b2c-localization

Add translations and multi-language support to B2C Commerce storefronts. Use this skill whenever the user needs to translate a storefront, add a new locale, create or edit .properties resource bundles, display translated strings in templates, format dates or currencies for different regions, or build a language switcher. Also use when they mention Resource.msg, Resource.msgf, locale fallback, or i18n — even if they just say "we need French translations" or "make this page work in multiple languages".

View SKILL.md on GitHub → Source repository Provider profile

Provider: Salesforce Commerce Cloud Path in repo: skills/b2c/skills/b2c-localization/SKILL.md

Skill body

Localization Skill

This skill guides you through localizing B2C Commerce storefronts for multiple languages and regions.

Overview

B2C Commerce supports localization through:

Component	Approach
Templates	Single template set + resource bundles
Forms	Shared definitions + locale-specific labels
Static content	Locale-specific folders
Product data	Localizable attributes

Locale Format

Locales follow ISO standards: {language}_{country}

Format	Example	Description
`en`	English	Language only
`en_US`	English/USA	Language + country
`fr_CA`	French/Canada	Language + country
`de_DE`	German/Germany	Language + country

Resource Bundles

Directory Structure

/cartridge
    /templates
        /resources
            account.properties          # Default (English)
            checkout.properties
            /fr
                account.properties      # French
                checkout.properties
            /de
                account.properties      # German
                checkout.properties
            /fr_CA
                account.properties      # French Canadian

Property File Format

account.properties (default):

##############################################
# Account Pages
##############################################
account.title=My Account
account.greeting=Welcome back
account.logout=Sign Out

# Account Dashboard
dashboard.title=Dashboard
dashboard.orders=Order History
dashboard.addresses=Address Book
dashboard.wishlist=Wishlist

# Profile
profile.title=Profile
profile.firstName=First Name
profile.lastName=Last Name
profile.email=Email Address
profile.save=Save Changes

account_fr.properties (French):

account.title=Mon compte
account.greeting=Bon retour
account.logout=Se déconnecter

dashboard.title=Tableau de bord
dashboard.orders=Historique des commandes
dashboard.addresses=Carnet d'adresses
dashboard.wishlist=Liste de souhaits

profile.title=Profil
profile.firstName=Prénom
profile.lastName=Nom
profile.email=Adresse e-mail
profile.save=Enregistrer les modifications

Using Resources in Templates

<!-- Simple message -->
<h1>${Resource.msg('account.title', 'account', null)}</h1>

<!-- With fallback -->
<p>${Resource.msg('account.greeting', 'account', 'Welcome')}</p>

<!-- With parameters -->
<p>${Resource.msgf('cart.items', 'cart', null, cartCount)}</p>

Resource.msg() parameters:

Key name
Bundle name (filename without extension)
Default value (null = use key if not found)

Parameterized Messages

Property:

cart.itemCount=You have {0} items in your cart
greeting.personalized=Hello, {0} {1}!
order.confirmation=Order #{0} placed on {1}

Template:

${Resource.msgf('cart.itemCount', 'cart', null, itemCount)}
${Resource.msgf('greeting.personalized', 'common', null, firstName, lastName)}

Locale Fallback

B2C Commerce uses a fallback chain: fr_CA → fr → default

Example: Requesting fr_CA:

Look in /resources/fr_CA/account.properties
If not found, look in /resources/fr/account.properties
If not found, look in /resources/account.properties

Static Files

Directory Structure

/cartridge
    /static
        /default
            /css
                style.css
            /images
                logo.png
                buttons/
                    submit.png
            /js
                main.js
        /fr
            /images
                buttons/
                    submit.png      # French text on button
        /de
            /images
                buttons/
                    submit.png      # German text on button

Referencing Static Files

<!-- Uses locale-specific version if available -->
<img src="${URLUtils.staticURL('/images/buttons/submit.png')}" alt="Submit"/>

<!-- CSS (usually not localized) -->
<link rel="stylesheet" href="${URLUtils.staticURL('/css/style.css')}"/>

