SUCCESS IN ANY LANGUAGE

SUCCESS IN ANY LANGUAGEWorking in the background, a small but dynamic group of companies is providing critical translation and interpretation services to growing numbers of governments and businesses.

When fashion website NET-A-PORTER launched in 2000, it was credited

with revolutionizing the world of online fashion retailing. When it added

a series of multilingual sites late last year, IT director Richard Lloyd-Williams

called it “one of the biggest events in NET-A-PORTER’s history.” It’s easy

to see why: While the retailer already ships to 170 countries, it now features

product descriptions and editorial content in French, German, and Chinese,

with more languages coming this year.

Language industry companies are offering increasingly sophisticated services,

and play a crucial role for businesses that want to expand their markets, fully

engage with customers, or deliver compelling products and content to diverse

communities.

Revenue Generator

Common Sense Advisory recently conducted a survey of the top global brands, and concluded that 60% of their websites are multilingual, averaging more than eight languages per site, with many offering 30 or more. Not surprisingly, Common Sense Advisory also found a striking correlation between offering multiple languages and making money. It discovered that among businesses with foreign-language websites, those that increased their translation budgets were 50% more likely to report an increase in total revenues than their Fortune 500 peers.

Even so, among the websites surveyed, a surprisingly large number rely

solely on English, says Don DePalma, founder of Common Sense Advisory, in

spite of what he says is a clear desire among the world’s consumers to be addressed in their own language.

DePalma cites another of the firm’s studies, called Localization Matters, which gauges both consumer and buyer attitudes in foreign countries toward engaging with vendors in English, versus their native tongue. In seven out of eight countries, close to 100% of respondents expressed a strong preference

for material in the local language. “Even in Sweden, which has a very high level of proficiency in English, 86% still want to see things in Swedish. And that preference increases in the post-purchase process. I call it the ‘pajama effect.’ Even if you speak English at work, it’s not your primary language.

And if you’re sitting in front of the computer at home shopping online, you’re relaxing, engaging the ‘home’ part of your brain.”

In spite of the clear data, adds DePalma, “some companies are late in recognizing the reality. The need for language services only comes to them as an fterthought, after they’ve saturated local markets. If you’re just selling in English, you’ve left a good portion of the world’s population outside, looking in.”

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