Ask HN: Is now only a GER-language site for fitness gear ok for US market?

#1

Post by rtfs » Sun, Apr 05, 2020, 5:28 PM UTC

We are a small company that produces fitness gear for home workouts, in particular pull-up bars and dip bars, see [1]. I guess, now it's the time to serve also the US market.

Does it make sense, despite having only a German-language website?

[1] https://klimmzugstangen.de

Re: Ask HN: Is now only a GER-language site for fitness gear ok for US market?

#2

Post by ekglimmer » Sun, Apr 05, 2020, 5:34 PM UTC

On a hunch, probably not. I would assume equivalents of any of these products can be bought on an English language site (Amazon etc.) and in my experience the US & Canadian market will go for the most friction-less purchasing experience. Trying to figure out a German language site (plus trying to figure out currency conversion) makes me think why bother when I could purchase something similar in 30 seconds. Perhaps if these were unique products that couldn't be bought anywhere else I would consider it.

Re: Ask HN: Is now only a GER-language site for fitness gear ok for US market?

#3

Post by rtfs » Sun, Apr 05, 2020, 5:35 PM UTC

sorry, here is the clickable link https://klimmzugstangen.de

Re: Ask HN: Is now only a GER-language site for fitness gear ok for US market?

#4

Post by rtfs » Sun, Apr 05, 2020, 5:36 PM UTC

ekglimmer wrote: post #2

On a hunch, probably not. I would assume equivalents of any of these products can be bought on an English language site (Amazon etc.) and in my experience the US & Canadian market will go for the most friction-less purchasing experience. Trying to figure out a German language site (plus trying to figure out currency conversion) makes me think why bother when I could purchase something similar in 30 seconds. Perhaps i…

hhm, ok. yes, it's the latter.

Re: Ask HN: Is now only a GER-language site for fitness gear ok for US market?

#5

Post by detaro » Sun, Apr 05, 2020, 5:37 PM UTC

No. Few people understand German and it's not like fitness accessories are likely to be an unique offering people are going to be willing to deal with unnecessary hurdles for. And compared to setting up the logistics of distributing your product well, getting some english translations is probably very cheap.

Re: Ask HN: Is now only a GER-language site for fitness gear ok for US market?

#6

Post by core-questions » Sun, Apr 05, 2020, 5:45 PM UTC

rtfs wrote: post #3

sorry, here is the clickable link https://klimmzugstangen.de

I feel like I could navigate by pictures to buy something, but... I wouldn't, you know? Even though the site looks fine, I'd have to use Google Translate to get all the details and they might not come through properly.

Probably worth it to get it professionally translated - surely there are plenty of homestuck people who can do that for you for some Paypal - and then put up an English-language domain name. If you're serious about the market, that is.