In the past year, we discovered that in the digital age, e-commerce changes as fast as new technology comes out. Social media, mobile shopping, and tailored online content were the top retail trends of 2012, reshaping the shopping experience in interesting and complicated ways. As retailers celebrate a record-breaking holiday season, they are looking ahead to prepare for the next year. Here are three important trends to keep in mind:

  1. Quality content wins the prize. In 2013, companies will change the way they handle search engine optimization and marketing. Businesses should steer clear of outdated tactics, like flooding the web with low-quality content packed with keywords. Instead, they should focus on understanding their target audience, their shopping habits, and what it takes to succeed in online marketing. Marketers who create quality content—using a mix of relevant keywords—in both the original and translated languages will see better search results from Google. However, Google’s latest algorithm update targets marketers who copy content or have poorly translated material on their sites.
  2. Celebrate local culture to attract consumers. In 2013, emerging markets will proudly export symbols of their national and cultural heritage. Traditional preferences, local customs, color preferences, and logos are being proudly displayed and mass marketed,, serving as a source of pride for domestic consumers as well as points of interest for global consumers. This is especially true of the recently designated “BRIC” countries: Brazil, Russia, India, and China. Expect to see more consumer goods emblazoned with their flavors and marketed to global customers. As a result, both domestic and global consumers will require accurate translation and localization of this content to maximize its authenticity. For example, what is marketed as “the best” product in one culture will be marketed as a product from the “most long established company” in another.
  3. Going native with sponsored content. The biggest shift in e-commerce will be seen in sponsored content.  This trend began to pick up steam in the last half of 2012, and will continue to evolve and expand 2013. Rather than displaying advertisements online such as banner ads, companies will sponsor embedded content on websites. This is also known as native advertising. Think sponsored stories on Facebook or sponsored tweets. Even media publications such as the Atlantic are diving into native ads. This trend will cross borders, and as such, native ads will need to be accurately translated and localized to preserve the original meaning while presenting local content in a way that puts international consumers at ease with the brand.

While these three trends may not appear to be key to your marketing effort right now, it’s likely that they’ll come into play very soon. Smart marketers will spend the last few weeks of 2012 aligning themselves with the most effective localization partner to successfully leverage these trends.