As online shopping businesses such as ecommerce malls become widespread and web shops are used across all fields, the idea of providing multilingual support on retail websites in Japan is gaining attention. In addition to the popularity of anime, games, and other subcultures, electronics, cosmetics, and food products from the country are becoming increasingly recognized internationally. Offering language diversity is therefore considered fundamental for operations that want to attract new customers and expand their sales channels.

This article focuses on making ecommerce sites multilingual, explaining the importance of Japanese ventures accommodating numerous languages, which ones to prioritize, and the advantages and disadvantages of doing so.

What’s in this article?

• Why multilingual support for ecommerce sites is important
  
• Languages to consider when translating your ecommerce site　
  
• Advantages of making your ecommerce site multilingual
  
• Disadvantages of making your ecommerce site multilingual
  
• How to make an ecommerce site multilingual
  
• Key considerations for multilingual ecommerce translation success
  
• How Stripe Checkout can help
  

Why multilingual support for ecommerce sites is important

There are two major reasons to translate an ecommerce site into multiple languages:

Expand the market scale for cross-border ecommerce

Cross-border ecommerce refers to a business model in which brands run digital storefronts for buyers both domestically and overseas, with a focus on audiences in other nations. Shoppers can purchase Japanese goods from web stores while living abroad, making them particularly popular among many interested in Japan but residing elsewhere.

The global cross-border ecommerce market continues to expand. According to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s (METI) Market Research Report on Electronic Commerce (August 2025), the sector reached an estimated $1.01 trillion in 2024. The figure represents a clear increase from the $785 billion reported for 2021 in the previous year’s study, confirming steady expansion in global online retail.

Moreover, the average annual growth rate from 2025 to 2034 is estimated to be approximately 23.1%, with the market scale projected to reach $6.72 trillion by 2034.

As international ecommerce draws more attention, brands in Japan have room to grow sales by promoting products to customers outside the country and broadening their reach. However, a web store available exclusively in Japanese naturally limits traffic from buyers overseas. For that reason, offering multiple languages plays a central role in giving shoppers abroad a smoother purchasing experience.

As we will explain later, for cross-border ecommerce businesses targeting customers in China and the United States, language support is particularly important, since both destinations offer substantial sales potential.

Increase in inbound tourism

In recent years, large numbers of international travelers have visited Japan, leading to inbound demand reaching levels never seen before. Inbound tourism businesses are primarily in the sightseeing/tourism, accommodation, and food service industries. For these sectors to serve a steadily rising number of foreign travelers to the country, the ability to communicate in several languages matters greatly.

For example, if a customer wants to book a hotel or sign up for local tour packages online, access in a wider range of languages opens the door to more international guests.

When travelers discover products or brands they like while visiting Japan, a multilingual cross-border ecommerce site enables them to buy those items after returning home, helping businesses secure repeat buyers. Inbound consumption by foreign tourists could attract customers to cross-border digital storefronts in the future.

Languages to consider when translating your ecommerce site

Which language options deserve priority when making your ecommerce site multilingual? To help users who don’t speak Japanese purchase products and services from online storefronts, we recommend prioritizing the following languages:

English

Adding English, the lingua franca used around the world, helps cover a large portion of the market’s needs. In the METI report mentioned above, sales of cross-border ecommerce to the US in 2024 reached almost ¥1.6 trillion, up 8% from the previous year. These figures show a strong need for English.

Travel to Japan tells a similar story: the US ranks fourth among source regions, behind China, South Korea, and Taiwan. Data from the Japan National Tourism Organization shows that the number of US arrivals to the island nation was about 2.73 million. Therefore, supporting English is the first step to attracting as many overseas shoppers as possible from a variety of countries and regions, not just the US, to a digital storefront.

Chinese (simplified and traditional)

The demand for cross-border ecommerce to China from Japan is high. The METI data cited earlier shows sales in 2024 reached ¥2.6372 trillion, surpassing sales to the US. Furthermore, the number of arrivals from China to Japan in 2025 was about 8.2 million (based on data from the Japan National Tourism Organization), placing China at the top for travel demand to the country.

This information points to a strong need for Chinese language skills across international ecommerce and inbound tourism. If Chinese is added to a brand’s digital storefront, it helps to cover both variants: simplified Chinese, commonly used in Mainland China, and traditional Chinese, used in regions such as Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Korean

Depending on the products your company’s ecommerce site handles and the access patterns from various countries, Korean could deserve consideration, particularly within Asia outside China. South Korea, Japan’s closest neighbor, presents a strong opportunity for cross-border ecommerce. Japanese music and films are well recognized, which helps sustain interest in products from there. Travel data reinforces this potential: approximately 7.66 million visitors from South Korea visited the country in 2025 (per the Japan National Tourism Organization), ranking second after China. This substantial volume makes Korean language support as valuable as English and Chinese.

Advantages of making your ecommerce site multilingual

Making your ecommerce site multilingual offers three main benefits:

Expanded sales channels result in higher revenue

If users are able to shop on digital storefronts in Japan without encountering language barriers, the result will be a wider range of new buyers. By offering several language options, a store is no longer limited to domestic customers and is in a better position to attract shoppers from around the world, leading to added revenue.

Increase in trust and favorability

Providing multiple language options boosts your business’s credibility and appeal.

For instance, if someone wants to buy Japanese cosmetics or anime merchandise but doesn’t understand the language, being able to use an ecommerce site in their native tongue can make them feel much more comfortable. That experience gives shoppers a positive impression of your company as one that considers overseas customers and provides flexible, courteous service.

For users in Japan, this will enhance the brand’s image as a “global business,” thereby improving its reputation.

