CLOSE UP INTERVIEW
[ M A L AY S I A ]
Prado2u
A shop like a museum of rare products How does Prado2u make customers smile?
[BRAZIL]
Dipés
A real business person will be at the top online, too Using even bad reviews to become better
[GERMANY]
BioVitalShop
Growing the Family Business Supporting Customer Health
[ J A PA N ]
GALSTAR
Galstar – making “gals” beautiful Bringing gal-style fashion to the world
CLOSE UP INTERVIEW
04 [ M A L AY S I A ]
Prado2u
http://www.rakuten.com.my/shop/prado2u/
A shop like a museum of rare products How does Prado2u make customers smile?
Sameeah Taib, ECC
[GERMANY]
BioVitalShop
08
http://www.biovitalshop.de/
Growing the Family Business Supporting Customer Health?
Borislav Majdandzic, ECC
19
[ FRANCE ]
Webdistrib
18 G L O B A L E D I T I O N
http://www.priceminister.com/ boutique/Webdistrib/
“They offer a delivery service that is catered to customer needs. It’s amazing how they always offer value that goes beyond price.” Thomas Seror, ECC
[ TAIWAN ]
Wumajia http://wumama.shop.rakuten.tw/
20
The Watchery
“This shop embodies the ‘Shopping is Entertainment’ ideal of always having fun with its customers.” Yuchin Lee, ECC
http://thewatchery.shop.rakuten.com/ “I want to tell you about a shop that continues to grow using the Rakuten way attracting customers with email magazines.”
19 [ INDONESIA ]
perfectbeauty http://www.rakuten.co.id/
[ UNITED STATES ]
Carmen Tran, ECC
[ THAILAND ]
shop/perfectbeauty/ “This shop truly believes in the ideal of “omotenashi” and offers their customers the best possible shopping experience they can get.” Susan Enjeli, ECC
02
shopsmart http://shopsmart.tarad.com/ “Once they advertised on SNS – very popular among the Thai people – and sold out 550 items of a product in one day. The fan base of this shop is growing.” Pittapan Nirunnathap, ECC
Publisher Hiroshi Mikitani Rakuten, Inc. General Producer Rakuten Ichiba Business Executive Producer Kenshiro Tamura
In Collaboration with International Business Management Department Ayumi Sato
Taiwan Rakuten ICHIBA Yuchin Lee Yuimin Lai
International EC Department Koichi Watanabe / Sachiko Saigo
Editor (P08-10) Rakuten Deutschland GmbH Raphael Thierschmann
Rakuten.com.br Ken Okamoto Rafael Agnello Bonfá Izabelle Palma Andrea D’Alcântara
11
Rakuten.at Nadine Doppelreiter Alexandra Auer
PriceMinister Tatsuki Katsuhara Thomas Seror Alison Boutoille Guillaume Dainche
Rakuten.de Borislav Majdandzic
Senior Editor Yuichiro Funamoto
Rakuten.com.sg Tomohiro Moriya Elaine Lee
Rakuten Belanja Online Yasunobu Hashimoto Franky Hoetomo Greta Christina Susan Enjelin
Rakuten Online Shopping Noriyasu Taniguchi Sameeah Taib
Chief Editor Azusa Kosaka
TARAD.com Pittapan Nirunnathap
Rakuten.es Sandra Zarate Laura Gil
Rakuten.com Carmen Tran Anne Thomas Yuko Shimura
[BRAZIL]
Produced through the cooperation of BLUE GRAPH Inc.
Dipés
http://dipes.loja.rakuten.com.br/
A real business person will be at the top online, too Using even bad reviews to become better
Izabelle Palma, ECC
[ J A PA N ]
GALSTAR
14
http://www.rakuten.co.jp/galstar/
Galstar – making “gals” beautiful Bringing gal-style fashion to the world
Ken Takahashi, ECC
21
23
[ JAPAN ]
MY mama - Handicraft Workshop
Due-Home
http://www.rakuten.co.jp/auc-my-mama/
http://www.rakuten.es/tienda/due-home/
“I want to talk about how this shop uses the excitement of Rakuten Super Sales to grow – and they do it with the help of their repeat customers.” Kei Kusaka, ECC
22
[ SPAIN ]
“This shop is incorporating Rakuten’s knowledge and using it to grow. They even started making their first long pages!” Sandra Zarate, ECC
[ SINGAPORE ]
Ecolive
24 Message from Hiroshi Mikitani
http://www.rakuten.com.sg/shop/ecolive/ “They started to grow once they created long pages to show product appeal. Now more and more people are becoming fans of the shop.” Elaine Lee, ECC
23
[ AUSTRIA ]
World of Denim http://worldofdenim.rakuten-shop.at/ “We worked together to prepare for the Summer Sale. I want to talk about the time they sold out all 1,500 of their feature product.” Alexandra Auer, ECC Unauthorized reproduction, copying, reprinting, or broadcast of the articles, photographs, illustrations, etc. in this magazine are strictly prohibited.
