Calling all businesses – get ready for the Mobile Wallet revolution

This could be the future of payments for your clients. In fact, in many places it’s already arrived.

KFC has just become the latest big company to support mobile wallet payments in its UK stores, joining the likes of McDonald’s and Starbucks. The latter is also introducing the technology in its 7,000 American outlets. Carrefour, the second largest retailer in the world by sales figures, has already implemented mobile payment systems in its French stores.

What is a mobile wallet?

It’s a method of paying for goods using a smartphone. Payments can be made remotely, via text message or by tapping the phone against an in-store terminal.

And while the idea is relatively new in some markets, in others it has already made a big impact. Perhaps most surprisingly, mobile wallets have really taken off in developing countries; mainly due to a lack of desktop access to the internet and online banking.

Kenyan women now worry less about being mugged for money

Since 2007, Kenya has experienced something of a mobile wallet revolution. Despite many not having a bank account, 50% of the adult population uses a mobile wallet. Users pay cash at a shop, have it loaded onto their phone and can then send money via a text message to pay for bills, items in shops or to send money to other mobile wallet users. Not only is the system simple but it has helped remove mugging worries for many people who no longer have to carry cash around.  

Haiti is one of the leaders of Mobile Wallet systems

Even though Haiti is one of the poorest countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, it has one of the most successful mobile wallet systems in the world – despite mobile phone penetration of just 35-40%.

In its first year, the mobile wallet attracted 10% of the adult population – a figure that, on average, takes most markets four years to achieve. In fact the 800,000 users made almost 10 million transactions in that one year alone.

Global growth of the Mobile Wallet

This budding concept is expected to have a similar effect in other countries, with the global mobile wallet market predicted to reach USD 1,602.4 billion by 2018, growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 30.7% from 2012 to 2018 (Transparency Market Research).

Potential benefits of Mobile Wallet systems for businesses:

•    Automatically collecting purchase data
•    Monitoring individual customer purchasing habits
•    Building customer profiles
•    Developing targeted promotions
•    Assessing the success of promotional strategies
•    Providing customers with convenience
•    Remaining at the forefront of payment technologies

If you’re keen for your company to stay ahead of its competitors it might be time to look into mobile wallet technology. Because even if you customers aren’t yet using mobile wallets, the chances are they soon will be.

Comtec is here to help companies talk global business by providing a range of language and translation services. For further information please contact a member of our customer services team on +44 (0) 1926 3335 681 or email info@comtectranslations.com.

10 languages on the verge of extinction

Every week another language disappears for good. If nothing is done about it, around half of the almost 7,000 languages spoken today will be extinct by the end of the century.  

As each language dies, so does a huge part of our world’s history. Not just words and sentences, but songs, stories and jokes; never to be spoken or heard again.

10 languages about to be lost forever:

1.    Korana (South Africa)

A shining example of a language on the verge of extinction, last year Korana was listed as having just one speaker.

2.    Tehuelche (Argentina)

With just three native speakers, the language of Tehuelche is considered critically endangered.

3.    Achumawi (USA)

With fewer than 10 native elderly speakers, this language will soon be extinct. A programme was set up the 1980s to try to maintain the language, but this is no longer in operation.

4.    Zaramo (Tanzania)

Only a few elderly speakers still communicate using Zaramo.

5.    Kardofanian (Kenya)

This severely endangered language is still spoken by around 50 people.

6.    Gardiol (Italy)

With only around 300 native speakers of grandparent-age, this language is severely endangered.

7.    Poitevin (France)

Only a few elderly speakers use Poitevin and numbers are decreasing rapidly, with even the most competent speakers likely to be heavily influenced by French.

8.    Irantxe (Brazil)

One of many severely endangered languages in Brazil, Irantxe is thought to have fewer than 90 native speakers remaining.

9.    Michif (Canada)

The endangered language of Michif has fewer than 200 native speakers, nearly all of whom are over 70 years old.

