[VER] C��mo impactan la cultura y el contenido en el eCommerce

Michelle Held, founder of Metrony, did us the honor of speaking during SiGMA in Dubai. In his speech, Held addressed the issue of culture, content and the impact on both aspects of e-commerce

Michelle Held works with e-commerce sites around the world. With nearly 156 offices, Metrony helps its clients create and grow an online business with all the resources, training, and support needed to run the online business of their dreams. Metrony works with the sub-Saharan, South African, Lazio and Far East Asian regions and focuses primarily on how culture and content influence sales.

Held delves into the way content is delivered to users, taking into account the format it’s written in, the type of device the user works on, where users are, and what appeals to them. All this is done so that the client’s audience grows and reaches its full potential globally, while increasing sales.

Leaving the text only in English is not enough, he says. “Why factor target culture into your content?”

Breaking local etiquette and offering content that the user is not used to seeing can simply drive customers away and also get you into a lot of trouble, as it would be illegal.

Translating into a primary language like English, Spanish, Mandarin, or Chinese will help you reach a wider audience, but it’s not enough. With English translation, only 20% of the target audience can be reached in a format that is comfortable for them.

Why is it important to speak the buyer’s language?

People, when clicking, move from one site to another quite quickly, that’s why one-step payment is a very famous and valued aspect of shopping sites, because the more clicks the user makes, the more abandonment is reduced. “People tend to want to buy in their local language and we don’t want to put them through a click.”

“Dealing with 156 offices, I teach e-commerce workshops on the content and culture in which that content needs to be delivered. It is essential to determine where the target audience lives. Different audiences will have different missions.”

The audience is targeted based on their behaviors, interests, languages, and backgrounds. The goal is to offer content that looks homemade, he explains.

Watch the speech here:

Localize paid content:

Payments can be challenging. It should be noted that you, as a content provider, have to offer a landing page where the target audience can send you money. In order for them to buy a product, you have to be able to offer the payment method. Customers tend to feel more comfortable paying in a currency that works for them, and as a provider, you should look for a method that isn’t too expensive to convert the money.

British English vs. American English – do you need to localize?

Writing in English also requires localization. A simple change in spelling automatically tells the user that one site may differ from another. A choice of words such as choosing between bathroom or toilet can be slightly crude or offensive, or the choice to use the word flat versus apartment, which doesn’t make much sense unless you’re multicultural, can also be confusing. Small clues like these make a big difference to the buyer.

The use of color in web design and content:

Most reviews of a website are based solely on color. Different colors can be associated with death or luck. Something that is black may be considered ominous or serious in various cultures, while in others it arouses feelings of sadness and fear. Based on her experience, Michelle Held explains that Latin Americans like colors and so do the Portuguese. Customers in sub-Saharan Africa, such as Uganda and Ghana, also tend to opt for a colorful page background, and for Americans like her, she says, black is considered more serious when designing a page.

The 15-second rule:

Held claims that users tend to leave your website within 15 seconds if they’re confused. “One of the fundamental aspects of the website is that users will leave if they feel discouraged or confused, so the layout of the website, the layout, the colour used and the localised content all play an important role in keeping users on the site.”

Navigation alone is a culture for your site because it can indicate what’s available there. He gives the example of users browsing a food website and the words used to describe the products, and goes on to say that if there are organic, non-GMO, or vegan products in the top navigation, the user will automatically think that these products are probably expensive and might walk away because it’s not what they want.

Being present where your audience is is:

In 2022, we saw Google overtake TikTok as the most visited site online. This is because TikTok has transitioned from being a dance and cooking site to a more educational and informative site. Target content should reflect the lifestyle and certain choices of your users.

Social Trading:

COVID accelerated mobile payments technology by about three years, not so much in the United States, but in the rest of the world. The concept of social trading is also quite novel. Here we’re seeing people log into a WhatsApp chat and a business account, and complete the sale there instead of on the website itself. This is expected to double by 2025. It can be handled a bit with bots, but your customer support team has to be well-equipped to execute it well.

Content Disposition and Trust Issues:

The presentation and design of the website play a huge role in user trust. A simple logo for a payment card can be the reason for someone to think that the site is not trustworthy.

In conclusion, working with the native currency in which your user can pay, converting work with a local person for language translations to check the actual content, respecting colors in the layout and design of the site, and working in a local language are the key to customer satisfaction and success.

Sign up for SiGMA Americas in Toronto:

Toronto is the perfect hub for SiGMA’s growth in North America, becoming a nexus for networking and developing businesses in the region related to land-based gaming, iGaming, sports betting, and more. Toronto, which is home to a huge e-gaming industry, will host the SiGMA Group’s initiative to bring together the continent’s industry pioneers for 3 days of networking, workshops and prizes. For more information on sponsorship and speaking opportunities or to request information about attending the event, please contact Sophie at [email protected].