The retail business is not only localized, but it is an internationally organized business. Retail businesses sell merchandise and other services to customers around the world. The consumers, as they are called, are provided with individual items, but larger companies can also order large lots of products. Because of the global footprint of the retail industry, retail translation has therefore become a very important aspect of the retail business.
In previous years, most stores only sold their merchandise locally. In recent times, though, many businesses have extended their products to sell across borders. This meant that, at first, they only needed to have products labeled and brochures written in localized languages. In current times, the need is to create translated items for worldwide distribution, hence the need for retail translation.
Why the Need for Retail Translation
As already mentioned, global distribution is one of the main reasons why retail translation is so important. Some of the reasons for this are as follows:
- In order for consumers to understand what a business has to offer, it is important to translate brochures and catalogs into a local language.
- Should a business wish to advertise a product line, it is important to have the content translated into the consumers’ language.
- When placing products online at a particular website, it is important to provide product descriptions for the consumers to understand in their native language.
- It is often so that businesses expand into a different country, and for this purpose, training manuals should be translated as well.
- Should a business have multilingual staff, it is important that internal communications be distributed in various languages.
- The same applies to external communication, such as press releases and magazine articles.
These translations can easily be done through Google Translate or two other computerized translation methods. However, there is more to it than simply translating documentation or other forms of communication from one language to another. Translators have to take several factors into consideration when translating texts and other communications into a target language.
Some of these examples include the consumers’ cultural settings as well as the market they wish to sell to. When assigning a translator to a specific retail translation job, these are the factors Circle Translations takes into consideration.
The Aspects of Retail Translation
It is important to reiterate the aspects of retail translation. Some of the following have already been mentioned, but it is worth repeating. Retail translations include the following aspects that are important in the retail business:
- It is important for retail companies to drive traffic to their websites. For this reason, translating your website into various languages might come in handy. It is, therefore, also important to translate it into the preferred language of the target consumer.
- There are a few ways to do so. These include search engine optimization (SEO) as well as product description. Editorial content is important as it will help with SEO and drive traffic to your website. This means that they need to have multilingual SEO research done to optimize their websites, especially for access to their products.
- As mentioned before, localizing their website would help them in terms of addressing cultural-based and reaching market-related consumers. Retail translation also includes marketing material, mobile apps, and e-commerce. Consumers need to have access to your products in their native language, and therefore, retail translation plays an important role.
- The two most important aspects that need to be addressed in the retail industry are sales and aftercare. Communicating with consumers is a vital component of a successful business. Aspects such as contracts are also a necessity when it comes to relating to a foreign consumer.
How Does Retail Translation Aid Businesses and Consumers?
For Businesses
Retail translation helps businesses establish a broader consumer base. It allows the business to operate on a global scale as opposed to being localized only. It helps to set up a corporate image as well as maintain it.
Furthermore, it will assist businesses in remaining competitive in their respective fields. It increases the possibility of gaining more customers or consumers. This is because consumers can access their favorite brands in their native languages.
For Consumers
Reading content in their native language allows consumers access to products that they might normally not have access to. Providing content in a local language prevents any errors in purchases or other communications.
Conclusion
Businesses do not operate in a vacuum, especially if they have a worldwide presence. This increases the chances of competition. However, retail translation is an important aspect of any business, whether they are worldwide or local. This is because every business should have the will to grow, especially in the retail business.
That means that retail translation is important even in a local context because most communities are multilingual and Circle Translations is here to help. Translators pay special attention to several aspects of the retail industry. This entails considering where the company operates from (the source language) and where it wants to make an impact (using the target language).