10.    Cornish (UK)

Believe it or not, Cornish has been extinct several times but has been relearnt and now has around 600 speakers, showing that it is possible for a language to be revived.

Why do languages die?

As the world becomes more globalised and people move on from traditional ways of life, the dominant languages win over smaller ones. An environment that respects multilingualism can allow smaller languages to survive, and enable a wealth of cultural information and ancestral knowledge to continue to be passed on to future generations.

If you have any questions regarding translation services, or would like assistance from Comtec’s language and cultural experts, please contact a member of our team on + 44 (0) 1926 335 681 or email info@comtectranslations.com

The import-ance of tea
How tea has helped shape the business of global trade

Did you know that tea was discovered by accident? And that this accidental discovery has played a key role in the development of international business links?

Legend has it that in 2737 B.C. Chinese Emperor, Shan Nong, was visiting a distant region and drinking his usual cup of boiled water when a few tea leaves landed in his cup. He found the drink to be so energising that he immediately ordered for tea bushes to be planted in the gardens of the palace where he lived.

Faster sail boats, technical advances - all thanks of tea

Tea arrived in Europe in the early 17th century via Dutch and Portuguese sailors. It was sold at auctions in Britain and Holland, but could only be afforded by the wealthy. Even so, tea was a key factor in establishing early international trade connections between the east and west. It even led to a number of technological developments such as faster sail boats – designed to speed up the deliveries of tea from China to Europe.

The most important trade item for Britain

As import volumes increased and British companies were established for the sole purpose of importing tea, it eventually became cheaper and could finally be enjoyed by the masses. In fact, tea drinking became so popular that it soon became Britain’s most important trade item from China.

These days the company Unilever leads global sales of tea – with retail values around four times that of its nearest competitor. Asia Pacific and Eastern Europe are the main drivers of the company’s growth, jointly making up 66% of its worldwide growth in 2011-12 (Euromonitor International).

There are currently no signs of tea losing its popularity, with around 165 million cups of tea consumed every day in Britain alone.

Some inTEAresting facts:

•    Sri Lanka is the biggest exporter of tea (FAO Statistical Yearbook)
•    The Russian Federation is the biggest importer of tea (FAO Statistical Yearbook)
•    China produces the world’s largest variety of fine quality teas (Global Tea Brokers)
•    The Republic of Ireland is the nation which drinks the most tea per capita, followed by Britain (United Kingdom Tea Council)

How many different alphabets are in use around the world?

Did you know the alphabet we use in the UK today – the Latin, or Roman alphabet – is the most widely used writing system in the world? It dates back to around 1100BC and is used by around 100 different languages and roughly two billion people. But it’s not the only alphabet in existence.

There are actually around 46 different alphabets in use today.

Some widely used ones include Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Bengali, Burmese, Chinese script, Cyrillic, Devanagari, Georgian, Greek, Hebrew, Japanese script, Khmer, Korean, Lao, Latin, Sinhala, Thai and Tibetan.

While a ‘true’ alphabet is one which uses both consonants and vowels, other writing systems have no vowels at all, or indicate vowels using a diacritic mark.

A – Amharic, Arabic and Armenian alphabets
B – Bengali and Burmese alphabets
C – Chinese script has symbols to represent the whole word or idea
D – Devanagari uses symbols to represent syllables instead of sounds
E -  Everyday, about 2 billion people use the Latin and Roman alphabet
F – Fictional alphabets total 25 from books and films etc.
G – Georgian and Greek alphabets
H – the Hobbit, & Lord of the Rings have their own alphabets created by JRR Tolkien
I – International Phonetic Alphabet
J – Japanese alphabet includes the kanji character set with the hiragana and katakana scripts
K – Khmer and Korean alphabet
L – Latin and Lao alphabet
M – Morse code
N – No vowels in some alphabets, but they’re sometimes indicated by using diacritic marks
O – One Hundred languages use the Roman or Latin alphabet making it the popular
P – Papyrus was commonly used for the Egyptians to draw Hieroglyphics
Q – Quantities of Daggers in various positions make up the ‘Daggers’ alphabet
R – Roman or Latin alphabet dates back to 1100BC
S – Sinhala and Semaphore are both forms of communication
T – Tibetan alphabet
U – Used alphabets around the world total 46
V – Vowels and consonants make up ‘true’ alphabets, while others use markings
W – Witches alphabet is called Theban and is used to write spells
X – ‘X’ is a classic example of a letter that is also used as a symbol - ‘X marks the spot’
Y –Yi is part of the Chinese family of scripts
Z – Zhuang alphabet