03
Rakuten Online Shopping http://www.rakuten.com.my/
M A L A Y S I A
Shop Owner
Zen Tan Chong Chin
A shop like a museum of rare products How does Prado2u make customers smile? Prado2u Gadgets used to play on smart phones. Monopod – the remote shutter that makes taking selfies a breeze. Prado2u – the shop where the products are all chosen by founder Zen Tan Chong Chin. How does Zen communicate the value of his products to customers?
http://www.rakuten.com.my/shop/prado2u/ Shop open year: July 10th, 2013 Category: Electronics Number of Staff: 5 Location: Banting, Selangor Business Category: Retail Also has a brick and mortar shop?: No
04
CLOSE UP INTERVIEW
The Stealth Jet Plane LED Watch, one of their hit products. The watch dial lights up in five different colors, and it’s very popular with young men and children. The top of the product page shows the five colors.
Self-employed owner of online shop Seeks greater growth on Rakuten
offices are located in Zen’s hometown of
malls. He started digging into the poten-
Banting, about an hour and a half drive
tial offered by each mall, and learned
We visited Zen Tan Chong Chin, and
from Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur.
the basics of online retail. Then, after
when we asked him what product repre-
After graduating from university in
narrowing down the candidates, he
sented his shop, he started pulling out
Kuala Lumpur, Zen worked for one and
product after product.
half month before quitting his job at the
decided to open his shop on Rakuten.
Selecting products himself, Getting ideas from life
The first thing he showed us was a
end of 2012 and returning home with
cardboard box smaller than a tissue box.
the dream of opening his own company.
“These are goggles,” he said. “You use
Why did he quit?
them with Google apps. You use it by...
“The drudgery of commuting and work-
Online Shopping in July, 2013.
wait. Let’s try it! You put a smartphone
ing 9 to 5,” he explains. “I wanted more
“Products were the focus on my first
running an app in here, and then look
excitement in my life.”
mall,” Zen recalls. “All I did was add
through the goggles. See? Look at that! (See p.07)”
Zen opened his shop on Rakuten
Back then, a number of new online
products or drop prices. But to grow, I
malls were opening in Malaysia and Zen
had to make sure that Prado2u left an
We were visiting Prado2u, a shop
knew he couldn’t pass up that oppor-
impression with people. So I made the
that specializes in smart device prod-
tunity. He looked around and saw that
shop the focus, and decided to open
ucts, digital watches, and other life-
his friends all had a smartphone, so he
on Rakuten.”
style goods, to interview Zen, the
thought, “Why don’t I start an online
The name Prado2u comes from the
shop’s founder. His shop is located in
shop selling smartphone accessories?”
Museo del Prado, the world-famous art
Malaysia, a truly multicultural country
Zen started preparing, using his room
museum in Madrid. Zen wanted to have
with people of Malaysian, Chinese, and
at the family home as his office, and in
a shop where he provide his customers
Indian extraction all living together with
January, 2013, he started offering prod-
with rare items. In December, 2013, that
English as a common language. The
ucts on a number of different online
dream came to life when he started
Zen showed us how to use product after product. They always try products before selling them. They sort out any problems or things that are difficult to understand, then they use that experience to create product pages.
05
Prado2u
I choose products based on whether they will be fun or not. I want to make customers around the world smile when they see our Prado2u products!
selling clip-on sunglasses. “Sunglasses are a necessity in Malaysia because the sunlight is strong year round. But someone like me who wears eyeglasses can’t wear regular sunglasses, so the clip-on type are a real life-saver (See p.07),” Zen laughs. Zen’s criteria for new products depends on whether he likes them or not and whether or not he wants them for himself. “The free carrying case is an original product,” he explains. “It’s got a hook on it so you can hang it up because I’d often thought about how inconvenient it was to have to open the glove compartment while driving.” Zen has continued to put out hit after hit, getting his ideas from regular
more and adds them. It can take them
own picture. They started a limited time
life and his own experiences.
as little as half a day to two or three
offer at a trial price in July, and sent out
days to make a product page.
an ad through SNS. They sold 300 in
“The goggles I just showed you have to
one day, and those sales led to others.
