Ecommerce allows brands and retailers to reach customers across the globe, yet doing that successfully is rarely a simple matter. Assuming that ecommerce instantly opens up the market but ignoring the importance of localisation when selling overseas could mean missing out on sales. So what aspects of localisation should retailers consider?
In this white paper, produced by InternetRetailing with our partner TranslateMedia, we look at six areas of localisation best practice that retailers should aim to master in order to maximise their international potential.
We find it’s not just about the right language but also about the right words. Context and culture can play pivotal roles in ensuring a retailer is delivering the right tone of voice in their marketing messages. Equally, understanding everything from local shopping habits to payment preferences and delivery expectations can be influencing factors as to who and where an international customer chooses to shop. Retailers don’t have unlimited resources and true localisation can require levels of investment that retailers can’t always justify when weighed against the rewards of operating in individual markets. Instead, they should aim to understand where different levels of localisation could have the biggest impact. In our research for this white paper, we use analysis from RetailX’s EU Top500 to reveal the current state of play within Europe, providing a valuable benchmark for retailers to measure their international business against. We use the expertise of TranslateMedia’s team of linguists to provide a deep-dive analysis into some of the localisation strategies pursued by three leading international retailers – Pull&Bear, L’Occitane and H&M – to see how they compare. We also feature interviews with British luxury brands Smythson and Childrensalon to understand how they localise their businesses for success. We hope that this research, along with the checklist we have put together, help to show where localisation can have the biggest impact.
Inside the white paper:
- Checklist: Six best practice localisation strategies
- Focus 1. Localisation: Understanding its role
- Focus 2. Language: Making yourself understood
- Focus 3. Context & culture: Why it’s about more that just words
- Focus 4. The full package: The need to localise operations
- Focus 5. SEO: Optimising for local markets
- Focus 6. Social media: Keeping on top of international interaction
- Interviews with British luxury brands Smythson and Childrensalon to understand how they localise their businesses for success.
- Deep-dive analysis into some of the localisation strategies pursued by three leading international retailers – Pull&Bear, L’Occitane and H&M – to see how they compare
