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.”
Continued…