Guide To Cross-Border E-Commerce: Key For Success In The 21st Century

E-commerce has forever changed the global business landscape, which requires companies to shift from the traditional standardised business model to the new innovative business model. As e-commerce allows businesses to reach a larger scale of consumers, localisation is a necessity to survive and thrive in this new business environment. This article discusses the pros and cons of e-commerce in the 21^st century and provides some practical tips to leverage localisation to make your e-commerce business wildly successful.

E-commerce in the 21^st century

Electronic commerce or e-commerce refers to the buying and selling activities of products or services over the Internet. E-commerce businesses employ some or all of the electronic activities and transactions: online shopping via mobile apps and websites, providing or participating in online marketplaces, business-to-business buying and selling, marketing to prospective and established customers via e-mail, and online financial exchanges.

Convenience is the fundamental reason for the success of e-commerce. Customers perform their browsing and buying right at their desks. E-commerce allows customers to purchase products from other countries. It can also help customers to buy a wider range of products while saving their time. In short, e-commerce enables customers to overcome geographical barriers and allows them to purchase products at anytime and from anywhere. Yet, e-commerce also provides customers with significant power. E-commerce enables customers to research products and compare prices among retailers.

E-commerce markets are growing at dramatic rates. Within 5 years from 2015 to 2020, the e-commerce market is expected to grow by 56%. Retail online sales worldwide amounted to 2.3 trillion US dollars in 2017 and online revenues are forecasted to grow to 4.88 trillion US dollars in 2021. During the same time, traditional markets are only expected 2% growth.

Localisation as key for success in e-commerce battlefield

To leverage the perks of e-commerce, multinational businesses are suggested to remain true to their brand while manage to effectively localise their online presence. Their websites and other online channels require more than basic translation. To increase competitiveness, multinational brands’ websites must continually innovate their outlook, yet employ proper cultural elements. In this scenario, proper localisation is vital in targeting specific audiences because cultural factors naturally drive consumers’ purchasing behaviours.

For multinational e-commerce companies, their websites and mobile apps are the most important elements that need to be considered first for localisation. By simply localising websites and mobile apps, e-commerce companies can expand their ability to reach a wider audience with minimal effort. At the same time, they can establish trust in their products and services. Due to the shift to online shopping, there is a rising demand for personally tailored user experience. As a result, human translators are in high demand because of the need for fine-tuning a translation to appear familiar and colloquial to reach global audiences. Elements such as imagery, textual content, and user experience require to be crafted according to individual and local cultural requirements.

Expert in localisation

When multinational companies first enter a market, establishing an in-house localisation team can be daunting and costly. Therefore, partnering with an expert in localisation who understands the market is a wiser choice. elionetwork has more than 20 years of experience in localisation. We have a translation team of professional writers who are equipped with cultural intelligence of markets across America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania. Additionally, our experienced project managers ensure that the user interfaces across online platforms are taken into consideration during the translation process to optimise the look, feel and usability according to local taste and culture. Contact us today so we can help you to strategically plan for your translation and localisation plan.