Multilingual productinformation service

As the secretary of The Collaborative Council oftraditional Chinese, and Korean through a

Manufacturers, Wholesalers, and Retailers (*1),

smartphone application. Upon seeing the results

GS1 Japan has been working on a project toof this project, GS1 Japan launched its multilingual

create a multilingual product information service

product information service in 2018.

for foreign visitors to Japan.

Service overview
Background and objectives

With this service, when foreign visitors scan theThe number of foreign visitors to Japan reached

EAN/UPC symbol on a product using their

24 million in 2016 and the Japanese government

smartphones, its product information (including

set a target to increase to 40 million by 2020.

GTIN) will be displayed on the screen in one ofHowever, there are a growing number of foreign

multiple languages according to the language

visitors who feel dissatisfied or anxious when they

configuration of the phone. GS1 Japan is in charge

shop in Japan since many products haveof managing the multilingual product information

information only in Japanese.

data pool (DP) and the smartphone application

To address this situation, in FY2016 the councilcalled Mulpi (Multi-language product information).

started a project to establish a system to offer

The user experience of the multilingual productforeign visitors accurate product information,information service is as follows.

which is provided by the brand owners in various1) When a user scans the barcode on a productlanguages such as English, simplified andusing a smartphone, its basic product*1 The council was established in collaboration with manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers of consumer goods, aiming to promote
significant innovation and improvement of the supply chain management and to enhance the industry’s competitiveness for contribution
to better people’s lives. As of December 2016, 22 manufacturers, 9 wholesalers and 22 retailers have joined this council.

Fig. 1 Overview of the multilingual product information service

Manufacturer
Industrial
data pool(food)

Manufacturer

Manufacturer

Industrial
data pool（commodities,OTC drugs)

Manufacturer

Manufacturer

GS1 Japan DP(othercategories)

Multilingual
product categories

Multilingual
application available
for anyone,
anywhere

Mulpi

Existing smartphone
apps/web services forforeign visitors inJapan

Multilingual productinformation datapool (DP)Existing smartphone
apps/web services forforeign visitors inJapan

Visitors scanbarcodes on eachproduct and read
information via
apps including Mulpi

Detailed product information prepared by each manufacturer

information including GTIN, product name (*2),

through the service.

image, and category name will be shown on＊be able to present information such as thethe screen in a selected language. If there is acorrect way of ingestion, intake, and usage

product website prepared by the brandthrough the service.

owners, Mulpi automatically displays thewebpage.

＊no longer need to respond to individual
customers’ multilingualization demand.

2) As a communication infrastructure for accurate＊be able to gather the access logs (reference)

product information provided by each brandto their detailed product information to use

owners, the multilingual product information

them for their marketing activity.

DP will be working with other applications
provided by related service providers. GS1◇Retailers will:＊be able to support the shopping experiences

Japan plans to provide support to participatingof foreign visitors at a very low cost by using

companies to create multilingual productthe shared infrastructure of the service.

information web pages in cooperation with＊be able to promote instore sales to foreigntranslation agencies.

visitors.
＊no longer need to individually set up andExpected results
Expected results of this service are:◇Brand owners will:＊attract more visitors with increasing

product information of instore items.
◇Foreign visitors to Japan will be able to:＊have a better understanding of Japaneseaccessibility to product information pages on

products at shops, which will make it easier

their website.

for them to purchase what they are＊provide accurate product information atlower cost.
＊be able to promote sales of their products*2 Product Names are in Japanese.

2manage systems for multilingualization ofinterested in.
＊easily obtain accurate product information
provided by the brand owners in theirFig. 2 The multilingual product information service

Multi Language Product
Information (Mulpi)

Mulpi instantly tells youwhat the product is.
Mulpi supports
Japanese, English, Chinese andKorean.

The biggest feature of Mulpi is thatit shows product information
providedby the Brand Owners.

Simply scan barcode with Mulpi andget product information in multiple
languages!

preferred languages through the applications
working with the service.
＊check the information outside Japan.

Future plan
As a part of the effort to assist the shopping
experience of foreign tourists visiting Japan
during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics andParalympics, GS1 Japan plans to increase thenumber of products registered on the service
and accelerate wider use of the application.

3

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