Software for specific customers.

Internet software retailer Beyond.com has built and launched three European online stores for Symantec Corp., the manufacturer of Norton AntiVirus software and other desktop utilities. Symantec added ShopSymantec France, ShopSymantec Germany and ShopSymantec United Kingdom to its flagship SymantecStore in the United States. Each new store was built to have a local flavor, featuring the native language and a graphic look "to appeal to local audiences in each country." Additionally, the sites offer customers the opportunity to purchase Symantec products in local currency. Symantec plans to follow this overseas foray with 11 more international stores by year_s end, all of which will also be created, managed and launched by Beyond.com. New sites are slated for the Asia-Pacific region, the Netherlands, Italy, South Africa and Sweden. In addition, Symantec and Beyond.com plan a site to appeal to consumers across all of Europe and sites to appeal to both English and French speakers in Canada. The three international stores feature Symantec products available by digital download, to save customers the high cost and wait of overseas shipping. The U.S. site offers customers a choice of downloading software or having hard copies shipped. Like the U.S. site, the new international stores feature areas dedicated to specific customers, such as small businesses, power users and Macintosh fans. In addition, selected products on the site come with a 30-day trial period, and all products have a 60-day money-back guarantee. Beyond.com Branches Out While Thursday_s announcement focused on Symantec_s trek to foreign soil, Beyond.com is beginning to blaze new trails as well. Beyond.com says that it has begun an initiative to create and manage online stores for software publishers, hardware vendors and original equipment manufacturers of computer systems.