Forms Localization

Form Definition

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<form xmlns="http://www.demandware.com/xml/form/2008-04-19">
    <field formid="email" label="form.email.label" type="string"
           mandatory="true"
           missing-error="form.email.required"
           parse-error="form.email.invalid"/>
</form>

Resource Bundle

forms.properties:

form.email.label=Email Address
form.email.required=Email is required
form.email.invalid=Please enter a valid email address

forms_fr.properties:

form.email.label=Adresse e-mail
form.email.required=L'email est requis
form.email.invalid=Veuillez entrer une adresse e-mail valide

URL Localization

Locale-Aware URLs

<!-- Current locale URL -->
<a href="${URLUtils.url('Product-Show', 'pid', 'ABC123')}">View Product</a>

<!-- Specific locale URL -->
<a href="${URLUtils.url(new URLAction('Product-Show', 'MySite', 'fr'))}">
    Voir le produit
</a>

Language Switcher

<isscript>
    var Site = require('dw/system/Site');
    var URLAction = require('dw/web/URLAction');
    var URLUtils = require('dw/web/URLUtils');
    var Locale = require('dw/util/Locale');
</isscript>

<ul class="language-switcher">
    <isloop items="${Site.current.allowedLocales}" var="localeId">
        <isscript>
            var locale = new Locale(localeId);
            var url = URLUtils.url(new URLAction('Home-Show', Site.current.ID, localeId));
        </isscript>
        <li class="${request.locale == localeId ? 'active' : ''}">
            <a href="${url}">${locale.displayLanguage}</a>
        </li>
    </isloop>
</ul>

Controller Localization

Accessing Current Locale

var Locale = require('dw/util/Locale');

server.get('Show', function (req, res, next) {
    var currentLocale = Locale.getLocale(req.locale.id);

    res.render('mytemplate', {
        locale: req.locale.id,
        language: currentLocale.language,
        country: currentLocale.country,
        displayLanguage: currentLocale.displayLanguage,
        displayCountry: currentLocale.displayCountry
    });
    next();
});

Locale-Specific Logic

server.get('Checkout', function (req, res, next) {
    var locale = req.locale.id;

    // Locale-specific date format
    var dateFormat = locale.startsWith('en_US') ? 'MM/dd/yyyy' : 'dd/MM/yyyy';

    // Locale-specific content
    var termsContentId = 'terms-' + locale.replace('_', '-').toLowerCase();

    res.render('checkout', {
        dateFormat: dateFormat,
        termsContentId: termsContentId
    });
    next();
});

Email Templates

Setting Locale

var Template = require('dw/util/Template');
var HashMap = require('dw/util/HashMap');
var Mail = require('dw/net/Mail');

function sendOrderConfirmation(order, locale) {
    var template = new Template('mail/orderconfirmation', locale);
    var model = new HashMap();
    model.put('order', order);

    var content = template.render(model).text;

    var mail = new Mail();
    mail.addTo(order.customerEmail);
    mail.setFrom('[email protected]');
    mail.setSubject(Resource.msg('email.order.subject', 'email', null));
    mail.setContent(content, 'text/html', 'UTF-8');
    mail.send();
}

Currency Formatting

Currency is tied to locale:

var Money = require('dw/value/Money');
var StringUtils = require('dw/util/StringUtils');

// Format with locale
var price = new Money(99.99, 'USD');
var formatted = StringUtils.formatMoney(price);  // Uses current locale

// In template
<isprint value="${product.priceModel.price}" style="CURRENCY"/>

Date Formatting

var StringUtils = require('dw/util/StringUtils');
var Calendar = require('dw/util/Calendar');

var date = new Calendar();
var formatted = StringUtils.formatCalendar(date, 'yyyy-MM-dd');  // ISO format
var localized = StringUtils.formatCalendar(date, 'MMMM d, yyyy');  // Locale-aware

Best Practices

Use UTF-8 for all property files (required for non-ASCII characters)
Organize bundles by page/feature not by language
Keep keys descriptive - account.profile.firstName not label1
Use parameters for dynamic values - don’t concatenate strings
Test all locales - ensure fallback works correctly
Don’t hardcode text in templates or scripts

Detailed Reference

Localization Patterns - Complete patterns and examples