The Year of the Pig (one localized website at a time)
Lunar New Year has arrived and, with it, the Chinese New Year (and related Asian New Year celebrations). As I’ve done a few times in the past, I thought I’d …
Starbucks
IKEA: The best global retail website of 2017
For the 2017 Web Globalization Report Card, I benchmarked the following 9 retail websites: H&M IKEA LUSH McDonald’s MUJI Starbucks UNIQLO Walmart Zara For the purposes of this report, the retail segment includes …
Web localization in the Year of the Sheep
I enjoying watching how Western companies localize their websites and products to capitalize on Chinese New Year — the Year of the Sheep (or Goat). Like this gift card from Starbucks …
Starbucks in Asia: From serving expats to serving locals
Starbucks currently has 19,000 locations of which 11,000 are in the US. According to this Wall Street Journal Q&A (reg. required), Howard Schultz remains optimistic about Asia: Outside the U.S., Starbucks …
When does localization become capitulation?
I begin this post with a question because I don’t have an answer. A book making news these days is The Collaboration: Hollywood’s Pact with Hitler. It’s about Hollywood’s active self-censorship …
The top 25 global websites from the 2013 Web Globalization Report Card
UPDATE: The 2017 Web Globalization Report Card is now available. I’m pleased to announce the top-scoring websites from the 2013 Web Globalization Report Card. This is the ninth annual edition …
Starbucks modifies its global gateway, but problems remain
I noticed recently that Starbucks had launched a new web design, probably to coincide with its newly austere logo. Unfortunately, the new global gateway didn’t improve on the old global …
Navigating the multilingual web: The Art of the Global Gateway
In 1999, I first used the term “global gateway.” At the time, I was referring to a company’s “select language” pull-down menu. Needless to say, the term stuck. But it has …
Best global retail web site: IKEA
It’s been awhile since I’ve posted findings from the 2010 Web Globalization Report Card, but I did want to include a brief note on the retail sector. We define this industry …
Starbucks puts its web site where its growth is
Starbucks may be closing stores in the US, but it’s still growing internationally. According to the Seattle PI: Starbucks recently opened stores in the Czech Republic, Amsterdam and Poland. And …
Update on the World’s Number One Starbucks Fan
In 2005, I interviewed a man named Winter, who was on a quest to visit ever Starbucks location on this planet. Four years later, the quest continues. Unfortunately, as documented …