To a software/web developer, the words localization and globalization are pretty common and somewhat well understood. 

To an online store owner/operator they know simply that they want multiple languages and multiple currencies so that they can provide a better shopping experience to their customers. 

Sadly, much documentation on these topics are written by developers or other highly technical people who have deep knowledge of the area. AspDotNetStorefront is mildly ok with their documentation on multi-language and multi-currency but there are a few key questions that we get asked frequently and we’d like to address those here.

When it comes to AspDotNetStorefront, and most small to mid-sized e-commerce solutions, here are two major points to take home:

Multi-Currency does not mean you are processing transactions in those currencies!

The multi-currency function of AspDotNetStorefront, and most mid-market eCommerce platforms, is only a currency conversion “display” tool.  It is not going to take the converted amount and process the purchase in the desired/converted currency on your gateway. Each store is configured with a base currency, and this base currency is what is used when communicating with your chosen payment gateway.

Multi-Language does not mean automatic translations.  You have to get content translated.

This one can actually be very confusing, especially since so many mid-market eCommerce platforms advertise that they are “Multi Language”.  It gets even more confusing when they offer “language packs” for download that will provide all the translations you need…FOR THE ADMIN ONLY. 

All public content you create on your site will have to be translated manually or you can use tools like Google Translate to attempt the conversion.  We advise heavily against Google Translate as, like all automatic translation tools, it has a very difficult time with word and sentence context.