Expanding your eCom business abroad is easier than ever. But converting in foreign markets is trickier than you think. Understanding your target’s consumer behavior is critical to international growth. But many businesses overlook the linguistic and cultural aspects of their messaging that can derail an otherwise effective campaign.
This is why ecommerce localization is so important. Localized website content is adapted to your target market’s native culture, currency, language and more. A simple example is converting your prices into the local currency. It might seem like an insignificant change, but research has found that around 13% of abandoned carts are caused by prices listed in a foreign currency.
That adds up to A LOT of lost sales. And currency is just one aspect of ecommerce localization.
If you’re doing business abroad or thinking of expanding, localizing your website and marketing content is a must. Below, we’ll tell you how to master eCom localization simply and effectively.
Speak Their Language
Translating your website and content into your audience’s native language is a no-brainer.
Consumers simply do not make purchases from sites they don’t understand. And, Google is optimized to deliver its users content in their native language, so your English-only content will rarely be seen.
In order to save money and maximize engagement, you need to be selective regarding the content you choose to translate and localize.
Ecommerce Website Localization and Translation
Before you even think about launching in a new region, have your website translated professionally. Yes, professionally. The only thing worse than not translating your website is translating it poorly. Bad translations botch your message and ruin your authority. Would you buy from a brand if its content was full of errors and typos?
Luckily, professional website translation is affordable, and it can be accomplished pretty quickly. Localization experts can translate your content and overlay it on your existing site design so you don’t have to create new sites or pages. In this way, your current website can be quickly localized to convert in foreign markets.
Marketing Localization
Your marketing and lead generation content also needs to be localized. After all, audiences will likely interact with this content before they visit your ecommerce website. Prioritize the following marketing content.
- Blog content: Instead of translating all of your blog content, you may choose to create a new localized blog in which you translate relevant content and create new content specific to that market.
- Social media content: On social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, you can add subtitles or voiceovers to affordably localize your content (just make sure to hire an agency that specializes in multimedia localization so your content is actually localized instead of Google-translated by a bot).
- Ads: Localizing your ads is also important, but this type of creative messaging can be difficult to translate effectively. Transcreation services are a good option here. This is a high-level type of translation and localization that focuses on the context of your message rather than the direct translation of the words.
Remove Payment Hurdles
About 42% of cart abandonments happen at the payment stage, so it’s critical not to lose an ounce of consumer trust at this moment. Non-localized payment processes can create huge roadblocks to conversions in foreign markets. Here are the aspects of payments you need to cover during ecommerce localization.
- Payment methods: Just accept credit cards, right? No way. Cash on delivery is actually the preferred ecommerce payment method for consumers around the world. Global consumers also use a variety of digital payment methods (like WeChat Pay in China) and nation-specific methods (like IDEAL in The Netherlands). Update your payment processing to accept the top payment methods in your target nation. If someone can’t pay, they can’t become a customer.
- Currency: Consumers prefer to pay in their own currency. Listing your prices in USD requires them to take an extra step (and do extra work) to figure out how much they’ll need to fork out for your product. This is like digging a hole that swallows conversions. Listing in a non-local currency can also reduce trust in your brand.
- Shipping: About 1 in 3 carts are abandoned due to shipping costs. This can cause problems for global ecommerce sellers, as international shipping tends to be costly. When localizing your content, be upfront about shipping expenses to avoid surprising your customers with hidden fees at checkout.
- Tax: In the US, sales tax is not usually included in the price of a product. But in most other countries, it is. If global customers see a +10% tax fee at checkout, they’re more likely to bounce. When selling in foreign markets, incorporate the tax into the price of your product or service.
Localize Customer Service
Do you expect a consumer in France to speak English when contacting customer support? The ability to answer customers’ questions effectively—and in their native language—is critical when entering new markets.
Remember that trust in your brand will remain low until you’ve established yourself in the local market. Your biggest potential fans (or haters) are those who reach out to interact with support via chat, email or social media. You must have a localized support structure in place to promote growth. Without it, local reviews, social media engagement and loyalty from customers is much harder to develop.
Luckily, AI chatbots and international customer support agencies make it easy to connect with global consumers without having to build a massive internal CS department
Why Ecommerce Localization is a MUST
Localization should not be seen as an option for ecommerce brands. It’s a necessity. In fact, many brands are now engaging in in-depth localization within their native markets. For example, US brands often localize their websites for US Latinx audiences, who make up about 20% of US consumers.
Given the growing importance of personalization in marketing and advertising, this should not come as a surprise. Localization is the most common-sense form of personalization, and it MUST be done when entering foreign markets.
The facts speak for themselves:
- Brands that take ecommerce localization seriously grow 30% faster
- In-depth ecommerce localization boosts conversions by 10-15%
- Localization improves customer satisfaction by an average of 20%
- Localized checkout gateways reduce cart abandonment by over 30%
You can implement some of the tips we’ve discussed on your own. But for others, it’s best to consult with an ecommerce localization specialist like Wolfestone Group. We assign certified linguists from your target market to translate and localize the most important aspects of your ecommerce business.
Your team of linguists is assigned to your company for the long haul. In this way, they become familiar with your brand, products and customers over time. We know this is the best way to provide translated and localized content that aligns perfectly with your brand’s identity and drives conversions.
We work with brands like Google, JP Morgan and Bentley, and our customer satisfaction rating is above 99%.
Schedule a free consultation today and find out how localizing your ecommerce business with Wolfestone Group can unlock global growth.