Communicating merits to more people through long pages.
be put together, so we have to tell cus-
They also put flyers into the packages
In order to get across why his prod-
tomers both how to put them together
as they’re shipped to encourage repeat
ucts are so rare, Zen uses his own
and how to use them after. The problem
customers.
experiences to describe them on the
is, when we’re looking at what makes
Prado2u pages.
a product good, sometimes we have
“The best way for me to connect with
too much fun and start to want it our-
the customers is to talk about my own
selves,” Zen says, laughing.
Goal is to become a worldwide hit And to sell their own products To keep up with the constantly
experiences,” Zen says. He thoroughly
Zen actively tries to bring in new cus-
increasing number of parcels being
checks the information provided by his
tomers, because without them no one
shipped, Zen opened a warehouse/
suppliers, and then either he or one of
will see the products he’s so proud of.
office only a five- minute walk from his
his employees tries out the product.
One example of that effort was a cam-
house in July, 2014, and took on four
If he thinks he doesn’t have enough
paign for the Monopod (See p.07), a
employees. For now, this office is the
information or enough images, he takes
remote shutter that lets users take their
heart of the operation, but Zen is still
The offices on a corner of a street in Banting, which they moved to only two short months ago. Product photography, webpage creation, order handling and customer service duties are all shared and handled here. With the warehouse next door, all employees help shipping out orders.
06
CLOSE UP INTERVIEW
GOLDEN RULE OF SUCCESS The hit products and product pages that came out of Zen wanting to explain everything to his customers. Prado2u handles around 350 products personally selected by Zen himself. Product pages follow a basic structure, answering “what is the product?”, “how do you have fun?”, and “how does it work?” On top of that, for example with Google Cardboard, the top of the page provides explanations and still frames to show how to put the product together, pictures of it being used, and even video. December, 2013 Anti UV Sunglasses with box
May, 2014 Monopod / Phone Camera shutter
Total Units Sold:270* sales made. Got rave reviews for the free carrying case included so that people wouldn’t lose them in their car.
Total Units Sold: 456* sales made. Also offered as a set with a remote shutter button. Two more types added after it got a good reception.
April, 2014 Stealth Jet Plane LED Watch
June, 2014 Smart Key for Android devices
Total Units Sold: 342* sales made. This water-resistant watch met customer needs and became a big hit.
Total Units Sold: 597* sales made. This gadget makes using a smart phone easier. Videos show how.
September, 2014 Google Cardboard
aiming for more growth. We asked him what his next move is going to be.
Total Units Sold: 82* sales made. The shop shares photos of people using the product to show how fun they had with it.
“After the big hit products and after enjoying the afterglow, unfortunately we still have to deal with price competition. That’s where I draw the line, so right now I’m in the process of coming up with ideas for our own products. At some point, I want to sell Prado2u products all over the world. If we had customers from around the world visit-
* The number of total units sold from November 2013 to November 2014
ing our shop...yeah...that would be fun.”
07
Rakuten.de http://www.rakuten.de/
GERMANY
Growing the Family Business Supporting Customer Health BioVitalShop “We only sell products that we personally think are good.” Thomas and his father are both driven by a desire to spread the word about alternative healing and prevention – to help people live healthier lives. Shop Owner
Thomas Kleinschnittger
http://www.biovitalshop.de/ Shop open year: February 27th, 2009 Category: Beauty & wellness Number of Staff: 2 Location: Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia Business Category: Retail Also has a brick and mortar shop?: No
08
CLOSE UP INTERVIEW
Living a healthy life with health care products Friedhelm Kleinschnittger has always been interested in alternative healing methods, and still uses a variety of allnatural health supplements every day. Seeing a growing potential, and with
Left: Friedhelm Klenschnittger
a longing to share his positive experiences, he started a health care product business in 2002, long before “living healthy” was as popular as it is today.
Know your customers! Open for advice and new developments.
product information such as advice on how to consume products, what ingredients are contained, and blog posts
“I was and still am convinced of the
Father and son share work between
positive effect of our products. We
them as they each have their own indi-
announcing when new products arrive. As an additional incentive, Thomas
always intended to offer an alternative
vidual fields of expertise. Thomas takes
and Friedhelm use the Rakuten coupon
to conventional medicine. That’s why I
care of the e-commerce business and
tool to give discount coupons to return-
started my business in the first place.”
his father handles customer service
ing customers. This is because they rec-
With the consciousness for alterna-
over the phone. When customers have
ommend that most of their products be
tive healing growing, Friedhelm’s son,
questions about products or orders, or
taken on a regular basis, and these cou-
Thomas saw the potential in expand-
are looking for recommendations, they
pons are an effective way of getting the
ing his father’s business and making it
usually speak with Friedhelm and can
customers to make regular purchases.
more professional, and decided to join
rely on his many years of experience.
