Cultural Aspects of International eCommerce

Merchants expanding into international ecommerce need to clearly understand the cultural preferences and nuances of each market. Successful international ecommerce strategies take into consideration the best methods to communicate with potential buyers in order to inspire the trust and confidence necessary for a consumer to place and complete an order.

Each region targeted for international ecommerce is unique. For example, even though the EU is one economic region, each country within the EU is a separate culture. The same is true of Asia. China is a completely different market than Japan or Korea. Indeed, even within China there are differences in regions, including different language dialect preferences.

How does a company research cultural buying preferences? There are several methods.

A common approach is a focus group. Local participants in the group record thoughts, feelings and reactions to various products. For example, if a merchant is selling stylish outfits to teen age girls, the group would consist of teenage girls. The girls will give reactions to products which will help determine what is culturally considered stylish and designs can be developed to fit the mores of the country.

Moreover, the group can help determine how products should be displayed, for maximum appeal to the buyers. For example, what background, social settings, and story lines will be most inductive to purchase decisions? Pay attention to the particular mannerisms and language the group uses to describe what they like and how they buy. These subtleties can be vitally important to designing website graphic images and content.

Before launching an international ecommerce website, invite participants from the targeted consumer group in the local regions to shop the site as well as sites of competitors. Interview shoppers individually and record the comments. Videotape group discussions. Try to record candid conversations between the group members about the experience. Participants often will make remarks in private that they would be reluctant to share in a personal interview or in a group setting.

A deeper investigation of the international commerce site should be conducted with a different group. Every element of the site should be tested. How easy is the search function to find products? Are there roadblocks to navigation? How satisfying is the help or customer service experience? Are certain color combinations found to be more appealing than others? What about language colloquialisms? Are all words translating correctly in the proper cultural context?

Pay special attention to the check-out page on an international ecommerce site. Take steps to prevent shopping cart abandonment. How easy is it to add to or remove contents from the cart or return to shipping? Is privacy, refund policies and shipping information clearly accessible and completely understandable?

Each country targeted for international ecommerce has a preference for primary payment method. Be sure that method is displayed first. Display prices in local currency. Geo-location of IP address makes it easy to automatically show local currency.

Be sensitive to the how much data a buyer must enter to complete a sale. For example, shoppers in the United States and the UK are willing to reveal more personal information than a German buyer. As a result, push payments such as bank transfers will be appealing to a German buyer because no personal information is disclosed to the merchant. In the UK, buyers are less worried about revealing the personal information required for a credit card purchase.

Yes, the world is one big market place. But, remember, each shopper wants to be recognized as an individual living in a particular region. Creating a culturally sensitive website is the first step in ensuring a positive buying experience for your customers.