Preparing to take your website to international customers is an exciting time for your company. By expanding your reach, you’re offering more people the chance to work with you and benefit from what you do as a company. However, it is not as simple as opening up the floor to those residing in a different county from you. You need to be able to support your client base on an individual level, much like you do for your national residents, to facilitate a smoother relationship and provide ease of access to what you do.
These tips help ensure your website is ready for your international customers and remove as many roadblocks as possible to an email transition.
Localise The Website
Localising your website is a crucial step that brings numerous benefits. It ensures that your website can be easily translated into the user’s preferred language, opening up your business to a wider audience. By following local and cultural design rules, you can provide a smooth experience for each user, regardless of their location. This needs to be done for each country you’re expanding into. While Google Translate can do an excellent job, some words and phrases don’t always translate well. Therefore, making the necessary changes and adaptations will work better for your new customer base, giving you the confidence that you’re providing a user-friendly experience.
Let’s look at a couple of good examples. Apple, a global brand, has constantly translated its content for every country in which it accepts orders. Each website is identical, and users get the same experience regardless of their location. This consistency in user experience is a key factor in Apple’s success. On the other hand, Starbucks’ Japanese and US sites are vastly different, which works well in their respective countries. Both countries’ customers use a website specifically designed to meet their needs in a format they can understand and prefer. These examples show how localising your website can enhance user experience and cater to the preferences of your international customers.
International Payment Options
Accepting payments from different countries, banking institutions, and currencies can be challenging, but it’s a crucial step in preparing your website for international customers. Your prices need to reflect changes in currencies so that customers can easily understand what they’re paying. You also need to be able to process payments in the right currency. Not everyone pays in these currencies, even if your prices are in £ or $. Therefore, finding an appropriate international payment gateway is vital for facilitating transactions, protecting both you and the customer, and ensuring a secure and prepared business operation.
Don’t overlook the need for diverse payment options and currency choices. Accepting payments in all major applications in each country is vital. For example, for those expanding into the US, accepting payments for PayPal, Venmo, Cash App, Apple Pay, and Google Pay is required. However, for the UK, Venmo and Cash App are not widely used, so accepting payment via Klarna, for example, is a good idea. This inclusive approach ensures that you’re considerate of your customer’s preferences and needs, fostering a positive relationship with your international clientele.
Increase Support
One major thing you need to be aware of when scaling your ecommerce venture globally is that everyone will be indifferent to time zones. Simply offering support assistance between 9 and 5 GMT isn’t going to work if you’re serving customers in Australia or New Zealand, for example, who will likely be online outside of these operating hours, as well as some states in the US and various other countries. You must look into your help and support options and ensure all customers can access help at an appropriate time, regardless of location.
Whether this is via self-help guides and a detailed FAQ section, or you have an automated chat bot running for most popular queries, or you deploy a service team to be on standby 24/7, you need to increase support as much as possible to serve all customers wherever they are.
While not an exhaustive list, these are three major points you need to consider when it comes to scaling your website for international customers. Paying attention to how they will access the support we require, how they will pay, and how your website translates into different languages are cornerstones for any business wanting to scale globally. Once these points are sorted and in place, you can strengthen your position in the international marketplace and give you a good foundation for success.
