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Translations

Why this matters for your business​

International expansion is one of the highest-ROI growth moves in e-commerce — and one of the most under-attempted. The reason: translation cost and time. A typical 600-product catalog translation into 5 languages quotes at $20-40K and 2-4 weeks via human translators. By the time it's done, products have changed, descriptions are stale, and the brand has lost momentum.

The translation engine collapses this. Same 600 × 5 = 3,000 translations done in hours, brand voice preserved across languages (not robotic literal translation), with a glossary that locks in product names + brand terms. Native-speaker review of the most-trafficked products is recommended; the rest publishes directly. Total cost typically <5% of the human-translation route.

The unlock isn't translation — it's speed of international expansion. You can launch a market in days instead of months.

What this typically unlocks​

OutcomeResult
Translation cost vs. human−90% to −95%
Time per language for full cataloghours vs. weeks
Languages supported25+
Brand voice preservation across languagesmeasurable (not literal-translate)

What you actually get​

CapabilityDescription
25+ languagesMajor + many secondary languages
Brand voice preservedTranslates meaning not just words
GlossaryLock product names, brand terms, units
Bulk batchTranslate 1000s of items in one job
Per-product overridesNative speaker can edit specific items
Preview vs. publishReview before going live
Auto-detect source languageIf your content is multi-language already

Glossary example​

Brand glossary:
- "Sumeru Systems" → never translated (brand name)
- "ES" → never translated (brand suffix)
- "VitaGlow Serum" → never translated (product name)
- "vegan" → translated to "vegan" / "végétalien" / "vegano" (cultural)
- "Free shipping" → translated per-region phrase
- "$" → converted to local currency symbol if requested

Real merchant scenarios​

Scenario A — DTC brand expands US → EU in 1 week​

Setup. $4M brand expanding to UK + DE + FR.

Translation work:

  • 320 product descriptions × 3 languages = 960 translations
  • Generated in 1 hour
  • Native-speaker review of top 30 products: 4 hours each = 12 hours
  • Total: 13 hours of human time

Cost: ~$650 (review labor). Quote from translation agency was $14K.

Scenario B — Maintaining translation as catalog updates​

Setup. Brand with established multi-language catalog. New products launch ~weekly.

Process: Each new product auto-translated upon publish. Native review queued for top-traffic SKUs.

Result: Multi-language catalog stays current automatically — not a quarterly catch-up project.

Scenario C — Translation enables new market test​

Setup. Brand wanted to test Japan as a market. Quote from agency for full catalog translation: $35K — too expensive to test.

With platform: Translated full catalog for ~$200 (review of top 20 products). Tested Japan with 6-month soft launch.

Outcome: Japan generated $180K in 6 months. Justified permanent expansion. Without affordable translation, the test wouldn't have happened.

Best practices​

✅ Set up brand glossary first. 30 minutes saves re-translations later.

✅ Native-speaker review top 20 products per language. The others publish-as-translated.

✅ Trust the brand-voice preservation. Don't expect literal word-for-word; expect cultural-appropriate.

✅ Translate URLs / slugs as well. SEO benefit in local language.

❌ Don't skip native review for high-stakes products. AI errors on idioms exist; native eye catches them.

❌ Don't auto-translate every microcopy. Some short strings ("Cart", "Checkout") have language-specific conventions.

Plan tiers​

CapabilityFreeStarterProAgencyEnterprise
Languages supported515252525+ custom
Per-item translation✓✓✓✓✓
Bulk batch—✓✓✓✓
Glossary—✓✓✓✓
Brand-voice preservation—✓✓✓✓
Auto-translate on publish——✓✓✓
Multi-shop language sync———✓✓
Custom translation memory————✓

See also​