GSI Commerce Inc. has opened its office in Tokyo, Japan and has appointed Kaoru Nakashima as vice president of Japan and Asia Pacific.


Nakashima will open the Japanese office and lead the operation of the company’s existing client commitments in Asia Pacific as well as the development of new clients. The company said he will advise them on all aspects of their e-commerce and multichannel operations and develop brand-driven business plans to maximize sales and foster customer loyalty across all channels. Since announcing international as a growth initiative in 2007, GSI has expanded its relationship with its North American-based clients and entered into relationships with several European-based brands. GSI has launched or has agreements to launch more than 25 brands outside of North America.


“Serving our clients’ global e-commerce needs represents a great opportunity for GSI. Brands are focused on delivering on this sizable opportunity and GSI provides services that deliver a properly localized solution, expertise, speed to market and ease of implementation-elements that are critical to success. With the addition of Nakashima-san to lead GSI’s e-commerce operations in Asia Pacific, our clients can expect the same level of e-commerce sophistication in Asia that GSI has developed in North America and Europe,” commented Steve Davis, executive vice president and president, GSI International. “Nakashima-san has a fantastic track record in the e-commerce space across a broad range of sectors and we are delighted to welcome him to the team.”


Nakashima, an e-commerce veteran, joins GSI from Jupiter Shop Channel, Japan’s leading TV shopping channel, where he served as general manager and corporate officer with responsibility for e-commerce, marketing and TV programming. Nakashima successfully grew the Jupiter e-commerce business to a leadership position in Japan.


Prior to his role with Jupiter, Nakashima served as marketing director at ToysRUs.com Japan Co., Ltd. where he was a key member of the executive team and responsible for growing ToysRUs.co.jp into the leading e-commerce toy site in Japan.


Nakashima commented, “I was attracted to GSI by its unique global capabilities and deep partnerships it has with its clients. The company has achieved incredible success by coupling e-commerce expertise with its leading suite of products. I am looking forward to making GSI a trusted and highly regarded solution in Japan and the broader Asia-Pacific region.”