see.
What is bundled into a storefront
Each storefront carries:
- A country or region code (US, IN, BR, JP, etc.)
- A currency for displaying and charging prices (USD, INR, BRL, JPY)
- A language (or set of supported display languages)
- A price-point set Apple maintains for that storefront, mapping every available number on Apple's price ladder to a local-currency value
- Tax handling rules specific to that territory (VAT, GST, sales tax)
- Content availability rules (some apps are blocked in some storefronts)
The price-point set is the part that matters most for pricing. Apple does not let you pick an arbitrary local-currency number. You pick a price point, and the storefront's price-point set tells you what that price renders as locally.
Storefront vs territory vs locale
These three terms get used interchangeably but mean different things:
| Term | Owner | What it represents |
|---|---|---|
| Storefront | App Store | The country instance of the store: currency + price points + tax rules |
| Territory | App Store Connect | Apple's pricing-region term, equivalent to storefront in practice |
| Locale | iOS / StoreKit | The user's device language and region preference, separate from storefront |
A user in France can have their device locale set to English (en-US) while their App Store storefront is still France. Pricing follows the storefront, display language follows the locale.
How does Apple decide which storefront a user belongs to?
The user's Apple ID has an App Store country setting. That country sets the storefront. Users can change country, but Apple imposes rules (the user must have no active subscriptions, no unspent App Store credit, etc.). The IP address does not change storefront on its own.
What is Apple's price-point set per storefront?
Apple maintains a fixed ladder of price points (like $0.99, $1.99, $2.99, up to several thousand dollars). Each storefront has a localized rendering of that ladder. Tier 9 (around $9.99 in the US) might render as ₹799 in India and R$49.90 in Brazil. You pick the price point, Apple's storefront-specific table decides the local-currency number.
Why this matters for localized pricing
If you want to charge ₹499 in India, you cannot just type ₹499 into App Store Connect. You pick the price point whose Indian storefront value is ₹499. The price-point set constrains what local prices you can offer.
PricePush maps your desired localized price (output of the PPP calculation) to the nearest legal price point in each storefront, so what you see in the dashboard is what actually pushes to the store.
Examples
One price point, three storefronts
Apple's price point around $9.99 in the US, viewed across three storefronts:
| Storefront | Currency | Local-currency value | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | USD | $9.99 | Reference price point |
| India | INR | ₹799 | Charm-rounded to local conventions |
| Brazil | BRL | R$49.90 | Apple's storefront table sets this |
| Japan | JPY | ¥1,500 | No decimals, Apple uses round 100s |
| Switzerland | CHF | CHF 11.00 | Higher than USD due to FX and PPP |
You cannot ask Apple for $9.99 in the US and ₹500 in India. The Indian storefront's nearest price point to ₹500 might be ₹499 or ₹599. Whichever you pick, every other storefront moves with it.
Frequently asked
What is a storefront on the App Store?
A storefront is Apple's term for a country or region's instance of the App Store, bundled with its currency, language, tax handling, and price-point set. There are 175 storefronts, one per supported territory.
Is the App Store storefront the same as the device language?
No. The storefront is determined by the user's Apple ID country setting. The device language and region (the locale) is a separate setting. A user in France can run their iPhone in English while their App Store storefront stays France.
How is pricing different per storefront?
Each storefront uses its own currency and its own localized rendering of Apple's price-point ladder. The same price point you pick will render as $9.99 in the US, ₹799 in India, R$49.90 in Brazil, and so on. You pick the point, Apple's storefront-specific table sets the local number.
How many App Store storefronts are there?
Apple supports 175 storefronts, one per territory where the App Store operates. The number can change as Apple opens new countries or restructures regions.
Further reading
- App Store Pricing by Country: The Developer's ReferenceA reference for App Store pricing by country: how Apple's 900 price points work, what auto-conversion gets wrong, and what prices should look like.
- App Store Localization: Beyond Language TranslationMost app store localization guides stop at language. The bigger lever is pricing that fits each country's economy.
- Most indie devs think the App Store already localizes their prices. It doesn't.Apple and Google convert your USD price at FX rates. That isn't regional pricing, and the gap is costing indie devs real revenue.