A good eCommerce localization program is essential in developing sales across countries. Depending on how well you generate sales in your local markets, you may find it easy to translate an eCommerce website into other languages for global growth and success. Some basic measures such as machine translation might make it harder to enter the foreign market. Focusing solely on translation eliminates important context and cultural details in localization processes. You can build trust by focusing your user interface on their needs.
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The Right Time to Localize Your eCommerce Business
According to a report, over 85% of online sales will come through eCommerce sites by 2040. Almost all people in 2040 will be able to buy their goods online. That’s an important issue here. Are brands able to cater to customers in various locations around Europe or other parts of the world? A multilingual eCommerce website helps attract clients from different cultures and languages. When a customer has access to everything in a language they have to know, this reduces customer care problems. A review, product descriptions, and price are also helpful for building trust with a target audience.
What is content localization?
Content localization refers to adapting a website’s entire content to meet its targeted audiences and customers. They must communicate clearly with their customers abroad. Content localization isn’t only a translation process. Localization of the content involves considering region-specific, local messages and cultural differences. This could be explained as three elements: translations, localization, and transcreation. This last word translation means adapting messages into new languages and cultures.
Why does eCommerce need localization?
E-Commerce means online. If a person reads your material, they are converted into real customers. Of course, numbers can be heard much better than words. Research shows more than 65% of non-Anglophone online shoppers choose a store if its information can be purchased even though the translation is poor or lacking. More than 40% of consumers will buy online in a different language. You probably don’t lose 40% of your potential clients. Localized sites are likely to reach local audiences.
How to perform content localization wisely?
For localization, you must develop and follow an effective plan to ensure everything is correct. This is an essential step in content localization for eCommerce sites.
Currency, units of measurement, and size conversion
Price tags are an initial consideration in eCommerce businesses. The user desires to find the local currencies to determine the price. It may also be possible to list a price in both original and local currency. When localizing currencies, use a suitable code or symbol to indicate currencies. Note that some currencies can appear before the price (such as $ or £) while others can appear after €. The decimal mark also differs from region to country. Do not forget about localization measurements. The temperature in Europe is different from those in the US (°C).
Regional support
You should localize your customer service team if your localization is so advanced. You can either get an established staff member to work in an unfamiliar area or find out if there’s a job in another location from which you can start.
Please make sure to set up separate communications channels like email, social media pages, or phone calls if you are unsure if it is necessary or if there are any. Offering free phone lines or free phone numbers for the call of incoming customers is also an excellent way to get customers to call and address problems faster and reduce international calls.
Legal issues and regulations
To secure your online enterprise, you have to consider every legal regulation applicable to the country you are in. Check whether the product you sell is legally available in that country. Kinder Surprise Eggs, formerly a famous product in America, discovered they’re illegal for consumption in the USA. The neighboring nations of Canada and Mexico also allowed sales. You must be legally registered to operate within other countries. Please ensure you include your privacy statement and usage rules on your local website and adapt this to your country.
Date and time formats
Formats are essential as a format that is not formatted correctly can be misleading. Let’s say that the customers are delivering their orders in Europe before 11/102020. This is going to shock everyone a bit. The timing of 11/09/2020 varies from USA and Europe – 11 October. It usually starts on the first day of the year last (DD MM / JYYY).
The time format is 24 hours or 12 hours. The American format uses the AM-PM format, while Europe uses the 24-hour format more. However, some countries, including China, Korea, or Iran, offer YYYY/MM/DD date formats.
VAT
It should be emphasized that you need to correctly calculate tax for customer’s tax. VAT calculation is arguably a key issue for internationalization, especially in the legal context. Considering that VAT rules keep on changing, it would be wise to partner with a trustworthy solution like PayPro Global, that can give you a helping hand when it comes to tax calculations.
Definition check
British English is not a very common language in America. So the phrases elevators and lifts mean similar things, but they both use American English. Similar things are true with “holiday.” Naturally, a word can be a different lexicon in different languages. We, therefore, recommend analyzing words used in various cultural contexts.
Conduct market research
Market Research is the initial stage before the localization stage is even completed. Research the information in the client database and know the region of origin. Then analyze this data to choose a particular language. Find out who your target audience is for your target product or service. If your eCommerce store sells garments, your merchandise range in Australia may differ from Iceland’s. Use Google Keyword Planner to learn which products perform best at any location.
Localized shopping carts
Not everyone putting things in a cart converts to paying consumers. Generally speaking, the rate of cart abandonment is 65%. If you have not localized a shopping basket, the rates will increase. Localizing your cart could affect your bottom line. You must adapt the shopping cart to local requirements and make it accessible to customers from all regions. Please complete the switch to local currency as soon as possible.
SEO is a must
SEO is a tool that increases the effectiveness of your local websites. If your localized web page does not work correctly, it may not work well with other sites. Different countries use the exact search term. In the UK, people may call a truck lorry, whereas for Americans, the appropriate term is “ truck. You will also have to research keyword usage and add the right keywords into the content of websites and translate URLs into the targeted language.
Cultural context check
Keep an eye on the culture in this new region. The holidays are a crucial part of a vacation that can differ between countries. Black Friday and Cyber Monday became the main days for e-commerce in US and UK. The Chinese versions of the holiday are based on the day singles days or double 11th. Those holidays are celebrated annually in China. Also, make sure you’re switching out Black Friday to Single day so that customers can get exclusive discounts on China items.
Native photos and pictures
Contents are not just words. Consider replacing photos or images not fitting for the new market. For example, in Japan, you could substitute photos of Europe or Caucasians with models from Japan. It’ll be more natural. This page shows how the website owners adapted some parts of their website to Japanese but kept the English text and images that were not native. A partially translated website means that the user experience is poor.
Social networks help grow your e-commerce business. Create separate Twitter accounts if you plan on starting in a different region. Local social networking will improve customer experiences. McDonald’s has several accounts across several countries.
Conclusion
Ecommerce localization should be planned and structured for the best results.
There are a few key things to remember when translating e-commerce content: cultural appropriateness, maintaining brand consistency, and using an accurate translation. Ecommerce localization can result in increased traffic and conversions when done well.
If you’re looking to expand your business into new markets, consider localizing your e-commerce site. Adapting your website content to appeal to another culture can seem daunting, but it’s worth it, given the increase in traffic and sales you are bound to see. Follow these tips to get started.
