With staggering sums like that on the table, it only makes sense that ecommerce retailers want to tap into overseas markets. The real question is, how do you do it effectively? Aside from logistics, pricing and regulations is the fundamental need to translate the ecommerce platform for a new market.
What do you translate first? How do you translate a website that’s tens of thousands of pages long? How can you guarantee a great customer experience? One thing’s for certain – localization is more important than ever. Three-quarters of consumers say that they prefer to purchase products in their own language.
To prepare for the modern customer journey, ecommerce retailers have to think about three different pieces of the puzzle: the website, customer communications and the mobile experience.
Here’s how you can get started:
The foundation
Large or small, ecommerce retailers have their work cut out for them when embarking on a localization campaign. Product summaries can span thousands of different web pages. Order confirmations, billing forms and registration pages all have to be translated, too.
The scope of the project needs to be carefully outlined and detailed before work begins. One of the best strategies is to assign one primary translator who can first go through the pages and decide which words and phrases to use for different products.
If there’s no centralized process, you could have multiple translators using different words for the same item. For example, a jacket could be translated into the equivalent of “coat” by one and “jacket” by another. This kind of fragmentation can play havoc with metadata and search phrases which are key to helping consumers find what they need.
To speed up the translation process, you should also make sure that the translation team knows how to use automation tools such as Translation Memory (TM). That way, recurring words and phrases can be entered into the database, so translators can press a button and automatically replace that word across the entire website. So once they’ve found the replacement for “purse” they won’t have to type it out for twenty different product pages.
When you start to create the framework for a new website, it’s important for translators test out how the copy will appear both visually and stylistically. Different languages have different lengths for certain terms and phrases – which means if you try to keep the template you used for an English-language site, the words might run off the page or overlap on a “buy” button.
For that reason, think carefully about how to present the site to a new market. Colors, images and tone might have to change to suit the culture.
Communicating, natively
There’s more to this than simply updating the copy in customer communications. For instance, if you’re localizing a brochure for Mandarin speakers and have a picture that’s clearly from the New England countryside, regional customers will feel you’re not speaking to them.
Your translation team needs to help develop a communications plan for the new market by modifying the source files of any collateral that is going to accompany the digital push. Likewise, email marketing campaigns should be localized, including confirmations of purchase orders and discount email blasts. Just make sure to consult with a legal professional about the ramifications of emailing in different countries.
Email imagery also needs to be culturally relevant. The tone and colors should match the website’s localized branding. Create a template to easily build a workflow for different audiences.
The mobile market
A recent survey from Multichannel Merchant found that around a third of ecommerce retailers sell to countries such as Brazil, China, India and Italy. In Brazil, there’s been an 84% surge in the number of Brazilians using mobile devices to purchase products and services over the past year. In China, mobile commerce is expected to reach billion by the end of the year, doubling in value over the past 12 months.
Customers aren’t just purchasing on mobile devices; they’re researching future purchases. One study found that, in Brazil, 93% of mobile shoppers are using their phones to start looking at product information. This is an important detail for ecommerce retailers. Since mobile devices have become primary starting points in a customer journey, it’s important to have detailed, mobile-friendly product pages that can convey the value to someone who’s looking to purchase something later down the road.
Localized mobile ads are something to consider, too. One study found that 86 percent of localized campaigns outperformed the English campaigns in both click-throughs and conversions. The click-through rate for English ads averaged 2.35% and a conversion rate of 7.47%, while local ads had a click-through rate of 3.34% with a conversion rate of 9.08%.
Future-proofing ecommerce
It’s clear that the success of an ecommerce retailer today will only be as strong as the localization campaign that accompanies a broad market push. While there are opportunities everywhere, there’s also a lot of competition. The best way to stand out in a global market is to localize your websites, customer communications and mobile initiatives.
(MultiChannelMerchant)