Words: Ashley Rigg
Published: 15th May 2008
Kyero.com to launch into Russian market
Spanish property portal Kyero.com is to add
Russian,
Italian and
Portuguese language versions to its site later this year. The move follows the roll-out of
Spanish,
French,
Danish,
Dutch and
German translations which have proved successful at delivering qualified leads, especially recently as British lead volumes have dipped.
In an interview with Globaledge.co.uk, to be published next week, Chief Executive Martin Dell says: “These [non-UK] markets have been growth areas for us. The problem is, with the exception of Germany, the populations of these countries are relatively small”. Russia is obviously much larger and more populous and with the growth of its middle class, it represents a huge opportunity for Kyero and its clients.
Translation, translation, translation
Kyero are ideally positioned to move into this space due to their advanced translation capabilities and scalable technology. The processes are in place to quickly roll-out the new language versions. Their system already translates all fields (like bullet points containing “Beach” etc) except the property descriptions, which they ask agents to update themselves. This can be done without foreign language skills on their agent administration system using “point and click” technology that translates phrases into other languages. They also have a team of translators that log into the site every day to help tidy up language and grammar issues.
Russian internet use set to grow
According to
Internet World Stats, Russia does not make it into top 10 languages used by internet users across the globe (English is top with 30.4% followed by Chinese with 16.6%). However, Russia has the
fifth highest internet population in Europe and this is set to grow as market penetration stands at only 20.8%, compared to 66.4% in the UK.
Country
|
Share of European internet users |
Germany
|
15.3%
|
UK
|
11.6%
|
France
|
10.0%
|
Italy
|
9.5%
|
Russia
|
8.4%
|
Spain
|
6.6%
|
Source:
Internet World Stats Kyero’s move follows the launch of Medhead earlier this year, which publishes in seven languages including Russian. With UK buyers stalling and the Russian market set for growth, expect other portals to follow.