Going global is putting web sites to the test, report says
The largest consumer goods companies got that way by expanding operations beyond their own national borders–so it follows that they’re leading the way in globalization of consumer-facing web sites. Yet with some exceptions, most of the executives charged with web globalization at 15 top multinational companies still feel their efforts have a long way to go, according to a new report, “Web Globalization and the World’s Largest Companies,” from Byte Level Research.
A lack of funding, mixed support in the organization for the concept of globalization, and poor coordination of localized country sites were cited by executives at all but two of the 15 firms interviewed, a group that included Starbucks, Wal-Mart, IBM and others.
The companies spent an average of about $500,000 for every $1 billion in revenue on web globalization efforts, though those doing it most effectively spent more. As a company’s revenues increased, its percentage of spending on web globalization decreased, Byte Level found, due to cost savings in translation management and reduced per-word translation costs based on a higher volume of work. “Web globalization benefits from economies of scale,” says John Yunker, the report’s author and president of Byte Level Research.
One of the biggest design challenges facing companies pursuing web site globalization is competition for home page real estate in placement of the “global gateway,” the navigation system that directs local users to the company’s local country sites. “Adding a high-profile global gateway to the top of the home page will come at the expense of some other element that another department or division fought to place there," says Yunker. “Not everyone will be satisfied by the final design.”
Getting high marks for web globalization in the report was Swedish home gear retailer Ikea. Ikea solves the global gateway issue with a home page that greets site visitors with an easy-to-navigate menu of 35 international sites that represent 10 languages, along with a snapshot of Ikea products. Beyond that, Ikea has designed an effective template that affords a consistent appearance and navigation scheme among local sites while still giving the different sites room for individual creativity and promotion, according to Yunker. With about 20% of Ikea’s local home pages devoted to the global template and the rest free for local content, “Ikea’s mix reflects our ideal mix of 75% local and 25% global content,” Yunker says.
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