Why Localize
Data on who prefers native-language content, how large the non-English developer market is, and what happened when companies actually localized.
Consumer language preferences
CSA Research — "Can't Read, Won't Buy" (2020)
The most widely cited study on language preference. 8,709 consumers across 29 countries, screened from 31,933 respondents using Kantar's Honesty Detector.
| Finding | Number |
|---|---|
| Prefer products with native-language information | 76% |
| Will never purchase from English-only sites | 40% |
| Prefer native-language content even if poor quality | 65% |
| Prefer native-language support even when fluent in English | 60% |
Country-specific preference for native-language product information:
| Country/Region | Preference |
|---|---|
| Taiwan | 94% |
| South Korea | 92% |
| China | 92% |
| Japan | 90% |
| Indonesia | 88% |
| Germany (buy ONLY from local-language sites) | 57% |
Source: CSA Research, "Can't Read, Won't Buy — B2C," 2020.
Nimdzi Insights — "Project Underwear"
74 countries, 66 languages, 41 local researchers. Found that 9 out of 10 international users will ignore products not in their native language.
Source: Nimdzi Insights, "Project Underwear."
Forrester Research — B2B language gap
- 64% of technology decision makers value localized content
- Only 26% of marketers prioritize it
- 75% of B2B buyers consider native-language sales materials important
- 21 percentage point gap between regional employees and HQ employees rating localization importance
Source: Forrester Research, B2B localization studies.
Developer and internet demographics
| Metric | Number | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Global internet users | 5.52 billion | ITU/Statista |
| Asia's share of internet users | 53% | ITU/Statista |
| Chinese internet users | 1.11 billion (19.4% of global) | CNNIC |
| English share of web content | 52.1% | W3Techs |
| English share of internet users | 25.9% | Internet World Stats |
| Developers working with English-only docs | 84–90% | Industry surveys |
| India developer population | 5.2 million (growing 28%/yr) | NASSCOM/Evans Data |
| Global developer talent gap (2024) | 40 million skilled workers | Korn Ferry |
| Projected talent gap (2030) | 85 million | Korn Ferry |
The gap: English represents 52% of web content but only 26% of users. Half of all online content serves a quarter of the audience.
What happened when companies localized
SaaS companies
| Company | What they did | Result | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Slack | Localized into Japanese | 249% user growth, 63% more paid conversions | Slack engineering blog |
| Revolut | Expanded to 31 languages | 186% user growth (9M → 20M+ in 2 years) | Revolut/Lokalise case study |
| Spotify | Localized subscriptions across 73 languages | 28% retention improvement, 12% revenue increase | Spotify annual report |
| HubSpot | Localized a single Spanish content form ($1,500) | $144,000 ARR (9,500% ROI) | HubSpot blog |
| Life360 | 500,000 words into 5 languages | 80% time and cost savings | Life360/Lokalise case study |
| Meister | Localized MindMeister into 10 languages | Doubled customer satisfaction | Phrase case study |
Enterprise companies
| Company | International revenue | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Netflix | 60%+ from international subscribers | 230M+ subscribers, 190+ countries |
| Amazon | $93.83B international segment | Fastest-growing division |
| Booking.com | 70% from non-English markets | 200+ person localization team |
| Microsoft | 49% of $198B revenue from international | Office expanded from 70 to 106 languages |
| Adobe | 40% of $21.51B from international | EMEA $5.55B, Asia $3.06B |
SEO impact
| Company | What they did | Organic traffic result | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hill's Pet | 15-language localization | France +529%, Holland +340%, Poland +208% | Phrase case study |
| ForexSuggest | 41-language implementation | +425% organic growth in 6 months | ForexSuggest/Weglot |
| Momentic | Multilingual content strategy | +8,200% non-branded organic visibility | Momentic case study |
| 3M | 100 countries, 6,000 websites | +20% organic YoY for 3 consecutive years | 3M/BrightEdge |
SaaS localization benchmarks
| Finding | Number | Source |
|---|---|---|
| International revenue share (fast-growth SaaS) | 31–32% | OpenView Partners |
| International revenue share (slow-growth SaaS) | 20% | OpenView Partners |
| SaaS companies with cosmetic localization → growth | ~40% higher | Chargebee (6,452 companies) |
| SaaS companies with localized pricing → growth | ~30–40% bump | ProfitWell (457 companies) |
| Churn rate in non-English markets without localization | 2–3x higher | ChartMogul |
| B2B buyer's journey done digitally before contacting sales | 57–70% | Gartner |
| Stakeholders involved in B2B buying decision | 6.8 | Gartner |