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Weaving Culture Into e-Commerce
By Gary Hyman
info@ecommercegrowth.com
Contact Gary Hyman
http://www.ecommercegrowth.com
You probably already know that the non-English speaking Internet audience transacts 63% of the global e-Commerce transactions. If you know that then you�re definitely aware that by 2004 this audience is expected to growth more than 10 percent. Well, that�s at least 2 trillion dollars multiplied by 75%�need I say more.
I going to share two words with you that should help towards your International e-Commerce Market Entry initiative. These word need to be taken very seriously if you wish to become truly successful in International e-Commerce.
�Local language!�
Yes the local language of your Internet audience needs to be considered very carefully. Not only is it polite to show your non-English speaker their local language, but also you�ll find a keen sense of trust would be developed by the time your hits that purchase button.
It�s all about developing trust and a comfort level sufficient enough that your customer will purchase your product. I have spent many years working in the International world and there�s nothing more important than developing a relationship through the use of language.
When it comes to shopping carts you don�t want to be one of those abandoned shopping cart statistics; A high percentage of your non-English speakers will abandon the purchase is your website is not in their language, but more importantly the shopping cart is not in their native language. If they do not have a comfort level to understand for example the fine print, shipping costs, the product that they�re getting you can expect � No Purchase!
The Multilingual Shopping Cart
This short articles focuses on two key International, multilingual, commercial grade shopping cart solutions. One is free and the other one will cost you some money.
Without a doubt its a significant challenge to implement a shopping cart solution that has the ability to service the local Internet Population. There are many �ready made� International Shopping Cart solutions. Most of the solutions are ready to integrate directly into your existing e-Commerce infrastructure, one of which is OSCommerce (OSC) and another is Shopfactory.
If you�re on a tight budget then OSC could be right for you. It is 100% free, although it may require an �OSC expert� to handle the integration. OSC does make a claim that the software is an �out-of-the-
box installation... minimum effort...". You should take into your level of expertise, and it may be more cost effective to bring in an OSC guru.
OSC is extremely robust. It includes PHP modules (a web scripting language), and runs on top of various platforms such as Linux, Solaris, BSD, and Microsoft Windows. OSC and also makes use MySQL as a backend, and probably as no surprise the Apache version of OSC is the most stable.
OSC is a mature product. At last count they had a bout 1,400 implementations, and are backed by a well rounded International development and Support organization. Some of the OSC members are from Spain, Japan, France, Australia, USA, and Germany.
OSC is a true Open Source Solution, just like that of UNIX. There are customized versions of OSC, but the public source is still controlled as an Open Source License. It seems that the intent of OSC is to keep the license in the public domain.
Here are some live examples of the OSC implementations. Please note that these are random selections, and are not necessarily endorsed by The eCommerce Growth Group:
Japanese: http://usa-generalstore.com/index.html
Spanish: http://www.nucleodigital.com/tienda/default.php
German: http://www.bbsstore.de/
You can get more details on OSC at their website:
http://oscommerce.com
They also have a companion website that handles the product documentation and support It can be found at:
http://oscdox.com
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About The Author:
Gary Hyman
http://www.ecommercegrowth.com
Author: Gary Hyman has lived and worked Internationally over the last 20 years. He is a well known e-Commerce consultant, assisting organizations to expand their e-Business globally. He can be reached at info@ecimmercegrowth.com. The e-Commerce Growth Group at http://www.ecommercegrowth.com/.
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