How To Craft a Localization Strategy for Ecommerce

If your ecommerce store is thriving domestically, expanding into international markets may have crossed your mind. It’s an exciting (and potentially lucrative) idea—Statista values the B2Ccross-border ecommerce market at $1.209 trillion. Staying domestic might mean missing out on global growth.

But successful global expansion requires more than uploading your inventory to an international domain or offering international shipping. Customers in Tokyo, Toronto, and Toulouse shop differently, speak differently, and connect with brands differently. Localization is your brand’s opportunity to tailor the customer experience for customers in different markets.

A proper localization strategy extends to the entire customer experience—from the images and colors you choose and the payment options you offer to how you talk about your products—to meet local cultural expectations and shopping behavior trends. Let’s explore how you can carve out your own localization strategy to start bringing in international revenue.

What is a localization strategy?

A localization strategy is how you adapt your brand to the local markets you enter. It describes how you tweak your products, website, and overall marketing so that shoppers in any given country feel like your brand is tailor-made for them. It’s not just about language—a solid localization strategy covers everything from cultural references and distinct design aesthetics down to preferred payment methods.

For example, Kit Kat in Japan took advantage of a lucky coincidence through a concerted marketing campaign—the brand name sounds like “Kitto Katsu,” meaning “You will surely win”—turning the chocolate bar into a good luck charm. Coca-Cola changed its name in China to “Ke Kou Ke Le” (delicious happiness) through collaboration with local linguists.

The goal is to make international customers feel as comfortable and confident shopping with your brand as your domestic customers do. This means eliminating friction that might cause hesitation—from unfamiliar payment methods to confusing checkout flows—and replacing them with elements that feel distinctly local and trustworthy.

Translation vs. localization

Translation is simply converting writing into another language, whereas localization is about customizing the entire shopping experience to fit your target culture. That means you might need to rewrite content to integrate local slang or humor, because a word-for-word translation often misses the mark. For instance, Spanish differs between Spain, Mexico, and Argentina, requiring distinct adaptations for each region.

A slogan or joke that elicits a laugh in one geographic region might totally flop (or offend) in another. Localization also covers visuals and symbols; hand gestures that are positive or neutral at home could have very different meanings elsewhere. You may have to change things like product labeling, sizing, or packaging to meet local regulations and expectations in each market.

How to create a localization strategy for ecommerce

1. Craft your localization process
2. Don’t forget about legal review
3. Calibrate to each local market
4. Cultivate a competitive edge
5. Get into the logistics
6. Try out localized content in one market
7. Aim for increased market penetration

Riley, the sustainable period care brand, expanded from Ireland across Europe by researching localized sustainability attitudes and customizing its educational content to represent cultural sensitivity around menstruation health discussions.

“Our biggest learning is that you can’t just copy-paste the same message everywhere and expect it to resonate,” says Fiona Parfrey, the brand’s cofounder. “The key is to really listen and adapt how you communicate, without also losing sight of what makes your brand unique.”

The following steps, complete with advice directly from the Riley team, can help you capture global opportunities:

1. Craft your own localization process

Before diving into translation and payment integrations, establish your localization philosophy. These are the non-negotiables that remain consistent in every market and, conversely, the elements that flex to meet local expectations. This foundation determines how you’ll adapt messaging and navigate regulations that differ abroad.

Riley took on this challenge with strategic clarity. “Education has been at the heart of Riley from day one,” Fiona says. “We want people to understand not just what our products are made from, but why that really matters for their bodies and for the planet. When we expand into new markets, we know that in some countries, period health is still a taboo topic, while in others, there’s already a lot of awareness about sustainability. So we adapt how we tell our story to meet people where they are, while always staying true to our core mission.”

2. Don’t forget about legal review

Don’t overlook the legal side of things, because you need to get ahead of compliance issues early. If your food product contains an ingredient banned in a target market, you’ll need to either pause expansion plans or reformulate your product. Health claims, ingredient disclosures, and environmental certifications often need market-specific verification.

For instance, sustainability claims face particularly stringent scrutiny with varying standards across jurisdictions. Permissible marketing language in one market may constitute illegal greenwashing in another.

“Sustainability is non-negotiable for us,” Fiona says. “However, we are very conscious that different jurisdictions can have different rules and regulations when it comes to sustainability claims. We are completely anti-greenwashing, so we researched this heavily to ensure that our messaging is transparent and clear across markets.”

3. Calibrate to each local market

Consider which market to tackle first and figure out what “winning” means for that market specifically. Not every country will be equally receptive to your product, so be intentional about your localization efforts; maybe success in Market A means gaining 11,000 new customers in year one, while hitting a more modest goal is more suitable for Market B.

