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The issue isn't doing business in just America. The issue is the communication. Some services will have big banners like "Works everywhere flawlessly" and then

The issue isn't doing business in just America. The issue is the communication. Some services will have big banners like "Works everywhere flawlessly" and then (if you are lucky) in some dark corner of the FAQ there will be a tiny sentence, "Only available in US for now" (translation: it will never be available anywhere else). Even global companies like Google, Amazon do this.

AmericanChopper 6y ago
In situations like that non-US consumers aren’t their customers, and they’re simply not interested in communicating with them.
- nromiun 6y ago
  Then why are they on the internet? Aren't they aware that non-US people can also access it? And if they aren't interested then why do they add "for now" to their message? And are you telling me global companies like Google and Amazon don't have any non-US customers? I don't know which world is that but I want to live in it.
  - AmericanChopper 6y ago
    Google and Amazon aren’t particularly good examples of this. They don’t have very many services that are only available to US customers. But there are plenty of businesses that only trade with US customers, and make little effort to ensure that’s clear on their websites. To answer your question, the reason companies like that don’t put special effort into making this more clear is because while some people might think this is a problem, it’s certainly not their problem. If somebody browses their website for 20 minutes, decided to make a purchase, and realizes they can’t, the business hasn’t lost anything. That person was never going to be their customer to begin with, and it’s not exactly easy to put together a business case for improving UX for people who will never be customers. Im not really making any value judgements about doing this, I’m just giving you the perfectly rational explanation for how this occurs.
    - nromiun 6y ago
      An example from Google is YouTube TV. I have seen countless people raising issues about why they can't use some services and after some time the people from the service will finally tell them it's because they aren't in the US. All of this can be simply solved with a simple "Only available in the US" in the front page. And if Google is to be believed human support is quite pricy. And no, it isn't complicated. Not for designers or developers. (I am not a good designer but I have developed many websites.)
    - TheOtherHobbes 6y ago
      Failing to consider that your customer base could be international is the definition of blinkered irrationality. You're not just losing goodwill, you're losing potential profits. There are obvious exceptions, like fresh food or anything else with a limited shelf life, and any product that has a distributor chain providing sales and support in a different territory. Beyond that it makes no sense at all, especially for software and other non-physical services. Other countries, including China and the EU, understand this. Companies in the US that fail to adapt will lose business and be left behind.
      - drstewart 6y ago
        What EU companies are Google and Apple losing business to, exactly?
      - AmericanChopper 6y ago
        If you have one market where your acquisitions costs are lower per $ in sales than all other markets, you are literally losing money on every $ you invest in sales for any other market. Your intuition for how this works is simply incorrect.
- pjc50 6y ago
  This isn't true for either Apple or Google or Facebook, all of which are determinedly global in their sales and marketing.
  - AmericanChopper 6y ago
    They’re also very weak examples of companies that do this. For starters, Apples localization is quite on point most of the time. Facebook and Google really don’t have many features at all that are territorially exclusive.
    - gfxgirl 6y ago
      Tell that to their atrocious app store situation. Need an banking app for Japan AND one for the USA each only available on that country's store. Apple says F.U!
      - elliekelly 6y ago
        Are you only allowed to affiliate your Apple ID with one country’s app store? If I moved to Japan and switched to the Japanese app store would I just lose all of the apps I purchased via the US store?
        gfxgirl 6y ago
        Yes, you can only have your account associated with 1 store. You won't lose the apps you have installed but 1. They won't update until you switch back so you'll likely need to switch 2 to 4 times a year as your bank and/or other services deprecates their old apps. 2. Switching requires manually re-entering your name, address, phone number, and credit card info every time. 3. Any subscriptions you have via Apple Pay will be cancelled. Thanks Apple! And note: While the average person does not have bank accounts in 2 countries I've run into plenty of apps I needed as a tourist that are only available on that country's store. For example the Lime app is not available in the Japanese store because Lime isn't in Japan but if I'm visiting a country with Lime then I want to be able to use the Lime app so I need to switch stores. Meanwhile my Switch lets me have multiple user accounts. Each user's account can be assigned to a different country so I can buy The Touryst from the USA store and Japan exclusives from the Japan store. (not saying 2 accounts are the best solution it's just surprising that a Nintendo device does this part better than Apple)

