The 'Undiscovered' Global Customer

By Russell Jones, Co-Moderator

Expats and their self-sponsored counterparts, global nomads, are a still-undiscovered niche market! "Undiscovered" for the simple reason that they do not fit the mold of living in *one* country and speaking *one* language. Let me walk you through an example.

Let's say you are a TCK (third-culture kid), residing in Australia but currently spending 2 weeks with Japanese friends in Paris. So, you're sitting in a hotspot cafe on the Rue de la Chance, early for a rendez-vous, and decide to complete a few errands online while waiting. You decide to order a new piece of antivirus software. You start by googling to find products and a good online deal. You type Google.com and are automatically redirected to Google.fr. Ok, no problem, you think, c'est la vie, so you enter your search terms and click on "Recherche Google." From the search results, you click on to the XYZ software maker's web presence at XYZ.com. Your web address (known as "IP address") in the cafe hotspot locks you into its Francophone sleuce and redirects you promptly to XYZ.fr. And, of course, the XYZ website appears in French. "Bon!" you think, hoping your intermediate French skills somehow get you through the ordering process. Stepping through your ordering challenge, you find out that, contrary to your expectations, the process will not allow you to specify the language version. If you order now, you'd be stuck with the French version of the software on your otherwise English-language operating system. So, then, you abort the order for one desperate last attempt to reach an English interface at XYZ.com and, then, also XYZ.co.uk to get an English version of the software but are always re-routed to the French website.

You're sick and tired of being falsly categorized here, and decide to go to the competition. You find that ABC company has a global portal and asks you on its homepage to specify a language. "Now, that's pretty good for a start," you think. You specify 'English' with an inner sigh of relief and proceed to the products page. What, only USD $50 for 2-year license for ABC antivirus software? That's a real bargain! As you are about to go to the payment screen, you notice that somewhere between the screens of the ordering process, you have somehow been redirected to the French page -- and a French version software -- and the price is no longer USD $50 but 50 Euros (USD $75). "Wait a minute," you think and click the 'Back' button back to the English-language products page and find it has now also changed to French. You are stuck. There is no way to get the English-language version software. Should you now pay 50% more than the AUD $80 you would pay at home and settle for a French version -- "a good way to improve your French," you console yourself -- or just click 'Cancel'? In the end, you decide to wait another 2 weeks and purchase it when back in Sydney. You sip your Perrier, a bit frustrated at having been marginalized in this so-called globalized world. Your friend arrives, greets you and your thoughts about anti-virus software language versions quickly fade away.