How to Build Your Multilingual E-commerce Store in 2021?

Pranav September 8, 2021October 25, 2021

E-commerce has been growing at a breakneck speed over the last decade. This is due to how easy it is to shop online and have products delivered to your doorstep. However, one of the major challenges that sellers face in this industry is expanding their business into foreign markets. Entering a new market can be costly and time-consuming if you don’t know what you’re doing – but it doesn’t have to be! In this blog post, I’ll share some tips on how to build and optimize a multilingual e-commerce store.

Step #1: Decide your domain strategy

You can create a multilingual website in one of two ways: by using subdomains or by using different domains. That implies you can have a single website domain with other-language linked pages, or you can have different domains for multilingual content.

Both approaches have benefits and drawbacks. Although the subdomain option is less expensive (you won’t have to pay for dozens of URLs and domains), it comes with a considerably larger risk of broken links. A separate domain approach is easier to set up and has fewer issues, but it is far more expensive.

Step #2 Choose a platform

To go along with your e-commerce site, you’ll require shopping cart software. Credit card processing will most likely involve the use of a payment gateway, but if you already have a history and a solid credit rating, you might be able to take advantage of merchant services to reduce transaction fees.

E-commerce platform packages make it easier than ever to start an online business, offering a diverse selection of different solutions.

There are numerous e-commerce themes accessible, so designing your e-commerce website doesn’t have to be pricey.

Which e-commerce software is appropriate for your company is totally dependent on your needs. If you’re an online-only firm, POS integration isn’t necessary; however, if you have a lot of business from other countries, foreign currency support is required.

Here are some of the greatest e-commerce platforms currently accessible, before moving on to alternative possibilities for building your own e-commerce solution.

1. Shopify

Shopify is probably the most famous e-commerce platform available. Even without technical or creative experience, you may easily establish a stylish online business. You don’t need any technical or design knowledge to effortlessly develop a gorgeous internet store.

Features

A Shopify online store can be up and running in minutes, according to the company.
Users can choose from a variety of templates or create their own custom look and feel for their store.
It supports a wide variety of credit cards, has Level 1 PCI compliance and 256-bit SSL encryption for protection,
24/7 customer service via phone, instant messaging, or email.
Shopify also provides users with limitless store hosting. This implies you don’t have to acquire web hosting or install software because it runs on its own servers.

Pricing

Shopify Basic is $29 per month (plus 2.9% + 30% on each transaction).
The Shopify package is $79 per month (plus 2.6% + 30% on each sale).
Advanced Shopify costs $299 per month (plus 2.4% + 30% on each sale).
The cost of Shopify Plus starts at $2000 per month. To avoid additional expenses, use Shopify Payments.

2. BigCommerce

BigCommerce was launched in 2009 with the goal of supporting your business, not just your store. It’s now a publicly traded corporation on the Nasdaq.

Features

A wide range of layouts and themes to help retailers look their best and get up and running quickly.
A full-featured content management system (CMS) that enables users to manage an entire website rather than simply a store.
Available resources and security as required.
Access to e-commerce articles and videos/
A team of e-commerce professionals that can provide advice and direction regarding online selling.
Phone, instant chat, and email support.
A host and security suite that ensures top-notch performance.

Pricing

BigCommerce has 3 monthly pricing options ranging from $29.95 to $299.95, as well as a custom-priced Enterprise package.
It offers a 15-day free trial, so you can test it out without risk.

3. Squarespace

You don’t have a lot of time as a startup, therefore you need an e-commerce platform that can grow with you. Squarespace‘s powerful promotional capabilities enable you to start making money right away.

Features

Out of all the platforms, Squarespace has the most visually appealing designs.
It offers a mobile app for entrepreneurs on the move as well as powerful promotional capabilities.
Professionally designed templates and a simple website editor can help you make a great first impression.
All major credit cards, Stripe, Apple Pay, and PayPal are all supported.
All Squarespace plans include unlimited bandwidth and storage, as well as hosting for your site and its content.
You can transfer a domain from a third-party supplier to Squarespace or leave it registered and hosted with the third-party service and connect it to your Squarespace site.

Pricing

The Personal plan costs $12 per month (paid annually). It’s ad-free and comes with a one-year free domain name.
The Business package is $18 per month and includes marketing tools.
E-commerce functionalities are available in the Online Stores Basic ($26/month) and Advanced ($40/month) tiers.

4. Magento

Built for businesses, Magento gives you complete control over your website, allowing your web developer to construct a one-of-a-kind online presence while retaining server independence.

Magento, as an Adobe product, provides the most configurable solution for large businesses with aspirations to expand. Staff with no technical knowledge will be grateful for the simple, accessible interface that lets them easily administer and monitor your organization, even if they have to hire a developer to get started. Magento’s open-source and hosted software suits large organizations rather well.

Features

Use drag-and-drop tools to update or create product pages.
Detailed tools for creating bespoke reports and analytics.
Personalized product recommendations powered by AI.
Quicker product placement with visual merchandising tools.
There are about 100 typical reports available.
Customer loyalty tools built-in.
Gift registries and wish lists.

