Toys ''R'' Us Inc., the largest U.S. toy chain, plans to open two more Internet sales sites and is planning sites in the United Kingdom and Japan in an attempt to be a top online seller of items for children and families.

The company's Toysrus.com Inc. subsidiary expects to add Babiesrus.com and Rzone.com to its existing namesake online site by year-end, said John Foster, Toysrus.com chief financial officer at the Goldman, Sachs & Co. Internet retailing conference.. He said the international expansion could come next year, along with the addition of other U.S. sites.

Both are part of a five-point program by Toysrus.com to improve its operations. The company, which had massive access and delivery problems during the holiday sales season, has obtained $60 million of funding from a group of investors led by affiliates of Japan's Softbank Corp.

Toys ''R'' Us started the Internet operation last year to compete with eToys Inc. and other fast-growing Web stores. The start didn't go smoothly however, and in its first few months Benchmark Capital, a venture capital firm, backed away from funding it. Robert Moog, who was to be the operation's chief executive, decided against taking the job.

Toysrus.com also had well-publicized problems during the holiday sales season when it underestimated demand and failed to deliver thousands of packages before Christmas. Toysrus.com estimates only 58 percent of the people trying to access its site in November were able to do so because its servers could not handle the traffic.

Softbank nevertheless decided to back the venture after seeing new management come into the Internet unit and the appointment of a new chief executive, John Eyler, at the parent company.

''What we saw in Toys R Us is a great brand,'' said Rex Golding, principal managing director for Softbank Venture Capital. ''Great brands will allow you to acquire customers a lot more easily and a lot more cheaply.''

Foster said the backing from Softbank is a vote of confidence in the brand name and the Internet unit's potential. Online sales totaled $10.6 million in the first quarter and followed the site's $50.9 million in revenue last year, he said.

The Internet company's other plans this year call for solving some of the technological and delivery problems. Foster said Toysrus.com will make an announcement next week on an expansion of its distribution capability.

The Babiesrus.com Web site will open in a few months, while Rzone.com, a site selling video and software games, will be online before the holiday sales season. Toysrus.com also is considering opening sites linked with its Imaginarium educational toy stores and has explored opening sites not directly related to its stores, such as ''booksrus.com'' or ''sportsrus.com'' Foster said.

Shares of Paramus, New Jersey-based Toys R Us fell 1/2 to 14 5/16 in trading on the New York Stock Exchange

[Update 4/05/2000]