| With Google reporting that over 50% of their traffic | | | | has almost 145 million users and it is one of the fastest |
| comes from multilingual searches, it has become crucial | | | | growing markets on the internet. Japan, with 86 million |
| to consider developing a multilingual online presence. | | | | users, has nearly reached its maximum potential with |
| However, the question remains the same: Which | | | | almost 70% of its population online. A very small |
| markets to target? Which ones are the most | | | | proportion of online users in China own a credit card or |
| important in terms of users, etc.? First of all, let's see | | | | even have the right to order what they want, while in |
| which parts of the world feature the most users. | | | | Japan it is exactly the reverse. Once again, no one |
| Contrary to general belief, it is not North America! With | | | | should confuse the amount of users versus the buying |
| close to 400 million users, Asia definitely takes the lead, | | | | power of a given market. On the other hand, one |
| followed by Europe with approximately 315 million | | | | needs to consider the worth of Third World markets |
| users, in comparison to 232 million in North America | | | | economically disadvantaged countries. For instance, |
| (North America being defined as the U.S., Canada, and | | | | countries like Bangladesh, Mozambique, Somalia, etc., |
| Mexico). In my extensive experience with multilingual | | | | might not seem very attractive at first. However, in |
| online applications, I have learned over the years to | | | | Third World markets, those online are affluent and |
| differentiate clearly the amount of users versus the | | | | wealthy. In those countries, there is no middle class. |
| market potentiality of a product or a service. For | | | | Basically, you are either dirt poor or filthy rich! Online |
| example, the Hispanic online market (between South | | | | users in those countries belong to the the second |
| and Central America, the U.S., the Caribbean and | | | | category. Many online gambling portals and |
| Spain) features slightly more users than the | | | | entertainment websites of all kinds have found high |
| French-speaking market. But when it comes to buying | | | | spenders in economically-disadvantaged-markets. In |
| power, countries like France, Belgium, Switzerland and | | | | fact, wealthy individuals in Rwanda or Chad do not |
| Canada (Quebec) have so much more buying power | | | | have many entertainment outlets in their homeland! |
| than Peru, Bolivia or Chile! More than just buying power, | | | | Furthermore, most everything is lacking within their |
| we need to look at the cultural ramifications involved in | | | | country infrastructure: clothing, electronics, etc. Online |
| internet behaviors. In other terms, is a specific market | | | | applications have therefore become a form of |
| used to ordering & transacting online? For | | | | "entertainment salvation" for the wealthy minorities of |
| instance, compared to its amount of users, France is | | | | third world markets. Online multilingual markets are |
| extremely active online, while French-speaking | | | | complex, and instead of looking at languages/countries |
| countries in Africa are proportionally inactive. The | | | | just by their buying power or number of users, one |
| same applies when comparing Spain and some South | | | | should evaluate what they have to offer and define |
| American countries. If you were to compare the online | | | | the marketability of their products and services |
| buying habits between 100,000 users in Spain and the | | | | accordingly. Are you looking for end users to buy your |
| same number of users throughout South America, you | | | | products? Then look at the buying power of the |
| would notice that people out of Spain order products | | | | targeted markets along with the reliability of their postal |
| and services at least 5 times more than their South | | | | and transportation services. Are you a manufacturer |
| American peers. In many cases, it is not a matter of | | | | looking to find more distributors/to increase your |
| buying power, but rather mail order habits based on | | | | exports? Then chances are that the world is your |
| the country's postal delivery system. In fact, in many | | | | oyster. I advise you to perform a meticulous evaluation |
| countries where the postal system is unreliable (not to | | | | of your market potential when developing a presence |
| say flaky!), online users were not "groomed" with mail | | | | on multilingual search engines. So many factors need |
| order habits prior to the internet. As a result, although | | | | to be taken into consideration...Do not look at Japanese, |
| such markets will look for products and services online, | | | | French or Spanish just as country specific, but rather |
| they certainly are not as mail order oriented as other | | | | online language market shares! Just as an example, |
| countries featuring more efficient mailing systems. | | | | aside from all countries where Spanish is spoken, one |
| Therefore, it is impossible to rely solely on the amount | | | | of the most active Hispanic online markets is in the |
| of users when considering establishing a multilingual | | | | U.S.! WWW = World Wide Web. Is your website really |
| presence online. Another good example to illustrate | | | | reaching worldwide? The time has come to implement |
| such fact would be China and Japan. China currently | | | | action on a global scale! |