AmericanChopper 6y ago

In situations like that non-US consumers aren’t their customers, and they’re simply not interested in communicating with them.

nromiun 6y ago
Then why are they on the internet? Aren't they aware that non-US people can also access it? And if they aren't interested then why do they add "for now" to their message? And are you telling me global companies like Google and Amazon don't have any non-US customers? I don't know which world is that but I want to live in it.
- AmericanChopper 6y ago
  Google and Amazon aren’t particularly good examples of this. They don’t have very many services that are only available to US customers. But there are plenty of businesses that only trade with US customers, and make little effort to ensure that’s clear on their websites. To answer your question, the reason companies like that don’t put special effort into making this more clear is because while some people might think this is a problem, it’s certainly not their problem. If somebody browses their website for 20 minutes, decided to make a purchase, and realizes they can’t, the business hasn’t lost anything. That person was never going to be their customer to begin with, and it’s not exactly easy to put together a business case for improving UX for people who will never be customers. Im not really making any value judgements about doing this, I’m just giving you the perfectly rational explanation for how this occurs.
  - nromiun 6y ago
    An example from Google is YouTube TV. I have seen countless people raising issues about why they can't use some services and after some time the people from the service will finally tell them it's because they aren't in the US. All of this can be simply solved with a simple "Only available in the US" in the front page. And if Google is to be believed human support is quite pricy. And no, it isn't complicated. Not for designers or developers. (I am not a good designer but I have developed many websites.)
  - TheOtherHobbes 6y ago
    Failing to consider that your customer base could be international is the definition of blinkered irrationality. You're not just losing goodwill, you're losing potential profits. There are obvious exceptions, like fresh food or anything else with a limited shelf life, and any product that has a distributor chain providing sales and support in a different territory. Beyond that it makes no sense at all, especially for software and other non-physical services. Other countries, including China and the EU, understand this. Companies in the US that fail to adapt will lose business and be left behind.
    - drstewart 6y ago
      What EU companies are Google and Apple losing business to, exactly?
    - AmericanChopper 6y ago
      If you have one market where your acquisitions costs are lower per $ in sales than all other markets, you are literally losing money on every $ you invest in sales for any other market. Your intuition for how this works is simply incorrect.
pjc50 6y ago
This isn't true for either Apple or Google or Facebook, all of which are determinedly global in their sales and marketing.
- AmericanChopper 6y ago
  They’re also very weak examples of companies that do this. For starters, Apples localization is quite on point most of the time. Facebook and Google really don’t have many features at all that are territorially exclusive.
  - gfxgirl 6y ago
    Tell that to their atrocious app store situation. Need an banking app for Japan AND one for the USA each only available on that country's store. Apple says F.U!
    - elliekelly 6y ago
      Are you only allowed to affiliate your Apple ID with one country’s app store? If I moved to Japan and switched to the Japanese app store would I just lose all of the apps I purchased via the US store?
      - gfxgirl 6y ago
        Yes, you can only have your account associated with 1 store. You won't lose the apps you have installed but 1. They won't update until you switch back so you'll likely need to switch 2 to 4 times a year as your bank and/or other services deprecates their old apps. 2. Switching requires manually re-entering your name, address, phone number, and credit card info every time. 3. Any subscriptions you have via Apple Pay will be cancelled. Thanks Apple! And note: While the average person does not have bank accounts in 2 countries I've run into plenty of apps I needed as a tourist that are only available on that country's store. For example the Lime app is not available in the Japanese store because Lime isn't in Japan but if I'm visiting a country with Lime then I want to be able to use the Lime app so I need to switch stores. Meanwhile my Switch lets me have multiple user accounts. Each user's account can be assigned to a different country so I can buy The Touryst from the USA store and Japan exclusives from the Japan store. (not saying 2 accounts are the best solution it's just surprising that a Nintendo device does this part better than Apple)