Common Sense Advisory surveyed 2,430 web consumers in eight countries to learn about how language affected their purchasing behaviors. They found that:

72.1% of consumers spend most or all of their time on websites in their own language.

72.4% of consumers said they would be more likely to buy a product with information in their own language.

56.2% of consumers said that the ability to obtain information in their own language is more important than price.

Harvard Business Review, 3 August 2012

Localisation is an essential part of international business. Beyond the translation of content, localisation involves adapting a message to suit a particular market. When a product or service is successfully localised, the intended audience perceive it as something created specifically for them. A well localised message should:

• Reflect local units of measure (currency, ways to tell the time), local spelling, national holidays;
• Reflects social roles and structure;
• Fit the audience’s colour, image and packaging preferences.

Whether you are a competitive player in the global business, or want to ensure that your products and services are accessed by a diverse community, localisation is an essential component of every linguistic assignment. It makes your product more attractive and can help you reach your audience better. It demonstrates that you care enough to research your intended markets’ cultural setting and adapt the message to suit your customers’ preferences.

To ensure that your product is effective in reaching your international audience, we are a language services company who works with a team of highly experienced translators, IT specialists and in-country linguists and can provide cross-cultural feedback, market scoping and culturally appropriate insight. Talking to us will save you time, money and frustration before you embark on that global expansion project.

Glossary

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