Also, pick a place that plays to your strengths. If a local audience aligns with your brand’s values or niche, you’ll have a head start. Case in point: Fiona and her team chose Germany as Riley’s first non-English market. Why? German consumers really care about sustainability—one of Riley’s core values.

“Germany stood out as our first non-English market because German consumers are known for embracing sustainability, and that’s at the heart of what we do,” says Fiona. “With a large eco-conscious consumer base and high adoption of sustainable products, we felt our B Corp status would resonate well with German consumers.”

4. Cultivate a competitive edge

Once you’ve picked a promising market, dive into understanding how those customers shop and what they expect from an online store. Check out local competitors and market reports. Find out which marketing channels actually work there, what social networks or marketplaces are popular, which payment methods everyone uses, and how fast people expect to get their orders. This is also the time to get insights straight from the source—talk to folks who know the market well.

When Riley expanded from Ireland to the UK, the team went all in. “We spoke to a lot of other founders who had successfully scaled beyond Ireland to understand their learnings and how best to approach market entry,” says Fiona. “We looked at competitors’ products, how they are positioning themselves, and which routes to market they are focusing on. Simple things like visiting different retail stores to understand the offerings and marketing messages in detail is very useful.”

Fiona’s cofounder, Áine Kilkenny, even moved to London so they could have boots on the ground and gather feedback firsthand. Similarly, you might run surveys or interviews with potential customers in your target market to really get a feel for their preferences. The goal is to understand behavior and expectations in foreign markets, inside and out, before you launch.

5. Get into the logistics

Next, figure out the nitty-gritty of making localization happen—specifically, decide on your budget, who’s going to help you (partners/vendors), and what tech tools you’ll rely on.

Make sure your ecommerce platform can support multiple languages and currencies (you want it to effortlessly handle local pricing, taxes, and payment options). A platform with strong international features can save you a ton of headaches—for instance, Fiona’s team chose Shopify because it can manage all of that. “We use Shopify to power our DTC subscriptions, and the platform’s ability to manage localised storefronts, currencies, and payment options was key to scaling abroad,” says Fiona.

A few partners and tools to consider:

• Hire native translators or copywriters. Working with people who speak the language natively ensures your messaging across marketing materials sounds natural (and not like a clunky machine translation).
• Partner with localization agencies. A good agency can coordinate all your translations and culture-specific adaptations. They’ll bring experts and do quality assurance (QA) on your website, product info, and marketing content so everything feels on point for the region.
• Use translation services. Automating a wide swath of the language localization process can prove helpful. If you’re on Shopify, try the Translate & Adapt app or others like LangShop AI or Langify to add multiple languages to your store. These tools make managing content in different languages easier—just make sure a human gives any important text a once-over to double-check it reads well (and makes sense).
• Leverage your ecommerce platform’s features. Shopify has localization features baked in. Shopify Markets, for example, lets you set up country-specific storefronts, show prices in local currency, and handle domains and SEO per region.
• Bring in local experts. Contract local consultants who really know the market. They can tweak your advertising campaigns to align with local trends, guide you on which social media channels to use, and even help with customer service or PR in that country.

6.  Try out localized content in one market

When it’s go time, start with just one new market as a test run instead of launching everywhere at once. Think of your first international launch as a pilot and test every part of the shopping experience like you’re a local customer. Double-check that your site truly feels local:

• Is the language on your website natural (and not awkwardly translated)?
• Do the images and branding feel appropriate for that culture?
• And are you referencing local colloquialisms in your marketing strategies where it makes sense?

Focus on the checkout and post-purchase details. Prices should show up in the local currency, taxes and duties need to be calculated properly, and you want to offer the payment methods locals like best.

Go through the entire checkout process yourself. Does the site detect the user’s location or let them pick their region easily? Is each sequence of the checkout translated clearly, including error messages? Run a bunch of test orders with your team or some beta users in-country to spot any glitches or awkward translations. By testing with a modest launch, you can find and fix issues—like a weird address format or an untranslated button—before real customers hit them.

7. Aim for increased market penetration

After your localized store is live, the work isn’t over—now you need to watch how it performs and keep tweaking. Zero in on your numbers and analytics, especially conversion rates. For example, is your new market’s conversion rate lower than your main site’s? If a large number of locals are browsing but not buying, figure out what’s turning them off. Maybe the site’s copywriting doesn’t resonate, or perhaps you forgot to include a popular local payment method.

Get qualitative feedback too: survey your first customers or see what people are saying on social media to learn how they feel about your brand in that region. All that feedback will point you toward improvements. You could discover that shipping costs are scaring people away, or maybe your French ad copy isn’t hitting the right tone and needs a rewrite to better click with local humor.

Optimization isn’t a one-and-done thing. You have to listen to each new country and adjust how you communicate, all while keeping what makes your brand distinct front and center.