* More native speakers
of languages other than English currently access
the Internet than do native speakers of English.
* The U.S. currently accounts for less than
half of total E-Commerce spending and according
to IDC this share is expected to drop to 36 percent
by 2005.
These statements show why perhaps InternetNews
said it best when they wrote "for US companies,
multilingual e-commerce and business sites are
no longer optional".
Still not convinced? Read on to find out
why the Internet is already serving as an international
business medium for many companies and why you
may not want to be left behind.
In order to consider whether or not to take advantage
of the Internet as an international business tool
you first need to consider the possibilities it
may hold. Who is on the net? Where do they live
and what languages do they speak? What do your
prospects look like for doing business in Europe,
Asia or Latin America?
Although the numbers given in answer to these
questions often raise questions of collection
and tracking methods, research shows that all
of the various statistics and information point
towards the same trends. It is these trends which
will be highlighted here.
There
are approximately 480 million people online throughout
the world and only about 35% of them are located
in the U.S. As for the remainder, approximately
27% are located in Europe and approximately 24%
are located in Asia. Further, roughly 55% of Internet
users are native speakers of a language other
than English. Out of this 55% of non-native speakers,
approximately 30% are native speakers of a European
language (mainly French, Italian, German and Spanish)
and approximately 25% are native speakers of an
Asian language (mainly Chinese, Japanese and Korean).
However, as important as the picture of where
online populations live and what languages they
speak are the estimates for future Internet use
and the picture of worldwide e-commerce.
Europe
It is important to remember that several countries
in Europe, including France and Germany were shopping
online as early as the mid-nineties. They used
special systems called teletext systems. France's
system, Minitel, was the most popular and by 1998
already, 20% of the adult French population had
made on online purchase using it. Thus, the phenomenon
of online shopping as we know it has a richer
history in Europe than in the U.S.
Not only are Europeans receptive to e-commerce,
their purchase power is great. Eastern European
economies are growing at a respectable rate, and
the Western European market has a GDP (Gross Domestic
Product) of one trillion dollars more than the
American GNP. The combined potential of Eastern
Europe and Western Europe could actually reach
a GDP level of 50% more than the U.S. economy.
In addition, all studies point towards the growth
of the online population in Europe as well as
a growth in European e-commerce. It is estimated
that while in 1998, only 10% of Western Europeans
had Internet access, by 2002 one in three households
will be online. In fact, since 1999 in France
and Germany alone, PWC reports that consumer Internet
access rose by 72% in Germany and 60% in France.
Also, while e-commerce generated more than five
billion USD in Europe in 1998, this figure is
expected to grow to over 400 billion USD by 2003.
Asia
The number of Asian Internet users is expected
to expand by more than 300% within the next 5
years, and some even say that by 2005, there is
the possibility that they may rise to the top
of the list of worldwide internet users. At the
beginning of 2000, the region had about 44 million
people online, and by November this number had
increased to 100 million. So predictions of over
200 million by 2005 and over 300 million by 2006
do not seem unreasonable.
Further, e-commerce is also expected to explode
in this region. In Japan alone, it is expected
to expand twenty-fold between 1999 and 2005, from
being worth approximately 3 billion USD in 1999
to more than 60 billion USD in 2004.
While the U.S. accounts for less than half of
total e-commerce amounts worldwide, it still holds
a small lead in B2B e-commerce. It is predicted,
however, that the e-commerce market will grow
at a more rapid pace in Europe and Japan between
now and 2005, by which time B2B e-commerce is
expected to reach 1.6 trillion USD.
US Companies are Being Left Behind
If your site is still English-only and is only
geared towards U.S. visitors, you are not alone.
You are actually in the company of about 75% of
U.S. businesses. A prime example of this issue
is Gap, an 11 billion USD, American company, with
a global workforce of more than 140,000, running
more than 2500 stores worldwide and only an English,
American version of their site. Not to mention
that their site, which does a brisk online business,
does not allow for shipping to locations outside
the U.S.
This gives European-based companies a tremendous
advantage, as most of them already offer websites
in multiple languages – remember that Europeans
have a long-standing tradition of using multilingual
sales practices. European and Asian businesses
have more experience with international marketing
than do U.S. companies and thus have an edge.
For them, the internet is simply another weapon
in their international business arsenal.
As a U.S. company you need to remember that because
of the Internet, you could have a competitor you
don't even know about, located in Europe or Asia,
reaching out to your customer base via the Internet.
Furthermore, depending on the extent of information
offered on your site, your pricing, distribution
and other business models can be studied by anyone
with a web browser.
And that's not all. Not only might you be losing
some business by not reaching out to foreign markets
now, you may even be risking some potential future
business as well. Remember that if you have a
presence on the World Wide Web, you have already,
by definition, "gone global". Don't
be surprised if there are some who reach your
site and are offended at not having their linguistic
and cultural preferences addressed.
Natural Advantages
