To receive a voluntary quality marks requires prior product type approval and possibly factory inspections for quality control assessment. Ltd. Although the only financial tie between the two companies is the license agreement, there is an active exchange of information and personnel, and actual business operations are conducted under close co-operation. L.L. Bean will want to coordinate distribution through the Japanese partners in order to leverage their expertise and to ensure cooperation in promoting sales via the web site. Currently, Matsushita Electric imports L.L. Bean's goods into Japan, and Seiyu handles the retail side. L.L. Bean Japan Inc. has said that they can import wholesale from the United States and can offer these goods at competitive prices that look good even when compared with buying direct from the United States by mail.
Electronic money is still in the testing stage both in Japan and elsewhere.
Credit card payments are still the object of a fair degree of resistance from Japanese on-line shoppers, who tend to be leery of entering their card numbers on corporate web sites. Currently L.L. Bean is accepting most major credit cards including JCB, the leading credit card company in Japan. Thus this should facilitate the payment process for Japanese consumers. Last but not least, prices should be listed in Yen. Summary Among the thirteen countries the class presented, Japan was selected for L.L. Bean's online expansion based on its customer demographics, industry analysis, economic condition, and technological infrastructure.