When a growing company starts considering global expansion, the main point often revolves around the question of how to scale at speed. But when you’re looking to expand into emerging markets, success depends on something else, instead: localization.

“Copy-paste” is generally not a good strategy to follow when you’re looking to cover more than one market. Past market findings indicate that companies that localize achieve 1.5X faster revenue growth.

That said, localization-first design isn’t just about translating your products – which is a mistake commonly made. In reality, it’s about building a product in a way that feels natural, intuitive, and reliable for people whose local realities you’re building for.

Why localization matters

Let’s start with a simple fact: most people find it easier to use products that come in their native language. In e-commerce, for example, previous research has found that 76 percent of shoppers have shown precisely that preference. And at the same time, 40 percent just outright refuse to make a purchase if the content comes in a foreign language.

When you are reaching out to markets where English proficiency isn’t widespread, that issue becomes ever more acute. If your app only speaks English, you’re excluding millions of potential users without even giving them a chance.

But language is only the surface layer when it comes to localization. Payment rails are often highly specific to individual countries or even regions within a country. In Kenya, for example, mobile money services like M-Pesa dominate daily transactions. Whereas in India, by comparison, UPI has become the standard payment system. A global product that doesn’t adapt to these differences won’t gain traction, no matter how well-designed it may be.

We also need to think about infrastructure issues. In emerging markets, high-speed services with 24/7 Internet access are a rarity. Connections can be unstable, and devices are older and with limited processing power.

That means products designed to work in such markets need to be optimized for low-bandwidth environments. An app heavy enough that it only works on the latest iPhone model and requires constant connectivity won’t get very far.

Even something as seemingly simple as an interface can have very different connotations. Icons, navigation styles, color schemes – what feels intuitive in one culture may carry completely different meanings in another, leaving users confused.

For example, in many Western markets, red often signals danger or error. But in China, red is a colour of prosperity and good fortune. A default interface designed for Western markets may simply not “click” correctly, because it is using the wrong color in the wrong context.

In short, a localized payment experience isn’t just “nice-to-have” – it’s a core part of building trust with your local audience.

The challenge of legacy systems

As I already mentioned, localization isn’t just about users; it’s also about the infrastructure you’re building on top of. Let’s look at this point in a bit more detail.

In many emerging markets, legacy systems are still the norm. That means developers need to design for older, less powerful devices, and older operating systems. At the same time, payments often rely on outdated, fragmented rails. Integrating with them is rarely straightforward but absolutely necessary if you want your product to work in reality, not just on paper.

Another major factor is data protection. Many countries require local data storage, meaning your cloud-based solution may need a local hosting partner. That adds to the costs and complexity that your company needs to bear, but skipping these steps isn’t an option if you want to stay compliant. And even when cloud hosting is possible, the nearest data centre may be far away, adding latency that directly affects user experience.

How to build a localization-first strategy

Given everything we’ve covered so far, how can companies build products that are both scalable and sensitive to local realities? Here is my advice:

• Don’t neglect proper analysis. Every market has its quirks, and you need to devote proper time to studying them first. Local user habits, payment behaviours, cultural nuances — without access to this information, the chances of your expansion working out smoothly are minimal.
• Build a flexible architecture. Going for a microservices approach would allow you to maintain a global “core” product while keeping it separate from the add-on parts that need to be adapted locally. You can simply “plug in” regional modules instead of rebuilding the whole system every time you enter a new market.
• Design with technological constraints in mind. Assume your users are going to have older devices, slower internet, and limited storage space. Optimising for performance is good engineering — and it is critical to ensure effective adoption.
• Localize continuously. Localization isn’t a one-time effort. User expectations evolve with time, markets change, and new regulations can appear at any point. A strong product team needs to monitor all these things continuously to ensure your company can adapt to the changes the right way.

Building for context

Emerging markets don’t need watered-down versions of global products. They need solutions designed with their realities in mind. A product that feels tailored to fit the local context will be a lot easier for people to accept. And the companies that take the time to build such products stand to build a long-lasting trust in these markets.

#Localization #EmergingMarkets #ProductLocalization #PaymentsIntegration #LowBandwidthDesign