Pricing

Open Source Magento ($15,000+)
Magento Commerce ($22,000+) is a software platform that allows you to sell your products online.
Magento Commerce Cloud (about $40,000)

5. Weebly

In both design and maintenance, a Weebly store is intended to be user-friendly. As a result, it’s a good solution for solopreneurs, tiny businesses, or persons who don’t have much experience with web development. Users of various skills should feel comfortable creating a dependable store because of the ease of usage.

Features

Products are limitless.
Inventory control is important.
Gift cards and coupons
Calculator for taxes on the fly
Over 300 e-commerce apps are integrated.
Stripe and Square are two popular payment processors.
To operate your e-commerce site, you’ll need a mobile app.

Pricing

The Personal plan at Weebly starts at $6 per month (paid yearly).
Professional adds video and membership features for $12 per month. It also removes the Weebly ad and provides a one-year free domain name.
Weebly Performance costs $25 per month (for serious internet stores).

Step #3 Translate your content

The most common misunderstanding when it comes to creating a multilingual website is that activating a plugin would automatically translate all of the material for you. This is only partially true.

Use caution while using machine translation tools and services. You should have your work translated or at the very least double-checked by a human. Using a professional e-commerce translation service is the way to go, although it is not the most practical choice. Human translators can examine language from an emotional and contextual standpoint, resulting in a more accurate translation of your work.

Every decision you make, just like any other website, should be based on functionality and overall user experience (UX). As a result, one of your most important responsibilities is to decide how users will select a language on your website.

A handy drop-down menu is one of the most popular and effective ways to provide language selection alternatives.

After you’ve decided on a location for your menu, you can start thinking about how it will look.

First and foremost, you must make a list of all the languages that you will provide to your users. Then you should think about how you’ll list them on the menu and what sequence you’ll put them in.

Companies often use one of two methods to accomplish this: flags or text. We recommend sticking with a text-based solution. Flags do not represent languages, but rather countries.

Because the same language might be spoken in different countries—for example, French in Canada and Spanish in Mexico—flags on a language selection menu may cause some users to become confused.

These menus are usually seen at the top-right corner of a website’s homepage. Users will naturally look there since it is the most commonly recognized and apparent place to put them.

Alternatively, depending on the design and your personal preferences, you might simply put a list of languages to choose from in your website’s header, footer, or sidebar.

Step #4 Localization

It’s not only about correctly translating the language on a multilingual website. If you’re building a multilingual e-commerce site, keep in mind currency conversions and marketing sensitivities in different regions.

Translating a language as it is spoken in different countries is also part of localizing your website. Even if a language is spoken all across the world, different dialects exist depending on where you are.

Users anticipate a nice welcome when they visit your website; otherwise, they will go almost immediately. As a result, getting the language right and localizing for each country will lower your bounce rate and boost your SEO.

If you’re seriously looking to localize and tap into lucrative international markets, you need to think about the following factors.

1. Language

The importance of language in e-commerce localization cannot be overstated. If you want to break into a local market, the first step is to figure out what language to utilize. For example, research shows that the Indian public prefers more Hindi-language content. In fact, in the last few years, searches for Hindi content have increased by more than 100%. A similar increase has also been observed in the country’s other regional languages. Customers will find material written in their native language to be easier to grasp, increasing their likelihood of purchasing from you.

6. SEO

When it comes to e-commerce localization, SEO is another important factor to consider. You must determine which terms are most likely to be used by your target audience. Even if English is the local language, a search word may be phrased differently than it would be by a consumer from another country.

7. Customer experience

Aside from language, how you communicate has a big impact on how well you provide a good client experience. Formalities and pleasantries, for example, can differ from one country to the next. Customers want businesses to converse with them in a casual manner in America, therefore informal is the way to go. Will such a method, on the other hand, succeed in more formal societies like Germany or Japan? Make sure you know the correct words and phrases to use while welcoming your customers by doing some research. Here are a few more things to think about while striving to improve the customer experience:

Product description – Create a product description that is truthful and written in such a way that the target customer believes each product and description is unique. The most crucial aspect of localization is having multilingual professionals who can convert your entire website into the language of new target audiences, including database-driven content, product descriptions, and graphics. This must be done with caution and awareness of cultural differences.
Currency conversion – Payments and currency are two issues that many new e-commerce firms neglect. Local internet buyers prefer to see costs that they can comprehend rather than having to deal with the hassle of conversions. When pricing your items or services, remember to account for local taxes and exchange rates. Customer preferences for a payment provider should also be taken into consideration.
FAQs and Policy – You should double-check that your FAQ page has been translated correctly. Furthermore, while many inquiries are universal, you should think about certain additional questions that overseas clients might have, such as those about increased shipping charges and delivery timeframes. Don’t abandon your consumers in the middle of nowhere. Ascertain that all of their policy questions are answered in their native tongue. Customers should have a clear understanding of the terms you’re offering, with no opportunity for ambiguity or doubt that could lead to problems later. Customers who are disappointed are the last thing you want.
Customer service – When customers can ask questions and receive answers in their own language, their trust in you grows, and they are more likely to return to shop with you. Incorporate e-mail and innovative customer care methods like live chat and live phone to provide a more personalized experience.

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