Amazon is Adding Spanish Language to Its Website (Finally)
The US has more than 40 million native Spanish-speakers, and over 10 million bilingual Spanish speakers. Given those facts, it seems strange that a US site as major as Amazon.com has only been available in English until now. Fortunately, Amazon is finally adding the option to browse its site in Spanish — and other retailers could soon follow suit.
Shop, Browse, and Search En Español
Amazon has already begun adding Spanish to its website, but the rollout will happen gradually over the next few weeks. A spokesperson explained to CNET that shoppers will be able to "shop, browse, and search ... view their shopping cart, and place orders in Spanish." These functionalities will be available on the site itself, as well as in the mobile shopping app.
Foreign language sites are nothing new to Amazon. It already has amazon.com.mx, its Mexico-based website, and amazon.es, its Spain-based version — both of which are in Spanish. Multilingual sites are nothing new either, as amazon.ca in Canada offers both French and English, and amazon.de in Germany allows shoppers to use the site in German, English, Dutch, Polish, and Turkish.
More Stores to Follow?
Amazon wasn't alone — eBay has said it doesn't have a Spanish version of its site for US users. And while Walmart isn't totally devoid of Spanish, the current offering seems to be relegated to a single page. Target has an international site, which allows global shoppers to ship to several different countries all over the world. However, no matter what country you're shipping to, the site's language stays in English.
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While other retailers often reach out to Hispanic communities with advertising, many still don't offer a Spanish-language option for their US sites. However, with Amazon being a major online retailer, this move could push other stores like Walmart and Target to keep up.
Readers, will you or someone in your household make use of Amazon's new Spanish version? What are some other ways retailers can make online shopping easier for customers that don't speak English? Sound off in the comments below!
You keep using quotation marks. I do not think it means what you think it means.
Aside from the quote "The United States is the second-largest Spanish-speaking country in the world" not appearing in the article, even if it did it wouldn't mean "... the US adopted a national language!"
Google is powerful my friend.
Words have meaning.
Spanish speakers are the second largest language demographic in America, it would make sense to expand access in order to continue to grow. If you want to make it personal, current Amazon users like yourselves could see expanded benefits from this potential increase in profits. Maybe you could buy one of these.
Be angry about better things.