Apple makes a lot of things look easy and intuitive. Their global online presence and marketing is a great example, we give them A++. Looks easy, but does your company get anywhere close? In our ongoing review of best practices for global online website presence and marketing, we dive into some of Apple's 100+ websites. Successful website and online marketing internationalization requires a range of skill sets and competences, made all the more complex by the inevitable geographic dispersion. Nevertheless there are companies that are extremely good at this, like Apple. In fact, Apple is so good that its online stores are the main driver for the >$200Billion net cash stockpile, most of that earned outside the US.
Perhaps what we need to do is watch Apple's Angela Ahrendts: leader of Apple's A++ online team. Angela is the Senior Vice President of Retail and Online Stores, who has successfully “redefined the shopping experience for hundreds of millions of customers around the world”. Interesting to note that Apple groups together both off and online store responsibilities. As a sign of how Apple wants to merge on and offline, Apple is now removing the “store” wordage from its branding and communications programs.
Apple lists over 100 country specific localized websites, each adapted for their target audiences, relentlessly focused on user experience. A birds eye view of Apple’s international website presence starts at their locate country page: https://locate.apple.com/country, proposing:
- Africa, Middle East, and India = 38 locations
- Asia Pacific = 16 locations
- Europe = 38 locations
- Latin America and the Caribbean = 40 locations
- The United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico = 5 locations
- Apple total = 137 locations
Source: https://locate.apple.com/country
Each “location” is a country with the national flag for the icon. Click on it and you are instantly transported to that country home page. Apple uses local Uniform Resource Locator (URL), the in-market web address that specifies Apple's hosting location on its computer network. This ensures that Apple appears and acts as local to its users. Recognizing the need for great local user experience, Apple proposes language choices. For example, in Canada we find English and French, Mexico has both Spanish and English, Switzerland has German, French and English, while Japan has Japanese and China. In each case, Apple provides the local user his native language(s), often with an additional English version. Counting all these up, Apple has over 200 country specific websites. Having leapt over the language hurdle for its local user experience, Apple reverts to its familiar clear four box navigation choice of Sales, Service, Training & Certification and Consulting. So wherever you are, you know you are on an Apple site, with the strong brand image, look and feel.
Apple’s websites are also location aware. Geolocation is a common practice of pairing of IP addresses to a geographical location and it has become an important element of the online international journey. Once your location is known, you are the beneficiary (or victim!) of location-based services (LBS). Even though Apples does not use geolocation to redirect you to a country specific website based on your IP address, Apple uses Current Location feature to provide the nearest retail store details, and thus improve the user experience.
Source: https://locate.apple.com/
Geolocation is a great asset, but needs to be used wisely. This can be often welcome: you get the language and service offer (products, pricing…) for you physical location. But if you want to beyond your borders, or if you are on an international business trip and don't speak the local language, it can get frustrating to be endlessly driven back to the original location. But we are now entering the realms of international privacy laws, industry codes, self-regulation and business practices of market segmentation: food for another blog!
Back to learning and measuring yourself against Apple’s online international presence. Few companies can measure up to Apple’s market value, deep pockets, worldwide brand recognition, and consumer and business adoration. But If you nevertheless understand the business development imperatives in today’s online world to have an international web presence and marketing that delivers export and international business growth, contact us today. At ibt partners we provide a range of online international solutions for you, so you too can become an Online A++…
