Yappn Corp. (OTCMKTS:YPPN): Ecommerce Multilingual Translation System to Penetrate International Markets



The Internet has connected the world and reshaped the way business is done across countless industries. The web has made it possible for a small manufacturer in mid-Kansas to reach sales channels in Singapore or anywhere else in the world in a way that was essentially unattainable a couple decades ago. Ecommerce is an explosive industry, with business-to-consumer ecommerce sales forecast to grow by another 20.1% in 2015 to reach $1.5 trillion, according to eMarketer’s latest forecast. Notably in the report, the Asia-Pacific region for the first time ever will generate more in sales than North America at $525.2 billion and $482.6 billion, respectively. Sales in China will account for about 60% of sales in Asia-Pacific, with that percentage expected to rise to nearly 75% in 2017.

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YPPNIn addition to the strong growth in China, rising sales in India, Indonesia, Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, Russia, Italy and Canada are expected to lead the global push. That spells opportunity for global online sales, but there is the lingering and often daunting obstacle for merchants of more than 6500 languages spoken by more than 7 billion people in the world.

The language barrier is taller than many might think as detailed in a report by research firm Common Sense Advisory titled, “Can’t Read, Won’t Buy: 2014” that detailed a survey of more than 3,0000 global consumers showing three-quarters prefer to buy products in their native language and 60% “rarely or never buy from English-only websites.” It only makes sense that the majority of people want to discuss, research and purchase products on websites in their native language. Simply, many people are uneasy about buying anything in a different currency and certainly in a different language, so localizing the language and process is critical to international sales and marketing success. Considering only about 27% of the global consumer base is native English speaking, merchants are best served to employ technologies that overcome these barriers to reach global scale and increase competitive advantage.

Companies can make the leap into localization using a variety of technologies (such as geolocation) and/or building websites that cater to specific languages, such as majors like Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) and CVS Health Corp. (NYSE:CVS) have done with Spanish versions of their websites catering to the Hispanic population.

To hit the masses, experts recommend making sure products can be localized to a minimum of 13 different languages, as, obviously, building sites into thousands of languages makes no economical sense. Even still, building two, much less 15 or 20 different versions can be an onerous, if not unfeasible, task for many businesses. Launching the website is only a small portion of the challenge to penetrate international markets. There is still the grand (and expensive) challenge of marketing products, interacting with customers and maintaining the site, for which a team of interpreters is required.

That’s where Yappn Corp. (OTCQB:YPPN) is stepping in to provide and end-to-end multilingual solution for companies of all sizes with its recently launchedWindrose Tech platform. Covering everything from pre- to post-sale, the proprietary suite of Windrose includes all the tools for multilingual marketing (advertisements), shopping (store, catalog, shopping cart and checkout), and customer support. With its genesis going back to a cutting-edge translation tool for chat, the cloud-based Windrose platform (hosted on the Microsoft Azure® network) is built from the ground up upon Yappn’s first-in-class technology that automatically detects an online or mobile user’s language; the first step in crossing the language barrier. Windrose completes the process through advanced technology to understand the meaning and interpretation of a message to seamlessly return a translation that is reflective of the meaning and spirit of the message.

For merchants, this means no more having to build websites for multiple languages as the system can be integrated with an existing ecommerce software database or into a custom built store and scaled for international efforts. Moreover, Windrose dovetails with social marketing campaigns, such as those on Instagram®, Twitter®, Facebook® and Pinterest®.

In sales, no one part is more important than the other for a complete experience that doesn’t leave customers checking-out with a half-full cart or, worse yet, never making it to checkout. Reviews in a native language are part and parcel to customer retention. According to Review of Reviews, 82% of 2,445 survey respondents say that user-generated reviews are extremely valuable or valuable. 60% of the respondents said that they spend more than a week conducting research before making a purchase, which includes reading reviews. Interestingly, 95% of unhappy customers said that they would return for more business as long as an issue is resolved quickly and efficiently, making company representatives speaking fluently imperative in success.

Windrose currently works in 67 of the world’s most frequently used languages, with that number stepping up to 150 through Yappn’s partnership with VerbalizeIt. In addition to the automatic translation, users have the option via dropdown to select any of the other available languages.

Aside from operating in real time, a true differentiator is Windrose being “smart,” meaning that it goes beyond the crude word-for-word substitution model of today’s basic online translator to infer the intended message. This is accomplished through the principles of statistical machine translation, which involves pouring large volumes of the entire corpus of different languages into a computer (think millions and millions of books) and then subsequently adding matching translations to the mix with the computer comparing and contrasting unimaginable numbers of combinations to determine the best possible translation to keep the message on point in a natural manner.

Now, add in more technology and real-time input and, as Yappn chief executive David Lucatch explains, the “technology of Yappn gets more accurate as our systems learn from user experiences and update lexicons. With the use of our proprietary algorithms, the message is translated by identifying the core focus as well as the literal translation.”

Yappn generates revenue by offering its services and technology through vendors or directly to clients where it charges a fee and/or takes a slice of the “upside” multilingual sales. No names have been disclosed, but the company says it is already working with leading brands on multilingual ecommerce initiatives. Yappn has put itself in an enviable position in developing and now starting to commercial and create cash flow from a unique turnkey platform technology to meet demand for global marketing and sales. From a Wall Street perspective, this will have investors’ attention going forward in one of the most important translations: how it translates to profit for Yappn.