The ultimate guide to mastering localized eCommerce

Localizing for international markets as an eCommerce retailer helps you tap into new markets without needing physical stores. It also facilitates greater brand engagement and trust with new audiences, which is critical for sustained growth amid fierce competition.

But what does it take to localize your website and online store for each locale? Moreover, how can you achieve the sales results you're looking for? In this article, we'll guide you through everything from getting started with localization to best practices to ensure international success.

What is eCommerce localization?

First, let's talk about what eCommerce localization means. In short, eCommerce localization is the process of adapting your website and online store for new markets around the world. Crucially, it is more than eCommerce website translation — that is, translating your website copy from one language to another. 

Instead, it's about tailoring all your eCommerce content to a new target market, from the product descriptions and even names to the pictures you use to advertise them to the product reviews to the checkout experience and more. The ultimate goal is to create a natural, seamless shopping experience for multilingual audiences — and make each target market feel as if your brand is local to them.

Benefits of localized eCommerce sites

Moving from a standardized experience to a localized experience can bode well for you and your business. Here are some of the benefits you can expect in the long term:

• Build customer loyalty through personalization: A CSA report found that 65% of consumers prefer content in their language — even if it's poor quality. By personalizing their experience and offering content in their native language, you show them you care. In turn, that builds trust and loyalty in your brand.
• Increase your market share and revenue: By tailoring language, content, and products to a specific local market, you can establish strong ties with your international customers and increase their purchase rates. As you're eating into your competitor's market, you increase your revenue, too.
• Scale the company in a shorter period: Traditional brick-and-mortar stores take years, if not decades, to scale and expand in different markets. But with a multilingual eCommerce site, you can enhance your reach and achieve that in months.
• Tap into a wealth of consumer behavior data: Once you localize your eCommerce store, you'll bring in more potential customers from your target region. You can gather vast amounts of region-specific data like purchasing behavior, demographics, and preferences. That will allow you to make data-driven decisions about marketing campaigns, product offerings, and more, which will eventually drive more customers from that region.

How to implement a successful eCommerce localization strategy in 4 steps

Your eCommerce website localization strategy should include four simple steps:

1. RESEARCH THE TARGET MARKET

First, you must understand the market, your competitors, and your unique competitive advantage — a crucial part of your overall global strategy — and ensure that there actually is a demand for your product or service in the target market. If there isn't, then localization only wastes time and resources.

If there is demand, you'll want to understand what that demand looks like: What are consumers in your target market looking for, and how would they prefer to purchase your product or service? Market research is, therefore, crucial. Conducting surveys and studying existing customer feedback, market trends, and industry- and region-specific trends will help you gain insights that will guide your localization strategy.

In addition, it's important to be mindful of different legal regulations and requirements. Daniel Chabert, CEO and co-founder of Purple Fire, says, "Companies try to replicate a successful model from one country into another without taking into account any of the legal stipulations that come with it. It can lead to major problems down the line so it's important to thoroughly research each market before launching your product."

Consider consumer protection laws, data privacy regulations, and intellectual property rules. The United States has a taxation requirement called "consumption tax" on eCommerce purchases. So, be sure to consult a local lawyer before localizing your materials. 

2. LOCALIZE YOUR DIGITAL PRESENCE

Partner with a language services provider specialized in eCommerce localization services like Smartling to localize all your digital channels — e.g., your eCommerce website, social media accounts, email marketing campaigns, help center, and other customer support materials. These channels act as touchpoints and play a huge role in conversion and retention. It also ensures your messaging is consistent regardless of the language or channel, which increases trust and brand awareness.

It's important to note that it's not enough to simply translate your text. You'll want to consider the linguistic conventions, cultural differences, and regional nuances of your customer groups to provide an optimal customer experience. That includes adapting naming conventions, date formats, currency formats, and payment methods.

It may also mean choosing to have some content go through a transcreation workflow to allow for a more creative form of translation in which your style, tone, and intent are incorporated to a greater degree. Transcreation is particularly useful for creative copywriting and marketing material where a strict translation wouldn't have the same emotional impact. (Smartling's transcreation tool was built specifically to facilitate this type of translation at scale.)

Finally, investing in multilingual search engine optimization (SEO) efforts can improve your search presence globally. As customers tend to search using phrases in their native language, incorporating translated and localized search terms on your web pages increases their visibility in search engines. That, in turn, enables customers to find your products online more easily.

3. LOCALIZE THE COMPLETE USER EXPERIENCE

After localizing your marketing materials and website copy, be sure to optimize the user experience of your eCommerce store, too.

• Shipping and import taxes: Shipping costs and taxes change depending on the sender and receiver location. For instance, countries like India have GST tax requirements. Make sure it's displayed separately so that the customer isn't blindsided.
• Checkout experience: Localize the currency and ensure that region-specific payment methods are available. For instance, countries like Germany prefer Sofort.

• Product personalization: Translate product descriptions and information, reviews, measurements, etc. Also, offer regionally popular products for a better experience.
• Local inventory optimization: Many consumers have gotten used to quick delivery times. So, ensure that the delivery period is accurate and based on real-time inventory levels.
• User interface (UI) elements: Optimize elements like call-to-action (CTA) buttons, navigation bar, drop-down lists, menu options, and error messages. Account for text expansion and contraction based on the language translations.

Integrations between your eCommerce software and your translation management system can help you do this seamlessly. For example, those who use Shopify as their eCommerce platform can leverage Smartling's Shopify connector to quickly send content from Shopify directly to Smartling for translation. And since Smartling provides visual context, your translators can see exactly where the text will appear on your page and adjust their translations for greater resonance with your target audience.

4. TEST, ITERATE, AND FINALIZE

Testing out the localized eCommerce website and store ensures everything is accurate. You can A/B test each element and make the necessary adjustments to maximize conversions. Here's what you can check for:

• Translations
• Spellings
• Links
• Payment checkout process
• Product personalization
• Cultural resonance
• On-page engagement
• Placement of UI elements 

Don't forget about your mobile users, either. Consumers use their phones to research products, check prices and offers, try augmented reality experiences, and purchase products. Moreover, retail m-commerce (mobile commerce) sales are expected to account for 59% of retail e-commerce sales in 2025. So, consider checking that the mobile experience for your target markets is localized and optimized to reduce friction and maximize conversions.

Note that this is a process, not a one-time project. You'll want to periodically review your analytics and iterate to ensure nothing hampers conversions.

How to localize your eCommerce site with Smartling

You're missing out on a big opportunity if eCommerce localization isn't an element of your go-to-market strategy. ECommerce localization allows you to expand your reach to new markets, which can lead to increased sales and revenue.

When done right, it also provides a seamless customer experience for online shoppers in international markets, which can lead to repeat customers and brand loyalty.

Not sure where to start? Smartling can help. With Smartling's eCommerce localization solutions and translation management system, eCommerce businesses can centralize all translations, maintain brand consistency, and streamline processes across marketing, product descriptions, and support content.

Smartling also offers a number of integrations with customer support platforms, such as Zendesk, ServiceNow, and Salesforce Knowledge, that can help a brand cater to the needs of global audiences, provide solutions for product-related problems, and build brand trust.

Learn more and take your eCommerce localization efforts to the next level. Download the eBook Top 5 Insights to Improve Your Localization Strategy now for tips from the best minds in the localization industry.