Retailers and retail manufacturers looking for new customers — especially if they’re based in the United States — should look beyond their comfort zones and expand into international markets. The savviest and most affordable way to do this is with localized e-commerce websites.
But this means more than having an English website available for global consumers. In fact, English-only sites often have abysmal conversion rates in non-English speaking markets. The language barrier is real, and it’s resulting in lost sales and lost opportunities for retailers and retail manufacturers. In contrast, translated websites engage these international consumers and herald meaningful lifts in traffic, conversion and revenue.
So, which global web trends are maximizing companies’ global e-commerce sales? We examined data generated by the more than 1,000 localized websites we operate every day for global brands. Here are four noteworthy trends:
Mobile-Friendly Means More Sales
When Google made changes to its search algorithm last April to boost the ranking of mobile-friendly websites on searches made on mobile devices, it warned that companies unwilling to adopt responsive design would experience a “significant decrease in rankings in mobile search results.”
Google also announced that the update would impact mobile searches hailing from all locations, in all languages, too.
We analyzed the impact of Google’s update on 40 of our clients’ localized sites. Sure enough, companies that operated “mobile-unfriendly” websites in international markets generated far less organic traffic than before — some by nearly 40%.
Companies that implemented our mobile-friendly recommendations saw growth in mobile impressions — often by nearly 25%. Conversions and revenue were higher than before Google’s update, too.
The takeaway: These changes are serious stuff, particularly for international sites. Companies must ensure that traffic — and conversion and sales — aren’t negatively affected in global markets when such search-related changes occur.
Social Is E-Commerce Catnip
Global consumers are increasingly empowered to easily recommend products through their preferred social networks — and it’s generating a wildfire of referral traffic to e-commerce sites.
For instance, user recommendations made on China’s most popular social networks (like WeChat and Sina Weibo) are now “the most important factor” informing a Chinese consumer’s buying decision.
Our research confirms this. Within a few months of integrating its Chinese site’s functionality with social networks WeChat, Weibo and QQ, one of our clients saw a 30% surge in referral traffic. This hailed exclusively from social networks. These users were soon delivering 10% of the site’s total revenue — and that number is still rising.
The lesson? Leverage social networks in your global marketing and retail efforts.
One Site Can Serve Many Markets
Interesting fact: Localized websites don’t just generate traffic and sales from residents in target markets. Consumers living beyond those countries’ borders also visit and shop on those sites. This poses an opportunity to connect with even more potential shoppers, at no extra cost.
Consider a Spanish-language website for Spanish-speaking U.S. Hispanics. This translated site also attracts consumers throughout Latin America. For instance, Mexicans regularly visit U.S. e-commerce sites. U.S. Hispanics spend nearly 20% more per order online than the U.S. average — but Mexicans spend nearly 95% more AOV than U.S. Hispanics do. That’s a powerful untapped market.
Spanish-speaking consumers in other underserved markets are also out searching the web for products. Spanish sites that follow our best practices often see 60% of their organic traffic hail from Latin American markets. AOVs from these consumers are often higher than average.
Optimization Technologies Help Win Markets
Launching translated websites in new markets certainly gets results — but my company learned long ago that this strategy can’t deliver sustained business success.
Why? Website localization isn’t just about translation. Consider that your primary market website requires tools and teams to drive traffic and engagement to meet your business goals. Your localized sites require the same TLC.
Recent breakthroughs in the website localization industry have led to affordable optimization tools that generate more traffic, engagement and conversion for global websites. Tools now exist for:
· Intelligent on-site language preference detection to boost traffic;
· Translated on-site search to increase engagement;
· URL localization and optimization to generate more organic traffic; and
· On-site localized promotions to create authentic shopping experiences for local customers.
As you explore your options and website globalization providers, consider the effort and resources your company currently invests in finding new website visitors for its primary market English site. You’ll want a website translation partner that has the same success-boosting tools for your global websites.
Collaborating with the right partner can accelerate your time to market — and your timeline to ROI.
by: Charles Whiteman | SVP Client Services, MotionPoint | via Retail-Merchandiser.com