Today’s Internet Retailer article, “More e-retailers speak consumers languages,” highlights a growing trend for online merchants to translate their site into difference languages and reach a global audience. 1800Flowers translated their site into Canadian French with the help of an outside web translation company and are now reaping the benefits of an additional market. Other big brand companies, like Home Depot, have translated their site into Spanish not only to reach consumers abroad, but also to cater to the large population of Spanish speakers here in the United States.
Investing in a multi-lingual shopping cart is undoubtedly a smart idea for business owners looking to expand online in a world without walls and sell more products. So why isn’t everyone doing it?
Well, the truth of the matter is, while companies like 1800Flowers and Home Depot have the money and resources to spend the better part of a year hiring expensive translators to perfectly convert their sites into foreign languages, most small to medium businesses don’t. And when it seems like the only alternative is some DIY action with free and notoriously inaccurate online translation tools, it’s probably better not to do it at all.
Now, there are a few quality ecommerce providers that offer multi lingual shopping cart capabilities as part of their all-in-one solution. ShopVisible is one these globally minded providers.
ShopVisible’s multi-lingual shopping cart doesn’t claim to the Nabokov of translators, but it does a pretty good job of translating sites into a host of languages quickly, and much more accurately than the cheap alternatives. In addition to site translation, ShopVisible makes shipping overseas as easy as possible. With an international shipping calculator, merchants can instantly calculate costs in foreign currencies at nearly real time exchange rates.
Storefronts powered by ShopVisible have experienced great success overseas with their multi-lingual sites. One of these success stories is our client, Hairmax, seller of a renowned lasercomb that promotes the re-growth of hair. At the top of the Hairmax landing page, visitors can find a preferred language drop down menu, and can easily switch between seven languages, including Spanish, Japanese, and Italian. Hairmax continues to help consumers worldwide with their universal product.
If you are looking to grow your online business this year by reaching audiences abroad, take a look at ShopVisible’s multi-lingual capabilities. The web knows no borders, so why not take advantage of an overseas markets?
ShopVisible is an ecommerce solution headquartered in Atlanta, GA.
