Translation and Localisation for a Successful E-Commerce Company - Creative Word

Many smaller e-commerce companies miss out on potential global sales, primarily due to failing to translate and localise their business for new international markets.

Exports of goods and services from the UK are worth £620.2 billion (as of March 2018) and show no sign of falling, even considering Brexit.

According to government sources, exports grew faster to Canada (up 12.7%), India (31.8%) and China (15.3%) than to the EU (10%).

Goods exports were up 10%, driven by a demand for manufactured goods, while services exports rose 4.2% due to strong global interest in the UK’s prestigious financial and travel services.

However, it is interesting to note that non-EU countries remain the main destination for UK services (£167.4 billion), making up 60.4% of all services exports.

Research from Barclays Corporate Banking found that 64% of consumers in India, 57% in China, and 48% in the UAE were prepared to pay more for goods made in the UK, because they perceive the quality as higher.

From the figures above, it is easy to see how translating your site into Hindi, Mandarin, or Arabic could potentially increase sales, and profits, for your e-commerce company.

However, translating your website can seem like a daunting process and localising your marketing materials can cause potential problems, but there are professional translation companies who can help make this a painless, profitable, and easily-manageable experience.

Assistance with matters such as localised product and packaging design, website translation, multilingual marketing and advertising, or help with App translation can make the difference between success or failure, and ease or effort.

The following points will help you make an informed choice about which translation services you might require, which translation provider will best suit your needs, and how to plan ahead for translation and localisation.

 

Choose your Language Requirements

The first decision you’re likely to make is which language, or languages, you might require.

If you already have a base of customers in a particular country, or your products and services are linked to a specific country, then this would be a natural first choice.

If not, then it is worth considering researching your options which might involve checking UK government sites, evaluating ease of doing business with potential countries, and estimating which markets have the greatest potential.

Talking to a professional translation services provider can help you make an informed choice which is likely to lead to greater success, and a smooth transition to international sales.

 

Select a Professional Language Provider

Once you’ve chosen your desired language(s) it is worth selecting a professional language provider at an early stage as they can help with planning, preparation and managing your project.

It is often tempting to save money at this point by using free machine translation tools such as, Google Translate but these tools have limited reliability and accuracy, and are more likely to cause you translation problems than a professional translation team.

Research has shown that most of us are inclined to leave a website without purchasing if it isn’t grammatically correct, linguistically accurate, or primarily based in our native language. The investment in professional language services will pay rewards in the long run.

 

Plan Ahead for Translation and Localisation

Before looking at how to plan ahead for translation and localisation it is worth clarifying exactly what these terms mean;

Translation – this is, in its most basic form, changing a document or text from its original (source language) into a second language (target). Translating doesn’t necessarily account for difference in culture, area, or local dialect variances, so elements such as humour, or idioms, may not be transferable with translation.

Localisation – this is far more detailed than translation alone, and will account for all variances in location. For instance, if you are using Arabic translation to appeal to a Middle Eastern market, localisation will give you numerous different translations, based upon location and dialect, as the Arabic language spoken in one Middle Eastern country can vary widely to another.

Now that the difference between translation and localisation are clear, you can begin to see why the need to plan ahead is vital.

Budgeting for your translation and localisation requirements is easier when you are familiar with specific language requirements, also, achieving precise targets is more straightforward when you are aware of potential pitfalls and issues, and have planned in advance for problems, where possible.

Advance planning for translation and localisation is likely to encompass points such as:

Design – this might include elements such as, website design, product packaging, advertising and marketing, which all need to adjust in line with locale, and should ensure that elements such as creative flair and linguistic expertise are combined for best effect.

Budget – we’ve already touched briefly on budgets above, but they should ideally be created in discussion with your translator, or your translation project manager. They are best placed to advise on realistic budgets, targets, time constraints, and requirements based upon your language needs.  Costs and quality can vary greatly, so be sure to shop round when selecting a professional translation service provider to work with on your project.

Language requirements – advance planning is helpful when considering language choice as issues can arise with text expansion (when the target language takes up more space than the original), regional dialects, and the number of translations you require. For instance, translating your website into just the top five languages used around the world could expand your business reach, and increase potential client contact to around 4 billion people.

Translating your e-commerce business for new markets can seem like a lengthy and costly concern, however, the return-on-investment far out-weighs the initial outlay.

If you would like to discuss your language requirements with a trusted translation company, please contact us at Creative Word and we’ll be happy to help.

We are linguistic experts, who work alongside top designers and industry specialists, to ensure your language requirements are fully satisfied.