According to a research study conducted by OC&C in cooperation with Google, retail business is becoming global and those retailers who still operate locally will face financial issues and inadequate methods to withstand competition.

The same source points out that, although international searches for Nordic online store have grown 30% in the last three years, with Italy, Greece and Germany as the fastest growing European countries in this category, online retailers, despite this fact, haven’t updated their international language support on their websites outside the Nordic region.

By taking into consideration the top 15 online stores in each Nordic country, as defined by domestic search volume, a figure of 40% does not support multiple languages. One in four stores offers 1 to 3 multiple languages, while one in ten offers 4 to 6 multiple languages. Additional Nordic languages are commonly offered, but they reach a small array of customers beside English, German or French.

The research also shows that 1 in 8 Nordic online stores currently serves markets outside of Europe, while 33% deliver to European countries. The majority offers delivery to the local market reaching to 38% or other Nordics countries meaning 15%). Swedish and Danish online stores provide support for more languages and deliver further than Norway or Finland. Denmark and Sweden also show the major international growth rate for Nordic online stores, with 40% and 35% respectively. Finland totals 21%.