Office Depot demonstrates how ecommerce initiatives should speak to the Spanish-language market, too.

With predictions that Hispanic Internet users will total 16 million by 2007, why then, is only 3 percent of Internet content in Spanish? With Hispanic purchasing power in the United States reaching more than $600 billion a year, why are there so few Spanish-language ecommerce sites?

According to comScore Media Metrix, 49 percent of U.S. Hispanic Internet users prefer sites that are either in Spanish or bilingual. Additionally, the recently-published U.S. Hispanic Cyberstudy conducted by AOL/Roper ASW says, "The largest barrier among Hispanics who do not have Internet access at home is language. Nearly three in four offline Hispanics who speak at least some Spanish (71 percent), say online Spanish content is important. More than half of all offline Hispanics (56 percent) cite lack of Spanish content as a reason for not going online at home. About half (49 percent) also say it is because there aren't enough sites and activities online that would interest Hispanics."

While Hispanics control 8 percent of U.S. spending, there are very few full Spanish-language ecommerce sites. “In the last two years the majority of Spanish language online initiatives by U.S.-based corporations have been content- and education-oriented,” says Lee Vann, founder and president of Captura Group, an interactive marketing consulting firm that offers Hispanic in-language and in-culture online solutions,

Perhaps then, it's no surprise as to why more Hispanic users than non-Hispanics -- 44 percent vs. 32 percent -- consider the Internet an important source of information. "This points to ways of swaying the Hispanic audience, with product and service information targeted to them on Spanish-language or bilingual sites," says the eMarketer's April 2004 report, "Targeting the U.S. Hispanic Market."

However, as the Hispanic online population continues to grow, and the market for Spanish language ecommerce increases, we should see more and more companies launch ecommerce efforts to capture the billions of dollars Hispanics are spending online. According to Liz Sarachek, executive director of sales for Yahoo! en Español, the 53 percent of U.S. Hispanics who are actively online are a lucrative target. Studies have shown that Internet penetration is highest among affluent U.S. Hispanics -- with 89 percent of those having an income of $150,000 or more actively online.

Companies must take into account the ecommerce opportunities, not just in the business-to-consumer sector, but in the business-to-business vertical as well. According to the United States Small Business Administration, the 2 million Hispanic-owned businesses in the United States already generate about $300 billion in sales every year. What's more, this trend is expected to double every five years, and within 10 years there could be as many as eight million Hispanic-owned businesses in the United States.

Office Depot launched Spanish-language site in 2003

One company that is already ahead of the game is Office Depot. In January 2003, Office Depot launched the first fully-functional Spanish Web site in the office supplies industry. It mirrors Office Depot’s award-winning English-language site, and features more than 14,000 office supply products, plus full functionality like a store locator, saved lists, order tracking, comparison shopping among similar products and a comprehensive product search.

"After months of evaluating Hispanic buying patterns, we learned that, when it comes to making major purchasing decisions, Hispanic business owners want rich content and information -- and often times they want to make purchasing decisions in Spanish," says Monica Luechtefeld,Office Depot's executive vice president of ecommerce. "By reaching out to Hispanic customers in their native language, the benefits are two-fold; we believe our Web site will not only help us attract new customers, but also to build increased loyalty among our existing Hispanic customers, which makes good business sense."

With the success of Office Depot’s full Spanish language ecommerce site, why have more companies not pursued this strategy? Captura's Vann says three variables have limited the growth of Spanish-language Web sites: Lack of Hispanic interactive strategy, operational considerations and technology limitations.

Culture-specific strategy is important

Captura says that developing a Web site for the Hispanic online market requires a strategic approach that ensures that it's not only in-language and in-culture, but that it also complements a company’s existing general market strategies. Hispanic online strategies that balance customer value with business objectives are likely to be the most successful.

From a customer-value point of view, it is important for a Hispanic Web site to be language-appropriate and culturally relevant -- this is the most critical piece of delivering a valuable user experience to Hispanics online.

Developing a Spanish language site should be approached like any other marketing initiative, with a strategic approach that begins with user, internal and market research. From the research, develop a quantifiable ROI-driven strategy for creating a valuable Hispanic user experience. Then when it comes to content development, pay careful attention to language and cultural conversion issues. Simple translation and localization is not always appropriate -- sometimes a marketer must create original Spanish-language content.

Differences in Spanish-language dialects can be a major user-experience issue. Agustin Viola, director of ecommerce for Office Depot, says, "Spanish speakers from different countries basically share the same language, but have cultural differences in words that mean different things in different countries. Therefore, the challenge was to find a neutral, universal Spanish that is not specific to one particular ethnic group."

Operational considerations

When it comes to operational considerations, consider how a Hispanic online initiative is going to affect customer service, marketing, public relations and support for the initiative.

To ensure a good user experience, carefully consider information architecture issues around navigation, design, features and functionality when developing online applications for the Hispanic online market. These users are relatively new to the Internet, with 48 percent of Hispanics online less than two years vs. 21 percent of the general market (AOL/Roper ASW, 2002). As a result, it's important to provide simple and intuitive navigation, clean and colorful design, and clear calls to action, especially around hyperlinks and external links.

With respect to external links, Captura says it's important to manage user expectations and let them know when they are navigating to another Web site that is only available in English. By notifying a user, you are giving him the option of continuing if he feels comfortable in English, or not proceeding any further and remaining in a Spanish-language environment.

Technology issues

Some of the technical considerations that need to be addressed include navigation and information architecture, databases, content management and maintenance. Understand and plan for these issues before starting development.

When taking these variables into account, it is crucial to take a holistic approach in considering Hispanic online programs and evaluating how such initiatives will affect the organization overall.

Companies that are serious about the Hispanic online market should allocate the proper resources to building a full Spanish-language Web site. Most organizations do not have a Hispanic interactive department, as it is a true interdisciplinary function that requires resources from many different places. However, it is critical within the organization to have one leader who oversees the program. This individual must:

• Understand in-language and in-culture Hispanic marketing and the online channel
• Interact with cross-functional groups
• Be accountable for successful implementation
• Provide ongoing support for program
• Be responsible for ROI

With the growing Hispanic population (it is estimated that by 2030 one in five U.S. residents will be Hispanic), their increasing Internet use (in 2004 alone, Internet access among Hispanics will grow by 7.4 percent -- more than for any other group), and the significant control Hispanics have on the purchasing power in the United States (more than $600 billion a year), companies must consider tailoring a portion of their business to this demographic. An in-language and in-culture approach will go a long way toward creating a long-term, mutually beneficial relationship with Hispanic consumers online.

In my next article, I will detail the success of Yahoo! En Español and its approach to not being just a search engine, but a "life engine" for the online Hispanic community.

Elizabeth M. Lloyd is currently the Director of Corporate Marketing for a start up online ad company in Silicon Valley. Previously, Elizabeth was the Director of Marketing for NetCreations, Inc., an opt-in email firm in New York City. Prior to that, Elizabeth was responsible for the Public Relations department of ValueClick, Inc., a digital media and technology company.