Localization and Translation Readiness Check

A prominent case of localization-driven international growth is the British online fashion retailer ASOS. The company launched fully localized websites for the United States, Germany, and France, translating its site into seven languages, offering 10 payment methods across 19 currencies, and providing localized customer service and social media presence, according to a Smartling retail data report cited by Crisol Translations. The localization strategy increased international sales from less than 30% to more than 60% of total retail revenue in under three years, as documented by MotionPoint. At peak performance, international retail sales accounted for up to 67% of total retail sales, with the company reaching 23 million active customers globally. The company's head of digital trading stated that the goal was to avoid appearing like a UK brand merely translated into German or French, emphasizing locally relevant content, navigation, and product filtering.

In the enterprise technology sector, the Dutch health technology company Philips provides an instructive example of shift-left localization practices. Operating across 120 nationalities with 64% of revenue coming from outside North America according to its 2020 annual results report as cited by Nimdzi, Philips centralized its localization operations to place localization at the core of product development. The company adopted automated creative production and localization tooling that reduced the end-to-end production process from 28 to eight working days, with additional assets completed in two to three days compared to 15 days through external creative agencies, according to a Cape.io case study. Philips estimated savings of millions of euros through this approach.