The Rise of Localization Technology and What eCommerce Brands Need to Know

The integration of translation and localization tools has never been more necessary - especially in high-growth sectors like eCommerce. The global eCommerce sector took off in 2020, and with its explosion came the need for stronger and improved ways to connect with a global audience.

More shoppers are online than ever before, and as the number continues to rise, so does the competition. To stir up appeal, brands are generating tons of choice and exciting options, but unfortunately, this in itself is not enough to take out the sea of competition. To beat other e-commerce brands in the race to garner attention and brand choice, brands need to market and think like a local. \

Weaving into a global market requires mastering the artful craft of immersing into each distinct locale. It also requires the construction of an entirely new and more intricate customer journey. This means everything from billing to more subtle nuances like customized product descriptions, the colors used on a website, phraseology, and the correct use of translation - is all essential if you want to go global.\

Being able to maintain a unique appearance while also appealing to a broad range of local markets is no easy feat. Fortunately, localization provides the ability to do just that.

Here are some localization strategies and tools that eCommerce brands should know about before launch.\

Website Translation & Language

A survey of 8,709 consumers across 29 Countries found that 76% prefer purchasing products that people prefer purchasing products with information in their own language.

When you localize your website interface for different languages and cultures, it makes the user experience better for everyone. It brings comfort and trust to an environment particularly well-known for threats and scams.

To better engage with consumers, connect with them in their native languages. Language is one of the most critical aspects of going global. Not only does it improve the customer experience, but it also maximizes conversion, retention, and purchase volumes.

If you plan to serve several audiences all at once, you’ll need to use technology that can do this well and on demand. For example, companies like BLEND localization help global brands weave into local markets to enable authentic multi-market inclusion and empower global growth. BLEND’s toolkit of localization solutions is expansive and can accommodate the needs of just about any company expanding into any new market.

As you expand, ensure you are prepared to continuously run in-depth site analyses that captures whether the content being generated aligns with your brand and meets the needs of your customers. This will help to reduce bounce rates and increase your customer lifetime value. SocialAsk Founder, Giovanbattista Cimmino, notes that “with more and more people using their smartphones to shop online, it’s essential to have a mobile-friendly website. Failing to optimize for mobile can have a negative impact on the customer experience, leading to a higher bounce rate and fewer conversions.” Localizing for mobile is no exception to this rule.

App Localization

It should be no surprise that localizing apps has also become increasingly popular and important. With the rise in the use and number of apps, you can’t be an Amazon if you don’t customize your apps for different cultures, languages, and regions.

A good example of this is Airbnb. Airbnb’s app has been customized for over 220+ locales and over 60 languages. The app has localized every facet of the customer experience, including the user interface and content, to the various payment methods it offers.

The Power of Personalized Machine Translation Engines

AI technologies and neural machine translation engines are almost always part of the localization suite of tools. AI gives brands the confidence to automatically detect and translate every new piece of content that is added to the site, in addition to access to an array of content ideas.  The combination with human linguists allows you to train and enhance the machine's capabilities and improve the results over time. The more you teach your engine, the more capable it is of getting creative and aligning to the nuances of your brand and its audiences.

The majority of the world’s most successful eCommerce companies use custom machine learning engines to create e-commerce materials for fast-paced scalability - and the best part is, it's cost-effective.

Payments and currencies

In order to provide a completely local experience, merchants need to localize their entire check-out process and also comply with local tax, regulation, and shipping preferences and habits.

This includes enabling customers to pay with their local payment method (Paypal, credit cards, local apps, etc.) and in their local currency, to avoid transfer fees and to compete with the experience they have on local eCommerce sites.

SEO Translation

Translating your eCommerce site is not always enough. Increasing site traffic and local page visibility goes beyond translation. A major challenge that brands often face is improving search engine visibility and page ranking to be discoverable by local audiences and compete with local players.\

In order to do it right, keyword research should be conducted before starting the localization project. Some products have different names in different markets. keywords and phrases may have different meanings for each market. Selecting the appropriate terms is crucial if you want the right target audience to discover your site, and given that eCommerce businesses run online, we know there’s no chance of survival without proper SEO.

Marketing campaign localization

\Similar to SEO, marketing campaigns help you attract the right audience and generate traffic to your online store. Many times your local audience prefers to see ads in their native language. Localization of campaigns doesn’t stop with the language, you should also pay attention to culture and style preferences, seasonality, local holidays, and more.

Adapting your campaigns shows a significant increase in click-through rate and return on ad spend for advertisers that went through this effort.

Localizing content at every step of your sales funnel will help maximize conversion rates and avoid low retention rates. When you localize your e-commerce brand, you are opening the door to a comfortable, convenient shopping experience possible, no matter where in the world your customers are. From the first brand exposure to the checkout process, localization technology helps eCommerce brands attract new and returning retail customers.