eCommerce Localization:

The Key to Expanding Your Business into New Markets

Today, online shoppers demand more than ever before. They expect their shopping experience to be convenient, seamless, and comfortable across every touchpoint of the customer journey — no matter where they live. And why shouldn’t they? Can you imagine trying to navigate a purchase using a website written in a language you don’t fully understand? Only 17% of the world’s population speaks English, so if you’re failing to provide content in the local language, you could be cutting off 83% of potential global customers.

 

If you want consumers to part with their hard-earned money, then you need to ensure they can use your site without any difficulty. All your marketing efforts, investment in UX and UI, and great product or service selection can go to waste if your customers feel like they are fumbling blindly through a foreign website. So how can businesses overcome language barriers and gain a foothold in foreign markets? The answer is eCommerce localization. Here we explain what this term means, why it’s necessary and how you can apply it to your own business.

What is eCommerce Localization?

eCommerce localization is the process of adapting a website, or any other product or service for a local market. From translation and currency conversion to payment methods, delivery options, and customer service — all elements should be tailored to each target market. This ensures that customers have an enjoyable and stress-free shopping experience in their own language.

When undertaken properly, eCommerce localization can open opportunities for businesses to reach new customers and generate more revenue. On the contrary, failing to localize your site — or doing it incorrectly — can have disastrous consequences as potential customers are immediately put off and take their business elsewhere.

 

How Can Localisation Benefit My Business?

What Technologies Can Help with Localization?

Is eCommerce Localization Worth the Investment?

eCommerce localization breaks down geographical barriers and allows businesses to become truly global. If you want to succeed in international markets, then localizing your online business is the key. But it’s an expensive decision. Localization requires significant investment in resources and time to ensure it’s done correctly. However, the potential rewards more than justify the cost.

55% of global consumers won’t make a purchase from a website if it doesn’t provide product information in their native language. And even if they do speak English, 65% still prefer to access a website in their mother tongue. It’s probably not surprising then to hear that effective localization can increase conversion rates by up to 70%. As more businesses discover the powerful impact of localization, they are increasingly turning to language service providers for help. This has led to an industry boom, with the language service industry valued at USD$48.4 billion in 2022.

Localization for Businesses Going Global

Partner with a Translation Services Agency and Enjoy Seamless Localization

Localization is a complex process and requires both technical knowledge and cultural understanding. Partnering with a translation services agency can help you ensure that all your content and communications are accurately translated, so you don’t have to worry about any misunderstandings or lost revenue.

At LingvoHouse, we offer high-quality translation and localization services to help you reach customers in any market. By working with us, you can:

  • Get access to experienced translators from around the world.
  • Receive accurate, consistent, and culturally appropriate translations.
  • Obtain professional help with localising websites, apps and more.
  • Benefit from our streamlined project management process.
  • Secure competitive prices for all your translation needs.

Take the hassle out of localization with LingvoHouse and see your eCommerce store go global.

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How Can Localization Benefit My Business?

We’ve established that localization equals more revenue, but we haven’t broken down the nitty-gritty of how this is achieved. Overall, localization is a positive and powerful strategy that can have a huge impact on the success of your business. Here are some of the reasons it can help your brand grow internationally.

 

Flawless Customer Journey for Everybody

First and foremost, localization is about creating a flawless customer experience for everyone. By speaking the language of your customers, you can ensure that they feel understood and respected. They’re more likely to buy from an eCommerce store that speaks their language than one that doesn’t. The best way to achieve this is by a constant, streamlined localization process that integrates new content across all locales as soon as possible. This means you need a centralised system that is easy to use and update, such as a CMS, which allows you to create and manage different versions of content in various languages. If you have this in place, you can easily make changes and updates as trends evolve and tend to the needs of all your markets equally.

 

Streamlined Merchandising Across All Markets

With effective localization, your merchandising teams can target different markets with more accuracy. You can use the data you’ve gathered from analysing your performance to create targeted campaigns, develop new products, and optimise promotions. This way, you can maximise the success of every campaign and reach customers in different markets more effectively.

 

Cohesive Brand Identity

Making sure that all your markets share a cohesive brand identity is crucial for success. Localization helps you create this, by ensuring that all your content and campaigns are in line with the brand’s core values, no matter which market they’re targeting. This could be anything from using similar design elements to referring to shared concepts or stories. Doing so helps build your brand’s reputation, while also creating a sense of familiarity and trust among international customers.

