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by Becky DeStigter
Years ago I began my marketing career in a healthcare software company. Generally software is an industry where products can be sold internationally without needing major changes to meet local needs. In the case of healthcare software, practicing medicine can vary from country to country, but luckily the products we marketed were highly customizable for end-user medical professionals. The greater question was: How much should the company localize marketing and support services? Should the website and marketing materials be available in the local language? Did hiring local technical support and providing local language materials help to expand the market in a specific country?
To get the root of these questions, it's helpful to take a closer look at localization versus internationalization. Localizing products or services means that your company makes changes to its offering in order to be able to sell more in another geographic market. Generally, food products require some of the most product localization. This is due to the specific preferences of consumers around the world.
Take, for example, soup. Some countries prefer their soup sold as a powder packet, while others prefer a condensed version. I once was in a country that preferred soup to be packaged as bouillon cubes to be added to hot water. Then there's the matter of individual spices and other ingredients. To sell soup abroad could require reworking every aspect of a product's production and packaging. While that might be costly, the reason to localize is to create a greater local appeal for your offering.
On the other end of the spectrum are highly technical products such as software for scientists. Usually scientists follow the same procedures regardless of country. Oftentimes scientists can read in one of a handful of more common languages such as English or Simplified Chinese. Scientists tend to have access to the internet for software downloads. This is considered internationalization: A standardizing of products and services with minimal changes for the local market.
First Hurdle: Local Regulations
There is not a product or service in the world that can be sold universally without at least some localization. The main reason is local regulations. It is critical to know the national and local laws that apply to your specific industry. This may mean a change in how your product or service is marketed. Or it may mean that your packaging must include specific references to how your product is made. Some industries must make drastic changes to what they sell to be locally compliant. Consider a requirement for metric standards in maintenance tools when your product is designed around the English measurement system. This may be too great a regulatory hurdle to jump.
Cost-Benefit Trade-Off
The trade off is making changes to appeal and sell more to more local buyers versus the cost of making these changes. If the changes are simple and low cost compared to the increased demand and a healthy profit margin, then it is worth making those changes. Here's my general formula:
Expected increase in units sold x profit margin [ > or < ] Cost of localizing
American businesses in particular should keep in mind that the up-front costs of localizing may pay off years later when your product or service is established in the overseas market.
| Product Model | Inside Diameter | Outside Diameter | Thickness |
| LUCF12 bearing | 12 | 22 | 31 |
| LUCS80-2LS bearing | 80 | 120 | 113 |