Are you aiming to establish an online store that captivates consumers in overseas markets? Do you need to expand your target regions and frequently update your product listings? Do you expect your brand’s values and philosophy to be well-expressed?
With online store sales skyrocketing compared to offline stores, manufacturers must build effective online stores to showcase their products. These stores must be properly localized and equipped with systems to quickly respond to customer inquiries and complaints. Explore the strategies for successful e-commerce website localization.
Current State and Outlook of the E-commerce Market
E-commerce is growing rapidly worldwide. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated online shopping, significantly changing consumer behavior. Millennials and Generation Z, as digital natives, are familiar with online shopping and prefer purchasing via mobile devices. Traditional offline shopping is declining, and the demand for e-commerce platforms is surging. This growth is expected to continue.
The future of e-commerce will focus on localization, AI and data analytics for personalization, mobile commerce, and sustainability. These elements are essential for gaining consumer trust and securing a competitive edge in the global market.
Localization of E-commerce Content
E-commerce content includes all materials created to increase website traffic and promote sales. This encompasses product descriptions, blog posts, tutorials, videos, photos, and social media content. Localization is crucial in the global e-commerce market. According to a survey of 8,709 consumers from 29 countries, 65% prefer to purchase products with content available in their native language, and 40% avoid buying products displayed in a foreign language (Source: “(Can’t Read Won’t Buy-B2C”, CSA Research)
A properly localized website in the target region’s language provides accurate information to ready-to-buy customers through regional targeting. Additionally, a localized SEO strategy improves search visibility and achieves higher rankings in search results.
Key Elements in E-commerce Website Localization
Translation Quality: Translating an e-commerce website is not just about converting languages but also accurately conveying cultural nuances. Providing a shopping experience that resonates with local consumers through newly created product names or descriptions is essential. Instead of relying on machine translation or generic translation services, using transcreation services for marketing adapts the brand message creatively to fit the local market.
Project Management: Consistent quality, speed, and accuracy in ongoing translation work require a dedicated Project Manager (PM). The PM manages the entire project, ensuring consistency in translation tasks. They maintain smooth communication between the translation team and the client and ensure that all translation processes proceed as planned.
Visual Content: For online shopping sites, consider localized images and colors. Integrating preferred images and colors or suggesting culturally relevant image changes in each region ensures that visual content resonates with the local audience.
Publishing: A publishing team is needed to address issues arising from various language groups effectively. Handling DTP tasks for languages written from right to left (RTL) and those with different character lengths is essential. Choose appropriate fonts and consider compatibility with local platforms. DTP experts understand the characteristics of each language and adjust UI elements to meet local cultural expectations.
Technical Solutions: As global e-commerce websites require constant updates, integrated translation management solutions with automated translation engines are necessary. These technical solutions support efficient handling of regular updates to product descriptions and adding new products. Adopting a platform integrated with a Translation Management System (TMS) automates the translation process for dynamic content management. There are various solutions available in the market to support website building and localization, which can be chosen based on cost, size, and purpose.
SEO Localization: Provide website content optimized for search engines in each region or country to achieve high rankings in search results. Localize titles, keywords, and meta tags to rank high on various search engines such as Google, Yandex, and Bing.
Final Testing: Thorough testing is necessary to ensure translated content is displayed and functioning correctly on the website. This guarantees a positive user experience and identifies potential issues for correction in advance.
Regional Regulatory Management: Content management must comply with laws and regulations in each region, including consumer protection laws, privacy laws, and e-commerce regulations.
Hansem Global’s E-commerce Localization Services
An e-commerce website is the gateway to the global market. It serves as a digital store and the face of your brand to the world. You can communicate your products and services appropriately in localized languages and convey your brand’s values and philosophy. We help you respond quickly and effectively to the continuously updated products and services. Contact Hansem Global for your website translation needs. With 34 years of experience localizing products and services for numerous global companies, we have conducted localization work for websites across various industries. We support your products and services being posted on online malls tailored to the culture and ambiance of the target sales regions.