Passion to make a product choice. Only selling products that have been tried out
in 2007. He first considered opening a
But, they say that the e-commerce
brick-and-mortar shop, but then turned
consultants (ECC) were an essential
towards e-commerce in order to reach
part of helping their online shop suc-
more customers, to focus on expand-
ceed. The introduction of ECCs was one
Offering a natural alternative to con-
ing the range of goods and improving
of the biggest changes that came with
ventional medicine and helping people
operational efficiency.
the acquisition of Tradoria by Rakuten.
find a healthier way of living has always
They faced a number of problems in
It was their ECC, Borislav Majdandzic,
been the motivation for Thomas and his
their first attempt to set up a simple web
who suggested adding video content
father Friedhelm. Despite their lack of
shop, such as meeting legal require-
to pages in order to make products
an education in the field of medicine,
ments and handling payments. As a
easier to understand for first time visi-
they have been able to gain broad
result, in 2009, they decided to open
tors. After creating the product pages,
knowledge of their products over the
a shop on Tradoria (the previous name
they saw sales rise, but also had fewer
years and are always up to date on the
of Rakuten.de). They appreciated how
telephone calls coming in from custom-
newest developments.
payments were handled and the flex-
ers (See p.10).
ible shop layout which they could use to present their products.
Their main sources for exploring
They implemented other initiatives
new products are regular fair visits,
to meet customer demand for more
close contact with therapists and
09
BioVitalShop
STEMTECH-SE2: A natural supplement popular at the shop.
BIOS LIFE MATCHA: Matcha manufactured by a Japanese tea manufacturer. Conveying manufacturing processes and product characteristics by uploading a video supplied by the manufacturer on the product page.
homeopaths in the area - many of
positive feedback they’ve received from
whom are their best customers - and
customers by telephone and email.
full-on customer relations.
“Sometimes people call to tell us that
“When customers ask us for products
our products worked very well. They
we don’t have, we consider adding them
even tell us private things such as their
to our selection,” Thomas says. “But we
blood levels, and thank us for support-
have one strict rule: we try out every
ing their health. That’s the biggest
single product ourselves, because we
reward for us.”
only sell what we’re fully convinced of!”
With success proving them right,
In other words, even if a product is
Thomas and Friedhelm have very ambi-
successful on the market, if the Klein-
tious plans to expand their business.
schnittgers aren’t satisfied with it, they
First, they are opening a second shop
to build a global platform through
won’t sell it to their customers.
on Rakuten.de. It’s a shop that focuses
Rakuten to reach even more people
That’s why the number of regular
mainly on natural food supplements
and support them in a healthier way
customers is steadily increasing, and
selling well at BioVitalShop. And cur-
of living.
the Kleinschnittgers’ shop is often rec-
rently they are preparing to open the
“Rakuten enables us to combine our
ommended by therapists and homeo-
third shop, which focuses mainly on
passion with our profession - we can
paths who have great trust in Thomas
matcha products. But Germany is not
discover and try out new products
and Friedhelm.
the only market for the Kleinschnittgers.
within our field of interest, and then
What has made Thomas and Fried-
They also have customers in Austria
pass this experience on to our custom-
helm particularly happy has been the
and the Netherlands, and are looking
ers. What more could one want?”
Rakuten enables us to combine our passion with our profession.
10
Rakuten.com.br Shopping http://www.rakuten.com.br/
B R A Z I L
A real business person will be at the top online, too Using even bad reviews to become better Dipés Dipés – providing all types of men’s footwear, from sneakers to boots to sandals. Shop manager Juliana Bettarello has a motto – “Satisfy your customers” – and they put a lot of effort into customer service. What is her approach? Shop Manager
Juliana Bettarello
http://dipes.loja.rakuten.com.br/ Shop open year: March 1st, 2013 Category: Footwear Number of Staff: 3 Location: Franca, São Paulo Business Category: Retail Also has a brick and mortar shop?: No
11
Dipés
If someone hates the experience the first time they buy something, that’s the end of the shop-customer relationship.
Sepatenis leather sneakers are their most popular item. They offer a free matching belt – a service that is very popular – and their record is 230 orders in one day.