Alphabets come in all shapes and sizes, literally

Some alphabets bear no resemblance whatsoever to the one we are familiar with. One such example is the Indian Devanagari alphabet which uses symbols to represent syllables instead of sounds. And the Chinese script has symbols representing a whole word or idea.

Other writing systems around the world include the international phonetic alphabet, syllabic alphabets and communication systems such as the Morse code and semaphore.

Magical alphabets used by witches

Interestingly, there are also several ‘magical’ alphabets, including the Theban alphabet which is used by witches to write spells and ‘Daggers’, which is literally made up of images of daggers in different quantities and positions. This is also apparently used for magical purposes.

25 fictional alphabets

There are also over 25 fictional alphabets around the world that have been created for books, films and computer games. You may already be familiar with Tolkien’s Scripts, invented by JRR Tolkien for his novels The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion.

While all of these alphabets and writing systems may look to be very different, they all have one important thing in common – they help us to communicate. And without them we’d literally be lost for words.

Join the pop-up shop revolution! A cost effective way to test overseas markets

First conceived in the US around 10 years ago, the pop-up shop is now more popular than ever, the idea being that businesses can test a product or idea for little financial outlay.

With rental agreements ranging from just one day and advertising usually taking place through social media networks or word of mouth, it is easy to keep costs low.

A pop-up Post Office? Yes!

Some well-known names have embraced the idea of the pop-up shop. A few years ago, toy store Hamleys opened three around the UK during the festive season. John Lewis opened a preview pop-up shop in Exeter in 2012 prior to opening a new store. And even the Post Office opened its first pop-up shop in November 2012 to cope with increased Christmas demand.

Popping up all over the world

UK companies are not just experimenting with pop-ups on home turf. Auction house Christie’s opened its first pop-up preview in Singapore in 2012, showcasing artworks for sale at a Hong Kong auction. And fashion retailer Topshop opened a pop-up in LA last year, a taster for the opening of a main store during 2013. Even UK boy band One Direction had a pop-up shop in New York at the end of 2012, selling nothing but band merchandise.

Opening a pop-up shop in another country is a great way of determining whether a particular market is right for your business.

My top 5 pop-up shop tips

1. Major events: Opening a pop-up shop during a major event can be very lucrative. Think along the lines of the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, Grand Prix and Tour De France.
2. High footfall area: Think carefully about your position. You need to be in a location frequented by your target customers.
3. Right products: Consider which products are most suitable for a pop-up shop. Limited edition products or exclusive offers can often be found in pop-up shops, reinforcing the ‘catch it while you can’ concept.  
4. Social Media promotion: Remember that social media is the favoured way of advertising a new pop-up. Consider running a social media campaign using the most popular social networks in your chosen market. You may wish to think about website localisation and marketing translation to make sure you get the right message across to your overseas customers.
5. Speak your customers’ language: Your overseas pop-up shop is more likely to prove popular with native customers if it communicates to them in their own language.

To learn more about how to overcome the language barrier in business, why not read our free guides?  Click here to find out more and download our guides.

If you have any questions regarding translation or localisation, or would like support in developing an effective communications plan to break into new markets, please contact a member of our team on + 44 (0) 1926 335 681 or email info@comtectranslations.com