US-Style.com Debut On Yahoo!Japan; Major Promotion Provides US Online Retail Partners Large-scale Exposure to Japanese Market

Business Wire, June 8, 1999

SOUTH NORWALK, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 8, 1999--

US-Style.com, the first online mall of US shopping sites targeting Japan, today announced the initial phase of a major promotion on the premier site Yahoo!Japan. The promotion's first six months include co-branded banners to promote US-Style.com and participating US online retailers (ePartners) that participate in the online mall.

Yahoo!Japan is the leading search engine serving the Japanese online market, commanding 60-70% market share of Japan's estimated 14 million Internet users. Japan is the second largest Internet market in the world, accounting for over $2 billion in online retail revenues this year, with revenues expected to grow to $9 billion by 2001.

On May 16th, US-Style.com launched its promotion on some of Yahoo!Japan's most popular category pages, including Cool Links, Society and Culture, and Food and Drink. The promotion also includes targeted keywords in support of US-Style.com's ePartners - e.g., music, sports, toys, (and their Japanese equivalents). Also included is Yahoo!Japan Home Page promotions, What's New (with the highest click-thru of 4-5%), Message Boards, targeted category pages and other site locations. The Home Page promotion is the most visible of the effort, and includes co-sponsorship of Yahoo!Japan's Home Page sweepstakes.

"The Yahoo!Japan promotion gives our ePartners high-end, targeted exposure to the Japanese online market," said Thomas Kase, Chief Operating Officer of US-Style.com. "In support of our promotional strategy, Yahoo!Japan further supports US-Style.com's image as the single online source for Japanese consumers interested in US shopping and trends," he added.

Unique among online retail malls, US-Style.com is designed completely for the Japanese user. Written almost entirely in the Japanese language, the US-Style site features a Japanese user interface as well as Japanized versions of U.S. retailer's existing e-commerce sites. US-Style.com also offers Japanese customer support and an expanding list of content-rich pages in a number of popular product categories.

US-Style.com launched May 6, 1999, with a list of respected, high-profile American retailers, including barnesandnoble.com, CDnow, Outpost.com, Toysmart, CD Universe, and Omaha Steaks. The site will introduce two new US online retailers each month - with The Vermont Teddy Bear and Dean & DeLuca scheduled for June 1999. More than a dozen additional web retailers are currently in negotiation.

"Omaha Steaks is thrilled to participate in the launch of US-Style.com," said Sharon Grunkin, spokesperson for Omaha Steaks. "US-Style.com is allowing us to expand our market through the Internet. We want people in Japan to have the opportunity to experience our great tasting steaks and other gourmet foods."

In addition to the online exposure on Yahoo!Japan, US-Style.com will be featured in upcoming editions of Yahoo!Japan Internet Life and other Japanese magazines and newspapers throughout the summer months.

Retailers interested in joining US-Style.com should contact Maxwell Thomas, US-Style.com Chief Executive Officer at 203-354-0900, or email him at maxwellt@us-style.com.

About US-Style.com

Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut, US-Style.com is the first sub-portal of US online products and services to the Japanese market. Delivering the world's second largest e-commerce market to U.S. product sites, US-Style.com provides its online retail partners (ePartners) with the strongest Japanese Internet presence, highly effective turn-key Japanization and full-service Japanese customer support.