Index
Other categories
20 June 2018
Expand Your Business Globally with Multilingual E-commerce: Find Your Perfect Platform
One of the first questions to face when deciding to start a multilingual e commerce project is: which language to choose?
Choosing a multilingual e commerce seems to be the most sensible choice given the opening of world markets to the online market, but deciding what you actually need for the growth of your business is not so simple.
Very often the answer is not the result of an objective analysis but oblivious to emotionality: "In addition to Italian, we do English because we need it today, then French because we have some customers in France, then Spanish because we would like to open to Latin America..."Figuring out where to target your market cannot be limited to these considerations.
The choice of language for a multilingual e commerce is mainly related to the markets you intend to attack with your business action.
A serious strategy cannot be limited to inserting a Google Tanslator plugin that more or less effectively translates site content into Italian.
Choosing a multilingual e commerce: what you need to know
Sales data is a great driver for assessing target markets.
However, there are better tools for identifying markets and consequently languages to activate on your e commerce, such as using the intersection of Google Analytics data with data available from tools such as Semrush and Google Trends applied to your current site (e commerce or not). Through these tools you will have insights into where your visitors are coming from in terms of their country of origin, their language and the keywords they are using to find your shop.
However, this is not enough to ensure the success of an e commerce internationalization project. You need to be able to analyze in detail the target market that emerged from the data analysis and turn to specific consulting firms that verify that the opportunity to sell in that country/area is concrete and feasible.
If you choose to implement your e commerce in more than one language you should also put in against that you will need to pay close attention to the aspects related to the localization of the shop for that specific market.
Localization, for example, requires the ability to handle pricing in other currencies, to properly manage the billing and shipping aspects of items according to the rules of the buyer's country, and to provide a shopping experience consistent with the target audience.
This also implies having a price list for that country, specific terms of sale and privacy if provided, specific promotions, and content created specifically for that target market.
The choice of audience implies the need for marketing positioning in the country where you want to start selling with an SEO and SEM strategy optimized for that specific audience.
Once the language is chosen, product sheets and all content need to be translated; customer care will be needed to meet the needs of those who will contact the e commerce writing in those languages.
And once everything is in place, your shop should be able to identify the visitor by his IP or browser language or by the language of preference indicated during registration (if he is a returning customer) and automatically present content in the language of preference.
Rewix: the multilingual e commerce platform that's right for you
If you want to embark on a path of internationalization of your company's business action and have decided to start a multilingual e commerce, you will definitely need a professional hand and the right e commerce platform.
Rely on Rewix, a multilingual platform born with the international vocation and with a track record of more than 100,000 orders per year shipped to more than a hundred countries around the world.