Thinking of International Expansion? Your OMS Needs Localization Features.

In a previous post, we talked about the challenges of taking your restaurant chain international. One of the major facets of a successful international expansion is localization: tailoring your menu, customer experience, software, and operating process in general to a new locale.

As it turns out, there is a lot more to say about localization and its importance. In this article, we’ll do a deep dive into localization and your restaurant’s order management system (OMS).

Why Localization Is Important

We usually think of localization as a front-end activity: change the menu language, update the menu layout, etc. We might also consider adapting menu items to different tastes, cultural norms (e.g. avoiding beef or pork in some areas), and ingredient availability.

However, localization is a lot more than that. Apostrophe, a content management systems provider that works with restaurants, lists the following items as part of the localization of restaurant websites and apps:

Language (menu and review)
Legal terms (e.g. the fine print on campaigns and giveaways)
Currency
Date/time format
Cuisine
Back-end language and accessibility (e.g. alternative text on images)

To expand this list to the whole infrastructure, we’d add the restaurant tech stack and its systems, which can be different in different countries or regions. This doesn’t even take into account training materials, employee handbooks, etc. that need to be adapted to local culture and language. Localization is a big job!

Understanding Localization in Context

Localization starts with understanding the new region and its culture. This requires a lot of research, and it can be true of different regions within your home country. If you want to build an experience that locals will intuitively comprehend and enjoy, you have to start by becoming familiar with their language, culture, and expectations around a restaurant experience.

A high-level roadmap to this process might look something like this:

Get an overview of different regions and locations. In almost any large country, there’s a marked difference between the cultures and even languages of different regions. What would sell like hotcakes in Maine might not do well in Texas. So, when considering how you’re going to localize, take the region as well as the country into account. This National Restaurant Association article on cultural intelligence provides some great ideas on getting started.
Study how cultural differences impact ordering systems. This is more than just making your menu, website, or app multi-lingual. There are other nuances to consider, such as the layout and flow of information, the type of device used to access the system or place orders, etc.
Understand colloquial language use. Words that mean one thing in a certain nation or region can mean something completely different in other areas. Case in point: The humble hotdog can also be known as a frankfurter, vienna sausage, redhot, Georgia hot, coney, glizzy, Chicago dog, etc. Not all of these terms are intelligible to hotdog lovers across the US.
Learn about currency and tax regulations. This can be as simple as the separators between dollars/euros and cents – in North America, we write “1,010.24”; in Europe, you’re more likely to see this written as “1.010,24”. It can also extend to such complicated concepts as how much tax to charge on various items. Another example: In some parts of Asia, sugary beverages are subject to an additional surcharge.

Now that we’ve made the case for localization in general and explored some of its complexities, let’s focus on localization in the order management system.

Localization for Order Management Systems: Why and How

First, let’s talk about the “why” behind thoughtful localization. In short, the localization of ordering systems and their related elements (apps, menus, kiosk interfaces, etc.) can do a lot for your brand:

Increased customer satisfaction and loyalty. By tailoring the customer experience to the local market’s expectations, you’re creating an easier path to purchase. This increases customer satisfaction and leads to greater customer loyalty.
Improved staff efficiency and communication. The same principle applies to employees: localizing the ordering system makes it easier for them to use it, which reduces frustration. And a properly functioning system that’s tuned to the local workflow promotes good communication and efficiency.
Better compliance with local regulations. Obviously, tax regulations change from country to country and even from state to state. Adapting your ordering system to these and other regulations isn’t just a matter of making ordering easier, it’s also essential for compliance with data protection regulations, tax reporting, and the like.

OMS Localization Best Practices

While the details of OMS localization will vary from place to place, the best practices behind effective localization remain the same. They include:

Conducting market research to understand regional needs. Ah, preliminary research. The obvious first step to any business decision, it’s essential when you’re considering when and where to start your international/regional expansion.
Collaborating with local partners and vendors. Your own research will only get you so far. To truly understand the target market and anticipate how the ordering system will be used, you need input from trusted local partners.
Creating standard operating procedures for localization. Once you understand what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, and how you’ll carry it out, encode that knowledge in a set of standard operating procedures. You can use this information to help set up big-picture operations, but it can also serve as the basis for employee training.
Training staff on localization features and benefits. Finally, make sure staff know about the localization features in the OMS. This is especially important in multilingual, multicultural areas.

Localization Features Your OMS Needs

So, what kind of features should your order management system have to support localization? The following are self-explanatory, but they’re also essential:

Multilingual support.
Currency conversion.
Multiple payment options.
Tax calculation and reporting.
Customizable menus and pricing.

Once again, it’s not enough simply to have these features available. Regional and location managers should understand how they work, how to deploy them, and when to do so.

Getting Help with Order Management System Localization

Localization requires a significant investment of time, money, research, and risk. But it can pay off in terms of market share, innovation, customer satisfaction, and user experience.

When you’re thinking about expanding to a different country or region, don’t make the mistake of assuming that your current tech stack is ready to support operations in another language, currency, etc. Find out what your system’s capabilities are. Does it offer the localization features discussed above? If not, what are your options?

At Tillster, we’ve helped many restaurant chains expand their operations into new areas. Our team is ready to help you analyze your current restaurant order management system and determine whether it’s capable of multilingual, multicultural functionality. Contact us today and we’ll be glad to discuss your next steps.