Shimamura going on line in Taiwan with an e-commerce platform

Japanese clothing retailer Shimamura will soon expand into online sales in Taiwan.

Its local unit plans to open an e-commerce channel on Taiwan’s two major online shopping sites, Momo and Yahoo Jima, by June, following two decades of brick-and-mortar retail stores.

Shimamura says its local arm will sell its Closshi brand online and also promote some products not available at existing shops.

Based in the Saitama Prefecture, the chain opened its first outlet in Taiwan in 1998 and now has 45 branches. It also has 11 shops in China, entering the market in 2012, and started online sales there last year through Tmall.

With a network of about 2000 stores in Japan, it will begin online sales in its home territory next month through e-commerce sites run by Rakuten and Amazon Japan KK.