Two dynamic forces of our time--globalization and the online movement--continue to flourish in many countries. However, a tremendous export market exists in addressing foreign markets, as going global is no longer considered an alternative but a necessity for business survival. If your business has not gone global, you can bet that your competitors have a plan to get there, regardless of their geographical location.

The Web has helped remove barriers between countries, but there are still numerous opportunities to address foreign markets. Today, there are only 7 countries where English is the primary language spoken, some half a billion people, and where the combined economies represent 30% of the world's economy. The combined populations of these countries represent 8% of the world's population. Companies that continue to target this small fraction of the world market will miss out on capturing a large potential market.

According to the latest statistics (http://www.euromktg.com/globstats), 91 million people access the Internet from English-speaking countries, whereas 80 million people access the Internet in other languages. In 1997 the latter group represented only 10 million people--a eight-fold increase in less than two years.

Early this year, European currencies merged to become the Euro, a move that stands to phase out local European currencies by the year 2002. The Euro will enhance competition by forcing companies to concentrate on price, quality, and production. Best for Internet vendors, the Euro will make it easier for non-European companies to enter European markets, and will make it easier for a small company to target most of the European market.

Unfortunately, American businesses usually have a parochial viewpoint, and consider international sales "gravy". They brag that without any translation to their Website, they already have 20% of their traffic from other countries (which usually means English-speaking countries). The fact is, when the world market is properly developed, there are twice the sales volume that come from other countries as U.S. domestic sales. The translation of this figure into dollar figures is quite startling. For every $1,000,000 of US sales, a passive approach gives $200,000 in export sales, whereas an active approach to developing foreign markets gives $2,000,000 in sales. Ten times as much! This simple calculation shows how much sales potential is being missed by not taking foreign markets seriously.

Europeans and Asians have used multiple languages for centuries when selling to one another, recognizing that marketing occurs in the language of the target market. As Willy Brandt, the former German chancellor, once said: "If I'm selling to you, I speak your language. If I'm buying, dann muessen Sie Deutsch sprechen [then you must speak German]."

Recent figures from the Forrester Research state that 80% of European- based corporate sites are multi-lingual. (http://www.searchz.com/Articles/0209993.shtml) With a limited number of U.S.-based multi-lingual Websites available, who do you think will have a better chance of capturing the international online market?

There's a big world outside of English-speaking countries, and if companies don't translate their Website, they pave the way for aggressive competition for international business from other countries.

Written by Bill Dunlap
Managing Director, Euro-Marketing Associates
ema@euromktg.com

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Last revised on 31 March, 1999
URL: euromktg.com/eng/ed/art/reasonsforglobal.html