Ashampoo Selects cleverbridge’s Managed Services Program to Drive Japanese E-Commerce

cleverbridge, a global full-service e-commerce provider for software and cloud companies, announces Ashampoo has selected cleverbridge’s Managed Services Program to help launch five new products in the Japanese market.

A longtime cleverbridge client, the computer software developer is expanding its relationship to leverage cleverbridge’s e-commerce expertise, technology and services to seamlessly sell in Japan.

According to Forrester Research, Inc.[1], Japan’s e-commerce sales are growing from $59 billion in 2013 to $96 billion in 2018, a growth rate of 10 percent. With a mature online buyer population and consumers already comfortable purchasing items in different categories online, many software and cloud companies are looking to launch offerings in the Japanese market. However, Forrester report author Zia Daniell Wigder writes that companies against blindly applying a blanket strategy to the Asia-Pacific region. Each of the five largest markets (China, Japan, South Korea, India and Australia) are quite different and require a distinct strategy for international companies hoping to sell online.

“With its 100 million Internet users and 75 million online shoppers, Japan is an important market for us to launch our new software products. This is why we chose cleverbridge’s proven experience as they have always enabled us to seamlessly sell around the world,” said Henning Seedorf, director sales and marketing, Ashampoo GmbH & Co. “With their Tokyo presence, local expertise and extensive portfolio of languages, currencies and payment methods, we expect another successful launch and a highly localized customer experience that enables us to effectively build lasting customer relationships.”

“We are excited to expand our relationship with Ashampoo and help them launch their new products in the Japanese market,” said Yosuke Ito, general manager of Japan, cleverbridge. “As part of our Managed Services Program, Ashampoo benefits from not only our localization services for their products and website, but also from having a local Japanese liaison providing technical and sales support. They understand that it’s not only about bridging language barriers but also cultural differences, which is why they will ultimately have success in this complex, fast-growing market.”

cleverbridge’s Managed Services Program in Japan gives software and cloud companies the capabilities needed to provide a truly localized customer experience and remove barriers to purchase. Services include:

• Localization services – product user interface design, in-product messages, instruction manuals and website design
• Marketing services – SEO, SEM, affiliate management, ad network, online and offline promotions
• Quality assurance – application and website testing in all native Japanese operating systems and hardware environments, and an administered customer satisfaction survey
• Technical support – datacenter and onsite server support, Japanese website migration, product support (phone or email), and field service (i.e. onsite installation, troubleshooting)
• Local liaison – Japanese web domain, physical address, toll free number and partner recruitment (e.g. resellers, publishers, other service providers)

To learn more about cleverbridge or the Japanese Managed Services Program, please contact inquiry@cleverbridge.com or visit www.clvrbrdg.com.