If you’re a US-based e-commerce website, you might have a good portion of customer landing on your website and they speak Arabic, and US dollars are not their currency. There are 420+ million Arabic speakers coming from a whole range of Arab and non-Arab countries.
That’s a huge customer base you don’t want to miss out on! Because, the odds are, that most of these customers will bounce back if they don’t see content in their native language. This is the same with most non-English speakers out there. In fact, English is only spoken by 1.5 billion people.
To capture their attention and provide a decent buyer experience online, the website needs to give more than just English. It has to speak to them in all aspects of this experience.
Read more: Best Localization Agencies in the Middle East
What’s Arabic E-commerce Localization?
E-commerce localization refers to adapting every part of an e-commerce website (a website where you sell products) to fit a certain local audience.
Websites like Shopify, Amazon, and eBay are classic examples of e-commerce.
This involves translating the content of the website, adjusting content, copy, layout, design, measuring units, date, time, currency, phone number extensions, and much more! All for the purpose of creating a smooth customer experience from the moment they land on your website until they purchase.
Read more: Localizing your website: A step towards expanding your small business globally
Tips for Arabic E-commerce Localization
Putting time and effort into pricing
If you are selling your product in the United States, but aiming at selling it in an Arab country like Egypt for instance, pricing is going to change drastically.
How you price your product in the US will change because in Egypt you have different competitors, a completely new currency, and Inflation!
Moreover, your US customer probably uses online payment methods like Apple Pay, Pay Pal, or a US local account. However, this is quite irrelevant to Egyptian customers since they will most likely use local Egyptian accounts, or local money transfer methods like Insta Pay or Vodafone Cash.
SEO Optimization
This one is a no-brainer, yet some underestimate the importance of SEO!
Customer choices are impacted by Google ranking. If they never heard about you, and you are lagging in ranking pages, you’ll thank yourself If you start prioritizing SEO now.
In your case of a multilingual e-commerce website, you need to do keyword research based on the target audience and their locale. What are their search habits? What keywords do they use in the search bar? What are the high-volume words right now?
Optimize meta tags and Hreflang Tags
For example, title tags can be written in Arabic, So instead of writing Best Clothes E-commerce website, you can write أفضل متجر الكتروني للملابس حول العالم.
Use a Hreflang tag to help search engines pick which version of the site to display to the user. If the user’s location is showing Africa or Egypt, then they get the version of the website that ends in EG, and vice versa.
US website URL ends in (US)
Egyptian website URL ends in (EG)
You can also improve local search visibility by including local business details like an address in Cairo, phone number, email address…etc.
Going beyond translating the content
An e-commerce store relies on many types of content to make your product stand out in the best possible way to the potential customer. Unlike different kinds of websites, a user landing on an e-commerce one won’t invest their money in a product unless it seems useful and valuable. That being said, they check all parts of page content. From product descriptions to measurements, product pictures, return and refund policies…etc.
With this in mind, you can’t risk providing a poor experience to a customer if you rely on simple translation. Although in many cases, word-for-word translation will do, localization can take you the extra mile; it keeps the customer engaged, and pleased to find a website that’s familiar to them. All of which can increase the chances of them buying your product.
Multilingual Customer Support
Customer Service is an essential part of your localization process because it’s where you meet one-to-one with customers, whether it’s via website chat, WhatsApp, or even a Chatbot, the way you interact with the customer means their perception of your business as a whole.
Therefore, customer service localization entails:
- Addressing the customer in their preferred language
- Translating FAQs, and offering help center articles in multiple languages
- Localizing email communications (account set up, purchase notification, email marketing shipment updates…etc)
- Providing a multilingual team of Agents who can email, text, or call customers and address them in their native language
GDPR Compliance & Content Restrictions
Legal regulations and requirements are the first thing you might want to make sure of. Sticking to our example, your US-based e-commerce business doesn’t have to be GDPR compliant in Egypt, however, it needs to adhere to the Data Protection Law (Law No. 151 of 2020). Moreover, as an Arab Muslim country, it can have some restrictions on content or products to sell.
Part of localization is to get your hands on a local lawyer who can help you avoid penalties.
Why it’s important to localize your E-commerce store to Arabic
- Offering a personalized experience for the customers wherever they are in the world.
- Eliminating language and cultural gaps in the online shopping experience.
- Localization infers respect for customers:
- This is automatically translated into a better brand reputation.
- Competition is like huge waves, localization is the competitive edge that lets you surf over the waves.
- Build a relationship with customers based on cultural understanding.
- Impeccable customer service that leaves them happy each they they interact with you
- Improving ranking in search engines like Google.
- Get improved conversion rates.
What is the best company to handle your Arabic E-commerce Localization process?
Fast Trans
A fast-growing translation and localization company based in Egypt but also has offices in other MENA countries. It has several partnerships with US companies and is always welcoming foreign businesses who need to reach their desired audience in the Middle East.
SaudiSoft
SaudiSoft provides a range of services and has been around in the market for as long as 1983, they can be trusted with localization projects like e-commerce website localization.
Laoret
Laoret is ISO 9001 and ISO 17100 Certified and they offer quite an impressive array of localization services including game, video, software, and a website.
Mwwared
A platform specialized in e-commerce translation, especially Shopify stores. They provide themes, and customization options to make a Shopify store as Arab centric as it can be.
When it comes to Arabic E-commerce Localization leave it to Fast Trans
Fast Trans is a leading ISO-certified translation services provider based in Egypt and available across the MENA region. We take pride in guiding foreign businesses to achieve the success they want in the Middle East.
We cover 120+ languages and have a dedicated team of native translators with years of experience who have helped clients like you unlock the potential of their e-commerce business in MENA.
Planning Your Next Translation Project?, Request a Quote.