Differentiation from competitors

Supporting several languages helps you differentiate from those that do not. A multilingual web shop offers greater convenience than one with similar products but no language support, increasing the likelihood that customers will choose it.

It is advisable to implement multilingual features as early as possible. Letting shoppers abroad know that assistance is available in their native tongue before your competitors creates a stronger differentiation.

Disadvantages of making your ecommerce site multilingual

Although multilingual efforts offer benefits such as better buyer acquisition abroad and higher revenue, they bring drawbacks that brands need to consider.

Translation quality control and update costs

Supporting multiple languages requires consistent quality control across all translated content. Unnatural phrasing, mistranslations, or spelling errors can undermine credibility, regardless of localization efforts. Additionally, each update to an ecommerce site requires corresponding revisions across all language versions. This process takes time and raises costs for every added language.

There will also be expenses for each language when implementing the tools necessary to make the page multilingual or for outsourcing translation work to external providers. When considering making your ecommerce site multilingual, it helps to remember that it involves a variety of tasks that require both initial effort and ongoing spending.

Multilingual customer support

While adding multiple languages on a digital storefront can expand its user base, it increases the likelihood of receiving inquiries in various languages as well. Because of that, it is necessary to establish a multilingual customer support system that can handle not only the information on the ecommerce site but also inquiries and issues with ease.

Possible options include assigning in-house staff who are proficient in one of the languages or using external customer assistance service providers. To prepare for potential delays caused by time zone differences between regions, clearly state business hours on the contact page in advance or, if possible, establish a 24-hour assistance system.

Laws, cultures, and business practices of other countries

Each country enforces its own legal requirements, which can vary widely. Cultural and religious sensitivities restrict certain words and expressions, so multilingual work calls for close attention to detail. One case involves wording used to describe how a drug works: phrasing that is lawful in the seller’s jurisdiction could violate laws in the buyer’s destination.

In health foods, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics, destination countries might prohibit certain ingredients or raw materials, preventing these products from being sold on ecommerce sites.

To avoid legal risks and buyer disputes, it is highly valuable to understand the laws, culture, and business practices of the destinations you intend to sell to. To that end, seek advice from experts familiar with launching operations in countries you want to target.

How to make an ecommerce site multilingual

Localizing an ecommerce site for more than one language requires work. The following four approaches offer practical ways to carry this out:

Employ dedicated translation staff

Translating from Japanese into other languages calls for accurate, context-appropriate wording of product names, descriptions, and usage instructions. Promotional messaging needs careful adaptation to preserve style, voice, and nuance. Some material might be difficult to express in foreign tongues, so skilled in-house language staff give brands a reliable way to handle product copy and on-page text. Hiring dedicated employees incurs costs, but when seeking stable, high-quality translations, an in-house specialist for each language is the best choice.

Outsource to an external translation service

For high-quality language work, outside agencies or freelance translators are another strong option. If outsourcing is selected, choose a provider with experience with digital storefront copy. This method also incurs a considerable cost, but professional translators help deliver highly accurate wording.

Translation fees differ by language, so it helps to confirm the exact price for every one before signing a service contract.

When outsourcing to individual translators through crowdsourcing, costs tend to be lower than with translation agencies. Still, skill levels vary between individuals, so it helps to carefully review a translator’s background and portfolio of past projects when making your selection.

Use translation tools

The third method integrates translation tools into existing ecommerce sites. It primarily relies on automated systems and AI, reducing time and expense compared to human rendering. This approach suits businesses that already run their own store and want to add multilingual support quickly.

Still, quality often falls short. Automated output tends to be less accurate, with unnatural phrasing or unclear sections that can confuse overseas customers. For that reason, automated output often needs a separate human review stage to refine the wording.

Use an ecommerce platform with its own translation functions

With an ecommerce platform that has translation functions, you can build a multilingual digital storefront relatively smoothly. Many such platforms handle not just Japanese yen but a wide range of foreign currencies as well, making them ideal to start selling internationally.

The simplest route is to use an existing mall-type platform designed for cross-border ecommerce. Especially on large online marketplaces such as Amazon or Rakuten Ichiba, attracting buyers is relatively straightforward, so simply opening a storefront will likely make your products more visible to shoppers abroad.

Brands are likewise able to open stores on major marketplaces in their target countries. These platforms integrate widely used regional payment methods and delivery systems, which helps simplify setup and makes it easier to reach customers in those markets and establish a presence. However, some local sites do not support Japanese, so the barriers to starting to sell are higher compared to domestic ecommerce malls in Japan.

Key considerations for multilingual ecommerce translation success

Localization

Beyond simple translation, thorough localization is key to providing support for multiple languages. The reason is that simply changing words and expressions from Japanese into another language is often insufficient to effectively convey the appeal of your company’s ecommerce site and products. So rather than relying on straight translation, brands need to communicate in ways that align with the culture, business practices, and values—an approach achieved through localization.

At the start of a multilingual rollout, review competitor sites that already operate in several languages. Compare how Japanese and non-Japanese pages present content, including the phrases and expressions they use. Doing so helps shape pages that fit the audience and sales environment for every language.

Limit the information to be translated

Making everything on an ecommerce site fully multilingual requires enormous time and cost. To simplify operations, focus on the details that overseas users truly need, such as product information, cross-border ecommerce payment methods, country-specific shipping options, and customer support. It is also important to place the language setting button where it is simple to find, so users who do not speak Japanese can easily switch from Japanese to their preferred language.

How Stripe Checkout can help

Stripe Checkout is a fully customizable prebuilt payment form that makes it easy for you to accept payments on your website or application.

Checkout can help you:

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