 

Enhanced Customer Loyalty and Satisfaction

When customers feel understood, appreciated, and respected, they’re more likely to trust your brand and come back in the future. As such, it’s important to keep up with localization trends and develop content that fulfils the needs of different markets equally. Doing so will help you increase customer loyalty, build brand recognition, and improve customer satisfaction scores across all your markets. There’s no better way to ensure long-term success than by engaging customers in a truly localized manner.

 

Long-term Growth in Revenue

Nearly every eCommerce business has one ultimate goal — to increase their revenue. Localized content can help you achieve this, by enhancing your conversion rates and boosting customer engagement. Through a consistent process of localization, you can also maximise the success of all your campaigns and promotions in different markets. The result? More sales, more clicks, and more conversions — everything you need to keep your business profitable in the long run.

9 Tips for Effective eCommerce Localization

How To Deliver Effective Localization for Your eCommerce Customers?

Localization is a bit of a delicate process. Simply running your content through Google Translate isn’t going to cut it and may even have disastrous results. Marketing history is peppered with funny anecdotes and cautionary tales of times when brands didn’t get localization right. For example, urban legend has it that when Pepsi tried and failed to localize their content to a Chinese audience. Their slogan in the 1960s “Come alive! You’re in the Pepsi Generation!” was mistranslated into Mandarin as “Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the dead!”. This doesn’t quite hit in the same way.

And even when entering a new market that speaks the same language, there is still room for things to go wrong. In another 60s marketing blunder, vacuum manufacturer Electrolux failed to notice that their British slogan “Nothing sucks like Electrolux” would have some negative connotations in the American market.

What these stories highlight is how important it is to tread carefully and deploy a little cultural sensitivity when localizing content. To ensure that your message hits the mark, you should consider the following steps.

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What Technologies Can Help with Localization?

Luckily for modern businesses, there are a vast array of tools and technologies available to help you localize your content effectively. Without these tools, the process of creating and managing different versions of content would be much more complex, time-consuming, and costly. Let’s explore some of the best localization tools and technologies currently available on the market.

 

Translation Management Systems (TMS)

These allow you to quickly translate content, while also helping you maintain brand consistency across different markets. They’re useful for businesses that work with multiple languages and need a centralised system to manage their translations.

 

Content Management Systems (CMS)

CMSs allow you to create and manage different versions of content in various languages. They’re ideal for businesses that want to keep up with localization trends and ensure their content is always up to date.

 

Machine Translators

Machine translators are great for quickly translating large amounts of content, such as web pages and blog posts. But while they’re useful for businesses that need to localize content quickly, they often need to be double-checked by humans for accuracy.

 

Natural Language Processing (NLP)

NLP tools are useful for understanding the context of different pieces of content, allowing you to create more effective localizations. They analyse the text and detect any language nuances that need to be accounted for in order to produce accurate translations.

 

Reporting Tools

Reporting tools are essential for businesses that need to track their localization efforts and measure the success of campaigns in different markets. These can give you valuable insights about your users and help you make more informed decisions about the content you create.

 

Project Management Software

Keeping on top of your localization tasks can be difficult, especially when you’re working with multiple languages and markets. Project management software makes light work of this by helping you track the progress of your localization projects and manage resources more effectively.

 

Content & Design Integration Tools

Content and design integration tools are incredibly useful for designers and content creators who need to upload content into various languages quickly and easily. These tools can save you a lot of time and effort, as they allow you to manage multiple versions of content with just a few clicks.

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Why Work with LingvoHouse?

At Lingvo House, we’ve been delivering high-quality translation and localization solutions for businesses and organizations around the world for many years. Our team of expert linguists and project managers provide personalised service and ensure that your translation needs are met quickly and efficiently. We maintain competitive pricing and flexible service options so that you can get the exact level of support you need.

 

Agile, responsive, and precise — this is what sets us apart. With our comprehensive range of services, including machine-powered localization for business, we’re perfectly positioned to help you overcome all your translation challenges. So why wait? Book a consultation today and let our expert team propel you towards your localization goals.

Federica Bonomi

Corporate Sales

More Complex Enquiry?

For regular translation support, large projects, CMS, specific format or extra urgent translation, or any other complex solution, please contact us today to discuss how we can help in your native language.

0203 086 94 16

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