It is proven: localizing software or a website truly ensures the conduction of large scale international business. A study conducted by the consulting website Common Sense Advisory (www.commonsenseadvisory.com) has shown that nine in ten companies will prefer to buy products in the international market if they are adapted to the needs and language of their local market.
To compare the receptiveness of traders in relation to the purchase of localized and non-localized products, 351 international customers of software products were interviewed, distributed in eight countries: Brazil, China, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, Spain and Sweden.
The results were surprising. To give an idea, one in six buyers will never consider purchasing non-localized software! According to the research, even people fluent in English, a language frequently used to conduct global businesses, prefer to buy products that meet the requirements of their local markets. “This information clearly shows that even when people speak English fluently they prefer products in their native languages, because they want to learn about these products in their own language and use complex products adapted to their cultural and business environment”,
explains the head of research for Common Sense, Donald A. DePalma.
Among other information revealed by the research there is the fact that, for four in five buyers, having access to translated information and to localized software has major influence on their intentions of purchase, and more than 80% of the interviewees virtually disregard the product that does not make information properly translated available.
Software manufacturers must be aware of the new reality presented along with the globalized world, realizing that being fluent only in English is no longer enough to ensure the closure of business deals. We must enhance our perception to the unquestionable conclusion that languages are currently the true frontiers for profitability, making Localization the only visa that enables to overcome them, ensuring the conduction of commercial transactions in any country in the world.
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