John Smedley Increases Conversion Rates from French Purchases by 230% with BLEND’s eCommerce Localization
About John Smedley: A Heritage Brand’s First Step into Localization
John Smedley is an iconic British brand with over 200 years of history in crafting luxury knitwear. Known for its exceptional quality and timeless design, the brand has built a strong global reputation. As part of its commitment to expanding its international presence, John Smedley recognized an opportunity to enhance the online shopping experience for French-speaking customers through localization.
As a small team, John Smedley needed a low-maintenance, hands-off translation workflow that would allow them to test the impact of localization on sales without overcomplicating their operations. Their goal was to determine whether offering a fully localized online shopping experience in French would drive more conversions.
The BLEND Solution: A Seamless and Scalable Approach
As partners in enabling global eCommerce expansion, BLEND and Global-e offer a seamless combination of localization and cross-border commerce solutions. Since John Smedley was already a Global-e merchant, integrating BLEND’s localization services was a natural fit, allowing them to easily enhance their international customer experience without disrupting their existing operations. The goal was to create a website localization workflow that was efficient, scalable, and easy to manage without requiring extensive internal resources.
BLEND implemented a multi-layered translation approach for John Smedley’s website localization, combining:
- Professional human translation for key content
- Machine translation post-editing (MTPE) for cost-effective accuracy
- Raw machine translation (MT) where appropriate for efficiency
To ensure translation consistency and brand alignment, BLEND assigned a dedicated team of translators to work on John Smedley’s content from the start. Regular content reviews ensured that translations remained high quality and aligned with the brand’s tone and style.
their ads and website for French-speaking customers, while also offering a localized payment solution through Global-e.
Integrating translation into the client’s existing content workflows required minimal effort from John Smedley’s team, allowing them to focus on their core business while benefiting from BLEND’s expertise in eCommerce localization.
“Leveraging our existing partnership with Global-e, the integration with BLEND was seamless. The team was extremely helpful and friendly, ensuring the entire process was smooth from start to finish. Their clear communication and proactive support made it easy to navigate each stage, from initial setup to full implementation. Any questions or challenges were quickly addressed, and their expertise helped streamline the workflow, minimizing disruption.
Overall, working with BLEND was a hassle-free experience that allowed us to integrate the solution efficiently and with confidence.”
– Jamie Austin, Head of eCommerce Operations, John Smedley
With future growth in mind, the workflow was built to scale and enable the team’s plans to expand into new markets, including Germany and Italy.
Results and Impact: Measurable Success in the French Market
The impact of localization was clear: since launching the French website, John Smedley has seen a notable increase in engagement and sales from French-speaking customers.
- The conversion rate from French shoppers more than doubled, increasing from 1.0 percent to 2.3 percent
- Year-over-year revenue from French purchases grew by 26 percent
Beyond the measurable results, the localization process allowed John Smedley’s small team to focus on their core business—creating luxury knitwear—without being burdened by complex translation workflows. The hands-off approach ensured the process was effortless from their end while still achieving high-quality results.
“Localizing our website for French speakers was a big step for us, and BLEND made the process incredibly smooth. Their workflow required minimal effort on our side while still ensuring high-quality translations tailored to our brand.
Since launching, we’ve seen a clear increase in engagement and sales from our French-speaking customers, confirming the value of localization. With BLEND’s ongoing support, we’re excited to explore new markets, starting with Germany and Italy.”
– Jamie Austin, Head of eCommerce Operations, John Smedley
The Future: Scaling Localization for Global Growth
With the success of their French website and ad localization, John Smedley is now preparing to launch localized experiences for German and Italian markets. Their goal is to replicate the seamless process that allowed them to engage more effectively with French-speaking customers and drive higher conversions.
By working with BLEND, John Smedley has found a trusted localization partner that enables them to scale into new markets with confidence and ease.
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