Targeting international shoppers can be challenging due to language and cultural barriers. In some multilingual countries, it can be particularly difficult to predict the primary language of users.
In these cases, offering content translations for every possible language may not be practical. When catering to a wide range of languages, visual cues become critical for providing necessary information and helping shoppers make decisions. When international users browse a site that is not in their own language, they depend heavily on visuals.
Case Study: India
India is an extremely diverse country, with 22 different languages listed in its constitution. Some of the more commonly spoken languages in India include Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Gujrathi, and Malayalam. Ecommerce sites catering to Indian shoppers cannot easily provide translations for all possible languages, so these sites often present content in English.
Unfortunately, most Indians do not speak English. According to the 2011 Census of India, roughly 10% of the population can speak English. Even if many people have little or no understanding of English, they often must use English online anyway.
English is sometimes criticized as a language of the elite in India — likely to be spoken by rich, educated, urban Indians. It’s possible that ecommerce sites have been traditionally presented in English because their designers targeted richer Indians, who were more likely to be internet users.
However, due many socioeconomic factors (including the rise of mobile use, India’s increasingly cashless economy, and the 2020 pandemic), the proportion of the Indian population that shops online is growing — both in urban and rural India. More Indian people are beginning to rely on online shopping for goods and services. This means that an increasing number of Indians must deal with a deeply unsatisfactory user experience — shopping in a language they don’t speak or read.
The ideal solution to this problem (from a UX perspective) would be to offer site versions in the major languages spoken by shoppers (or, at the very least, in Hindi as well as English). However, when those translations are not available, ecommerce sites need to ensure that nonverbal visual cues are used strategically.
About the Research
We conducted a remote moderated usability study with 12 Indian participants, testing a wide range of ecommerce sites targeting Indian shoppers. The participants represented a variety of different educational, demographic, geographical, and social backgrounds. We required participants to speak at least either Hindi, Marathi, or English, so that they could communicate with the facilitator.
Using Imagery to Support Nonnative Speakers
There’s a wide spectrum of fluency for any language. We observed some Indian shoppers who spoke and read English as well (or better) than some native speakers, as well as one participant who could not speak or read it at all — and all fluency levels in between. A few of our participants struggled to speak or type in English, but were very comfortable scanning for and recognizing English words on a site (likely because they were forced to learn these skills.)
Almost all the skill levels we observed benefitted from extra visual cues in ecommerce sites — except for the perfect or near-perfect speakers, who weren’t inconvenienced by the visuals.
If you believe some of your target users may fall somewhere on the lower level of the fluency spectrum, consider supporting their understanding with visuals. Visuals will also help people who have low literacy in their own native language.
Visuals (graphics, icons, or photographs) can be helpful in two key aspects of an ecommerce site: navigation elements and product details.
Visuals for Navigation Support
Visuals used alongside navigation elements, such as mega menus or hamburger menus, help shoppers find the category of products they want. Visuals serve a similar function on a category page: confirm to users that they are in the right place so they can move deeper into the site.
Firstcry, an ecommerce site that sells products for babies and children, used imagery heavily within its navigation elements. One Hindi-speaking participant who did not read English was able to navigate through the site by relying on this imagery. The participant was shopping for a gift for a friend’s three-year-old daughter. On Firstcry’s Shop By Category page, she saw a photo of a girl with a backpack (labeled SCHOOL SUPPLIES). Based on the image, she decided to buy a backpack for her friend’s daughter.
Firstcry’s approach wasn’t perfect — without the labels, it’s difficult to know what each one of these categories stand for. For example, the image of a child in a bubble bath (FEEDING & SKIN CARE) does not convey that the category will also include food. Also, the HEALTH & SAFETY category is a photo of children with toothbrushes — some shoppers might assume the category is dental care, based on that photo. These visuals could be improved by making sure each image has a strong information scent and represents the category of the product it links to.
After the participant tapped SCHOOL SUPPLIES, she saw pictures of five different backpacks. Each one had a size label: for example, 10” Inches [sic]. The participant didn’t realize that these were intended to help her narrow her search to appropriately sized bags.
She picked the 18-inch category (the largest size) because she liked the design (Disney princesses). The bags she saw were much too big for a three-year-old, and she was disappointed. “I can’t find good bags for small kids,” she said to the facilitator in Hindi. “These are all big bags.”
Urbanladder.com, an Indian furniture site, had a better approach to supporting navigation with visuals. To represent its categories, the site used simple, flat, outline icons.
Even our low-English participants had no trouble finding the right category by using these icons because they had few distracting elements that could confuse them.
Consider the photo below from Pepperfry, another Indian furniture site.
If you saw only this photo, without being able to read the text, would you understand the product category it represents? You might be able to guess that it stands in for Dining Sets, but it could also signify:
- Dining-room chairs
- Dining-room décor
- Modern dining-room sets
- Wooden dining-room sets
Icons often work better than photos as category representations, because photos have too many details that could obscure their meaning as a navigation element.
Test Your Navigation Imagery for Information Scent
If you suspect some of your shoppers may rely on imagery to navigate your site, test the information scent of those images. Show the images to users without any text labels, and ask them, “If this image was a link and you clicked it, what types of products would you expect to find?” Participants should be able to easily describe the category of products that the image represents.
Visuals on Product Pages
Product pages offer critical information such as:
- Feature descriptions
- Pricing
- Tech specs
- Size or color offerings
- Wash or care instructions
- Warranty or guarantee
- Included accessories
When shoppers struggle to read and understand that information, they may not be convinced to buy — or, even worse, they might buy a product and then be disappointed when it arrives.
Product Photos and Videos
In our ecommerce research, we find that all users (regardless of language fluency) appreciate product pages with many photos and videos of the product.
This approach will be particularly helpful for shoppers who struggle to read any of the text on the page. For example, a shopper who can’t read the fabric information about a sweater might appreciate a close-up of the material. Even if they can’t read that it is “100% cotton,” the detail of the fabric gives an idea of what it will be like in person.
Videos are also a useful way to demonstrate product characteristics without relying on shoppers to read the descriptions. For example, a product page on Nykaa (an Indian beauty-products site) claimed that a blush palette would “blend effortlessly into the skin.” The included video showed a model applying the blush — demonstrating the blending without using language.
Icons to Locate Important Information
When users have low literacy (either in their native language or in a foreign language), it’s difficult for them to scan a page of text and quickly pick out the information they need. You can support these shoppers by providing easily recognizable icons next to important sections in the product description. For example, Myntra used small icons (a delivery truck, a sales tag) in its product descriptions to direct users’ attention to the right section.
Conclusion
It’s always best to provide a version of your site in the language your shoppers speak. However, this approach is not always practical, particularly if your audience includes countries that are lingually diverse, like India. Provide clear, detailed visuals to help your shoppers find and buy the products they want.
References
Maurya, Pooja, Cashless Economy and Digitalization (January 5, 2019). Proceedings of 10th International Conference on Digital Strategies for Organizational Success. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3309307
Census of India (2011). https://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011Census/C-16_25062018_NEW.pdf
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