If you want your business to be more focused towards an international client base, translating your retail site could be just what you need.
However, using an untrained translator or getting bad advice can mean you will not achieve your plans of being able to connect with them.
Online retail has its own rules and quirks and in order to produce a good translation, the translator you hire must understand them and take them into consideration.
Online codes of retail
Online retail differs in many ways from its more traditional cousin, the brick-and-mortar store. The customer processes are quite clearly not the same and the reasons providing them to make purchases are not the same either.
Presentation of a product in a traditional shop, its packaging and availability, as well the attitude and efficiency of the sales assistant, play a key role in a customer’s buying experience in this sector.
There are any number of e-commerce sites where buyers can order practically anything, from clothes, to furniture, to cosmetics, to toys, or even food and tools for DIY or building things.
All of these things being just a click away. As surprising as that might seem, it is also possible to buy wood or fabric on these sites!
On a retail site, a number of other aspects should be taken into account, such as product photos, description, directions for use, reviews from previous customers and shipping fees to be paid. It is therefore key to be more rigorous than in-store retail, if you expect your brand to make a mark on the internet and within the digital industry.
Retail translation, the key to success for your retail site
If your retail site has been successful in your company, you probably dream of going global with it, and therefore making it multilingual.
To provide this, you can enlist a professional translation service that specialises in website localisation. If your site is already multilingual, you will surely know how vital communication through good-quality translation is in the market.
As we noted earlier, text accompanying product photos is a determining factor in making a purchase, offering the client an idea of a product even though it is not in front of them and to realise why this product is necessary to them and why they should buy it.
To enhance your product images and engage customers effectively, consider using a photo editing app.
If you unfortunately use the services of a poor-quality translator, they will have limited knowledge of how to communicate your brand’s spirit while adapting the content to the requirements of the target companies.
On the other hand, if you use a qualified translator who is an expert in retail, they will know how to reach your consumers and consequently, how to help you set yourself up in another part of the world.
The advantage of good retail translation services for your retail site
There are many advantages of a successful translation for your site:
- If your page is in another language, it will be more relevant and will resemble, as much as possible, the one you built in your mother tongue.
- Your brand or company’s buzzwords will be faithfully respected; the spirit that you want to give your brand will be maintained and adapted to the best of the professional’s ability.
- Your site will be adapted to the target audience and, if necessary, changes will be made to your original text to ensure that it meets the specific expectations of your international client base and doesn’t shock or offend them with certain terminology, slogans, product names or colours. What is acceptable in one country can differ greatly in another. For example, while white represents purity for Europeans, in Arab countries it is the colour of grief.
- Your international clients will therefore have a pleasant, user-friendly experience and probably won’t even realise that they are using a translated page, helping them to buy your products more easily.
How to know if the retail translation services used for your retail site are effective
There are several ways of checking whether the retail translation services that you ordered have been carried out, bearing in mind the criteria provided above.
If sales are not taking off in the countries targeted by your translation, that might indicate that your site hasn’t been translated thoroughly.
For example, maybe your product names haven’t been changed even though they should have been, or even that the description of your products and services hasn’t been appropriately written.
On the other hand, if your translated site is working, your linguist has most likely done a good job.
They have respected your requirements and produced an adapted text rather than just a literal translation of your source text.
If you need a reliable, efficient professional translation service for your retail site, look no further than our team of experts here at BeTranslated.
If you have any questions, or if would like to request a free, no-obligation quote, get in touch today.
