Open Market’s Transact Turning Japanese

Internet commerce firm Open Market, Inc. introduced
the Japanese version of its Transact 4 software last week at a seminar in
Tokyo.

Transact is designed for online transaction processing, order management,
and customer service. Version 4.1 is localized for the Japanese market, the
company said.

All buyer and merchant screens are presented in Japanese, the company
explained, as is the Transact 4 documentation. Included in the software is
a configured interface to the CAFIS payment system, designed to facilitate
Internet commerce.

In addition, Open Market said the product features multilingual capabilities to sell goods and services to buyers around the world, thus extending potential market reach.

E-commerce in Japan is seen as a rapidly growing industry. Separate surveys
by Japanese research firms reported that there are expected to be 14
million Japanese Internet users by the end of 1998, 20 million by late
1999, and more than 41 million in 2005. Also, nearly 30% of Japanese
Internet users have shopped for merchandise online, according to TKAI’s
June 1998 Japan Internet Report.