How do you create a mobile experience for millions of distinctive users in dozens of different countries? It takes more than simply translating content into multiple languages.
During Alibaba’s 2015 11.11 Shopping Festival, the AliExpress mobile app became the #1 ranked shopping app in 121 countries and regions, according to Google Play. Since then, the AliExpress app has been steadily growing strong user bases worldwide.
Here are five steps in our mobile globalization journey:
1. Mobile Strategy
Not all users are quick to download apps.
When entering a new market, offering both an app and a mobile site can help attract a wider audience.
This strategy, however, can sometimes result in a user split—pictured above—where some users are on the app and some are on the mobile site.
If your company is in a leading market position, chances are that the majority of your users have downloaded your app. But if your app is not ranked in a top three market position, you might have a significant percentage of users who are only on the mobile site.
Because the long-term goal is to drive traffic to your app, once your brand has been established you can begin migrating users through the tactics in step two:
2. Optimize Technology
Work closely with your mobile browser to create an identical experience on the mobile app and mobile site.
For AliExpress, developers worked closely with teams from Google to capitalize on the power of Progressive Web Apps. These tools enable your mobile site to have the same design and functionality as an app. Overtime, your mobile site users will migrate to your app for the convenience it offers.
It’s also important to provide incentives to download your app. The AliExpress mobile site advertises exclusive deals for mobile app users only (see above).
3. Localization
Local and Global
Localizing user experience is essential to keeping your services relevant in markets around the world. For example, on Alibaba’s marketplaces in China, user experience and design are based on location.
For users in Northern China, artwork above reflects colder weather, and the app’s shopping recommendations focus on winter products. In the south, the app design and shopping recommendations reflect a warmer climate.
Similarly, AliExpress in Russia features local sellers. Localization increases user engagement while promoting local merchants. The Russian app also integrates Russian social media, offering users the option of signing in with their VK accounts (a Russian social network), or posting directly to local social media channels.
4. Personalization
Personalizing your app’s design for each individual user optimizes user experience. For new users on AliExpress, user experience focuses on product descriptions and information—features that aim to educate the user and build consumer confidence in the marketplace.
For long-term users, however, services and design are informed by user behavior. When a long-term user opens the AliExpress app, the design focuses on shopping recommendations based on individual purchase history. Harnessing this data drives user engagement.
Long-term users are also offered exclusive coupons based on their purchase history, making their experience even more customized.
5. Help your Partners Succeed
When you discover a winning strategy or develop innovative technology, it’s important to share this information throughout your business ecosystem.
When localization and personalization led to increased customer engagement on AliExpress, these strategies were shared with merchants so they could customize their own storefronts and better connect with users. In the future, AliExpress plans to provide merchants with multiple customizable storefronts to further personalize the shopping experience based on the user’s location.
Data-Driven Design + Human Centered Design
Alibaba’s motto is “customer first.” Putting this motto into action requires leveraging big data to localize, personalize and drive engagement. The combination of data-driven design and human centered design is a winning formula.
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