One of the great things about the internet is that with a credit card merchant account you can sell your product or service anywhere around the world with much ease.
To maximize the global reach of your products and services, it is vital to provide international customers with web pages localized in their native language, and customized to their cultural surroundings, and customs.
Simply translating your web site, into various languages is a very important first step, but it is not enough. When doing business internationally, besides language, you have to pay close attention to measurement units, currencies, and time and dates.
Languages
People prefer to speak, interact, and do business in their own language, for one obvious reason: because it is easier for them to do so. Therefore having your web site available in their language significantly increases the chances that they’ll choose you instead of your competitors, and that they will successfully complete transactions on your site.
Measurements
There are various measurement systems used around the world, the 2 leading ones being the metric, and the British Imperial systems. Contrary to popular belief the Imperial units used in the USA and the UK, are not all identical. There are variations between the American and British units when it comes to tons, ounces, pints, gallons, and a few other units.
Whether you are US/UK based and try to expand overseas, or whether you are from a metric country trying to expand in the US or the UK, it is strategically important to provide product specs in both the metric and imperial units. Gallons and Feet don’t mean anything to someone in Germany or Japan, just like centiliters, and cubic meters, might not mean anything to someone in the USA or Britain.
Currency
Besides measurement units, currencies play a major role in successfully targeting international customers. I would recommend that you provide prices (or estimates) in at least the following currencies: US Dollar, Euro, British Pound, Japanese Yens; plus many others depending on your product or service, and to whom you are targeting it.
The introduction of the Euro currency in Europe, will greatly facilitate doing business within the EU, and both European as well as non-European companies (especially web based ones) will benefit a lot from Euro’s debut.
You have to be careful when posting prices in various currencies, because exchange rates fluctuate daily. I recommend that you state the actual price in your currency of use, and mention that all price quotations in various other currencies are mere estimates. Also credit card companies charge currency conversion fees to your foreign customers whenever they buy across borders, from a foreign store that uses a different currency.
Time & Date
If you list customer support phone numbers and office hours on your site, you should mention for which time zone those hours apply. Perhaps you should even list the same office hours relative to other time zones. In many countries around the world where there is a single time zone in use, people there tend to believe that the entire world is one time zone, that observes the same time as they do. As a result a lot of frustrations and inconveniences may arise both for your business staff and your clients.
Phone Prefixes and Country Codes
With phone numbers, don’t forget to list the country’s telephone code (prefix), so that international customers may reach you easily. Speaking of codes, a good way of tracking current and potential customers, is the 2 letter country code used by web site domains, and e-mail addresses. If you get many inquiry e-mails that end with .kr, then perhaps there is a sudden interest in your product from people in Korea. Or if your web site access logs show a lot of visitors from domains ending in .de, then Germans are flocking to your web site. Those 2 letter codes can give you a lot of information about the success of your international ad & promotion campaigns, as well as knowledge of where there is interest (or lack of) in your company.
Conclusion
I recommend that you try to accommodate as much as possible, an international audience to your web site, no matter where you are based in the world. In this highly competitive world, every sale counts, and your competitor is just a few seconds or clicks away.
There are various software utilities and web sites that provide you with information and assistance on measurement units, currency exchange rates, and information on time zones. If you have the means, you may even hire globalization consultants or firms to review and revise your web sites.
Cosmin Smeu is the creator of Globex, a useful Windows application comprising of various tools such as a “World Clock”, a “Currency Exchanger”, a “Measurement Converter”, and a “Country Codes Browser”!
Download your FREE TRIAL copy of Globex at: http://www.cosmin.com You may reach Cosmin at cosmin@cosmin.com
