We’ve compiled some statistics to illustrate the business value of localizing content for each target market.

1. Why Localize?
of North
American execs
expect increase
in foreign
revenues
think their
company’s
number of
overseas clients
will increase in
the next three
years
admit that
communication
misunderstand-
ings have stood
in the way of a
major
cross-border
transaction,
incurring
significant
losses for their
company
At VIA we’re often asked
“Why do I need to localize
my marketing materials
when everyone speaks
English?”
So we’ve compiled some
statistics to illustrate the
business value of localizing
content for each target
market.
Because it’s worth it!
95% of Chinese online consumers
prefer Chinese-only websites and
Chinese shoppers will outspend
the US in 2013
believe it is
important to
achieve
increased global
revenue
Number of
languages in the
world
of EU citizens state that they have
sufficient skills in English to have a
conversation
71%
9 in 10
What do
multinational
organizations
want?
74%
What do the people want?
Non-English speakers declare
75% say they
want the
products in their
native language
60% rarely or
never buy from
English-only
websites
60%
!
say information in their language
is more important than price
56.2%
What do they both want?
Key points
Buyers want
the information
in their first
language
Non-English Speakers
• They will often pay more to
get it
• Alternatively, they will go
elsewhere
Challenges and reality
You can’t please everyone, but you can please most everyone
7,000
Number of
languages to
reach 80% of
global population
83
Budget restraints will always dictate localization strategy & support
9 out of 10 users would prefer to
visit a website in their own language
.
Yes
Even in Europe where English
speakers are common?
Multinational
Organizations
More revenue
Assumptions we make
of the South African population has an
adequate proficiency in English for the
purposes of economic activity
Indian adults can speak English:
• 4% report that they can converse
fluently in English
• An additional 16% report that they can
converse a little in English
Only
38%
Only
25%
Everyone
speaks
English in
business
Lithuanians (80%),
Latvians (70%) &
Estonians (66%)
More likely to know
Russian
Few Japanese speak fluent English
Including business people. Fluent Japanese is
essential in Japan
Citizens of Slovakia (32%),
the Czech Republic (28%) &
Hungary (25%)
More likely to know German
When I travel,
everybody
speaks English
fluently
Quack comprehension of a
newspaper is
considered “fluent”
80% That’s about
4,000
words
10,000 wordsThe average US high school student knows
20,000 wordsAverage US graduate knows about
One Half
Evidence from India
suggests that being fluent
in English increases the
hourly wages of men by
34% and of women by
22%.
was the addressable
economic potential using
online communication in
2012.
$44.6 trillion
Only a third of that was
addressable in English as a
native tongue.
More people will buy
what you're selling if
you localize it
Is English-only enough?
Sources:
Common Sense Advisory, Number of Languages Necessary to Reach 90% of Online Audiences around the
Globe Climbs to Twenty-one, 2012
Forrester Research, Translation and Localization of Retail Web Sites, 2009
Bill Sullivan, IBM Globalization Executive, LocWord Keynote speech 2012
2005 India Human Development Survey, Financial Times, India
www.pacificbridge.com/publication.asp?id=20
www.internetretailer.com/2014/02/20/m-commerce-saturating-globe
www.economistinsights.com/sites/default/files/downloads/Competing%20across%20borders.pdf
Common Sense Advisory, Can't Read, Won't Buy: Why Language Matters on Global Websites; Our 2014,
larger-scale behavioral study
Assumption 1
English is
the 2nd
language
of choice
globally
Assumption 2
It costs nothing to do it in
English-only
Assumption 3
www.viadelivers.com
Copyright 2014, VIA, Inc.
1 in 5
Number of
languages to
reach 80% of
online population
12