Smarter.com today announced the launch of comparison shopping search Web sites in both Japan and China. As a result of the move, Smarter.com claims to be the first U.S. comparison-shopping search engine to launch in both Japan and China, and says it is the first comparison-shopping search engine to be available in the three largest Internet markets by number of users (U.S., China and Japan).

"Our objective in both Japan and China is to help consumers make smarter decisions about which products to buy, and which retailers to buy those products from. We believe that Asia represents a huge growth opportunity for Smarter.com, and we are prepared to invest substantial resources to become market leaders in both China and Japan," said Harry Tsao, co-founder of Smarter.com, in a statement.

Tsao added that Japan is widely acknowledged as the second largest online shopping market in the world, while China has the potential to become the country with the largest online audience in the world surpassing the U.S. within five years.

Smarter.com says the Japanese and Chinese comparison shopping search sites are quite different reflecting the different stages of e-commerce development in both countries. In Japan, Smarter.co.jp offers consumers the opportunity to shop and compare products from leading Japanese retailers in the following categories: fashion and apparel, baby and maternity, home and garden, food and drinks, pet supplies, musical instruments, consumer electronics and appliances, and sporting goods.

In China, Smarter.com.cn launches with what is commonly referred to in China as 3C channels (computers, consumer electronics and communications) from select tier 1 retailers.

Smarter.com is presenting Smarter.co.jp and Smarter.com.cn at AdTech Shanghai November 14th through 17th, and will present an overview of the business at Asian Ventures 2005 in Santa Clara, Calif. on November 30th.