UK exporters face ecommerce language barrier

Research by Eurobarometer, which surveyed 13,700 internet users across 27 EU member countries, found that just 18pc of respondents reported buying online in a language other than their own “frequently or all the time,” while 42pc said they never do so.

English was by far the most commonly used second language, but internet users said they were much less likely to use their foreign language skills for ecommerce than they were for other activities. While 81pc of those surveyed said they would “at least occasionally” use another language when browsing for information of reading or watching news, 57pc said the same for searching for or buying products or services.

According to market research firm Common Sense Advisory, English-only websites reach less than a quarter of the world’s internet users. Websites would need to be translated into 11 languages to reach 80pc of the world’s online consumers.

A list of the 100 best websites for global and multilingual visitors published by Common Sense Advisory last month included just two UK companies, music site last.fm and bp.com, which ranked 92nd and 93rd respectively.

Christian Arno, managing director of translation company Lingo24 said UK companies were missing out on sales by having websites only aimed at the home market.

“Many EU consumers don’t buy British goods simply because they aren’t marketed in their own language,” he said.