Smarter.com Shopping Search Expands to China & Japan
As I’ve been hinting at for a while, Smarter.com became the first US shopping comparison engine to move into both Japan (www.smarter.co.jp) and China (www.smarter.com.cn). Read the official press release. Smarter.com made the announcement in conjunction with the beginning of Ad Tech Shanghai.
While Smarter is only a splash in the bucket in the US, it has the opportunity to build a loyal following in the #2 online market by users (Japan) and in what will one day eclipse the US as the #1 online market by users (China). Most shopping comparison engines have spent resources expanding to Europe, but for many reasons decided to wait on Asia. Smarter.com, on the other hand, always had plans for Asia as they built out their system in double byte (characters that make up many Asian languages are created by putting 2 bytes together).
Find out more about Smarter.com through the following coverage:
August 8, 2005: China, Seach, and E-Commerce – The Smarter Solution
October 14, 2005: Integration of Shopping Coupons
November 7: Holiday Shopping at Smarter.com
Also, check out the 50 jobs Smarter.com has available in its China office.
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Brian Smith is the Editor of Comparison Engines, a guide to the world of online comparison engines (shopping & travel). Through interviews with key players, guest commentary, case studies, analysis of news and events, and comparisons of features, readers will gain an in depth understanding of online comparison engines, a rapidly growing facet of online shopping.
