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13 May 2001, Kuwait

Dear Dr. Ecommerce:

What are the key cross cultural differences, that will effect
e-commerce web site development?

Thanks,

Jasem

Dear Jasem:

The main cross cultural difference that should affect the development of an e-commerce site is, of course, language. Although around 75% of web users speak English, only around half of them speak it as a first language. Most people prefer to visit web sites and shop at web sites that use their own language.

From the perspective of web site development, this raises an interesting question: if you are developing a multi-lingual web site, should you simply translate it into each language, or should you develop each language section separately and uniquely? From the cost perspective, translation is cheaper to develop and maintain. Once the overall design is set, it is simply a matter of plugging translated text into each language section.

On the other hand, if you develop each language section separately, you can take into account cultural differences and ensure each language section has maximum appeal to its audience.

The question the e-commerce company has to decide is whether or not the additional cost of developing each language section separately will translate into enough additional sales to cover the investment.

Two other cultural differences that can make a big difference on sales are:

1. Methods of payment. Most business to consumer web sites are based on credit card payment. But in many countries, credit cards are not widely used. In India, where this is the case, many e-commerce companies accept cash on delivery payment and this works very well. It is worth determining the most popular form of payment in a particular country and ensuring you can accept that form of payment via your web site.

2. Bandwidth. Although not a cultural difference, it is worth bearing in mind that in many countries, particularly developing countries, the bandwidth is very narrow, of poor quality and expensive. Elaborate web sites are slow and expensive to download in these countries. And most visitors to a slow to download web site are likely to give up before long.

Other cultural difference vary a great deal depending upon which cultures you are considering. Moreover, some people argue that cultural differences don't matter much in e-commerce. They say that around the world, people have the same needs and are motivated to buy for similar reasons. Frankly, I think they are wrong. But it is worth bearing in mind this point of view.

That said, cultural differences you may want to consider also include:

1. Humour. people around the world find different things funny.

2. Decency. most Europeans are tolerant of pictures of a woman with her breasts exposed. Many other cultures, such as American, would find such an image indecent.

3. Self-image. Chinese, Thais, Japanese and some other Asians are very image-conscious and are keen on buying well known designer goods. Some cultures like to show off their wealth. Others prefer to be discrete. This can affect you sell goods on your web site.

4. Offensive stuff: images which are perfectly acceptable in one country are offensive in another.

Good luck,

Dr. Ecommerce