Global Online Business: Gap between Business Priorities and Consumer Expectations

A survey conducted by the translation company Transperfect shows that many online businesses are undervaluing the power of website translation and localization. The survey involved executives of internationally focused companies and online consumers.

While 63 percent of the consumers who participated in the survey said they are more likely to buy from a website available in their native languages, only 19 percent of executives surveyed called translating information online a high priority. This clearly shows a gap between the value some companies attribute to quality localization and translation and the importance shoppers place on these elements.

Expedia launches Korean Website

Expedia, the world’s largest online travel agency, has launched its Korean language website (expedia.co.kr), making it official that the U.S.-based firm has entered one of Asia’s fastest growing travel markets.

Daniel Lynn, Expedia Asia CEO, said Wednesday that the cyber-based travel agency will provide Korean travellers with a comprehensive set of products including hotels, plane tickets, rental cars and more. The company is currently operating  in 23 countries and plans to add 10 more by 2012, with about 75 million people visiting its websites worldwide each month.

If someone asked you to name some big-hitting websites, what would you come up with? Google, Yahoo, Ebay……Alibaba? This may be the first you’ve heard of it, but alibaba.com is China’s leading commercial online marketplace. Run by entrepreneur extraordinaire David Wei, the site is worth a staggering £7.5 billion, and is a trailblazer when it comes to international trade online. Yahoo recently acquired a 40% stake in the company, with Alibaba chairman Jack Ma also presiding over Yahoo’s Chinese presence.
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Global companies such as Coca-Cola and Toyota have different websites for specific countries. They haven’t just translated the content of their sites; they have localized them to specific target markets. Website localization is the process of modifying and adapting an existing website to make it culturally suitable to a target audience. The website localization process usually implies the translation of the website to another language but it is not solely limited to that. It also includes changes in the design, colour, symbols, style of the language, etc. This is what we do for our clients.

If someone asked you to name some big-hitting websites, what would you come up with? Google, Yahoo, Ebay……Alibaba? This may be the first you’ve heard of it, but alibaba.com is China’s leading commercial online marketplace. Run by entrepreneur extraordinaire David Wei, the site is worth a staggering £7.5 billion, and is a trailblazer when it comes to international trade online. Yahoo recently acquired a 40% stake in the company, with Alibaba chairman Jack Ma also presiding over Yahoo’s Chinese presence.

In a recent interview with the Guardian, Wei was keen to talk up the potential of small and medium UK firms, stating that ‘a large and growing number of UK firms want to sell to China as much as they want to buy’ (The Guardian, 23/1/10, Philip Inman).  He has suggested it is these fledgling firms that pack the greatest punch when it comes to international vision, going against the grain of more established business practice to foster a culture of innovation and wholehearted ambition.

With Alibaba looking to make a splash in the UK and European markets, small and medium business leaders should see Wei’s optimistic assertion as a rallying cry to push their ventures towards international status.

While the recent controversy over Google’s threats to pull out of China has set debate raging, it’s fair to say it represents a blip on an otherwise highly impressive and rapidly developing track record of international business co-operation. With internet availability on the rise among tech-savvy customer bases the world over; firms with serious long-term ambition must increasingly factor the international arena into their business plans.

At WT24, we assist companies trying to expand their online commercial presence into international markets such as the Chinese market! Our work involves full website translation, SEO content translation for Meta tags, descriptions, keyword analysis translation…etc. We are just a click away for more details!

Article written by: Nick Hagan, Business Journalist