An online shop in Franca, the shoe capital of Brazil Brazil. Host or soon-to-be host to a number of international events, from the World Cup to the Olympics. Government economic growth policies have led to roaring domestic consumption, and the e-commerce market is seeing double-digit growth annually. In the state of São Paulo, the city of Franca is known as the shoe capital of Brazil. It has over 1,200 footwear factories, and it is here that Juliana Bettarello runs men’s footwear shop Dipés. Bettarello grew up watching her mother run a shop, and when she was in school, she used to sell accessories at a university campus for professors,
that she was simply curious about it.
students and directors to cover her
So, in March, 2013, she opened her
wouldn’t even get one order, but then
living expenses and make some pocket
shop on Rakuten.com.br on the recom-
they just flooded in,” she explains.
money. From her marriage until she had
mendation of a friend.
“Apparently the customers were really
her third child, she ran the shop with
happy with the free matching belt we
the kids had got a bit older, her hus-
Increased interest in the online shop came from an idea during Father’s Day sales
band Hario said he would support her
Bettarello only half-believed that
if she wanted to start working again. It
she’s be able to sell shoes online. “To be
Her interest in running that shop rose
was a natural progression.
honest,” she said. “I had never actually
even higher, and she wanted to speed
shopped online myself at that point.”
up growth. She bought photography
her mother. She’s a dyed-in-the-wool business person, and that’s why once
Bettarello returned to the world of
12
“Up until that point I had days where I
offered that was the same color as their shoes. Seeing those results made me happy, and for the first time I was having fun running the online shop.”
business, but what was different this
After opening her shop, she didn’t sell
equipment and started taken product
time was that she was doing it online.
as much as she’d hoped and her impa-
photos to post on product pages to com-
One reason was because her children
tience grew. But her fortunes turned in
municate how good her products are.
had told her how you could buy every-
late July, three months after opening.
She started having more contact with
thing from electronics to sneakers and
For Father’s Day, which is in August in
Rakuten.com.br, too. She went to the
t-shirts on the internet, but another was
Brazil, she decided to hold her first sale.
Rakuten Expo and furiously took notes
CLOSE UP INTERVIEW
for the entire time. After that, it became daily routine to get in contact with her
people together,” Bettarello explains. At the top of the Dipés homepage are
e-commerce consultant (ECC).
the words, “First time purchasers get
“I pestered them constantly by asking
free delivery on exchanges” and this
what I should do next, so I think the ECC
service was one of Bettarello’s ideas
got sick of me. We even had a number of
brought to life.
heated discussions,” she says, laughing.
Bettarello introduced the service in August, 2013, but she says that the
Getting lots of recognition for great service, Aiming to be Brazil’s #1 shoe shop.
shop was taking a risk. Logistical prob-
Bettarello’s day starts with reading
products getting damaged or package
all the reviews and emails she received
tracking being impossible. It frequently
from customers. The rule is that any
consumes a lot of retailer’s times and
issue has to be resolved quickly.
energies. In other words, they were
“If someone hates the experience the
taking a double-risk because of the
first time they buy something, that’s the
added risk during delivery by making
end of the shop-customer relationship.
exchanges delivery-charge free.
I want them to think, ‘I’m glad I bought
“We worried that people might abuse
that’ and I don’t give up until they do,”
it and we’d get a lot of returns. But it
Bettarello states flatly.
turned out that the main reason for
lems are common in a country as big as Brazil, with packaging breaking and
Rakuten.com.br’s product pages provide a space for user comments and shop responses. Dipés’ quick and polite answers have earned it a great deal of trust, and their pages have many times more comments than other shops.
One example can be seen in a cus-
exchanging was size, and we didn’t
tomer who said that the colour of the
get that many requests in the end,”
product was different from the photo
Bettarello says. “In fact, we got a lot of
on the website. Bettarello had a long
compliments because no other store
two employees. “What happened with
talk with him, and told him that he
did this kind of thing.”
yesterday’s exchange?” and “What are
could exchange the shoes for any prod-
Bettarello continues to offer the ser-
we going to do about that review saying
uct he wanted.
vice, and now, in the fall of 2014, she
“At some point when we were talking
gets an average of 50 orders a day out-
Watching her work, we can see noth-
about what he would exchange for, the
side of sale periods. She says that half
ing of the woman who only half-believed
conversation began to be about what
of those are repeat customers who were
that she’d be able to sell shoes online.
clothes would go well with the shoes.
impressed with the store’s selection and
“Have I thought about quitting? No. I
It went from customer service to fash-
customer service.
want to be the #1 shoe shop in Brazil.
ion advice, and then he thanked me.
When we visited her for this article,
Customer service can really help bring
Bettarello was throwing questions at her
that they had a “horrible experience?”
And no one can stop me now,” Bettarello vows with laughter in her voice.
Their offices and attached showroom. Franca is located deep in the countryside, 400 km away from the state’s main city of São Paulo, but the footwear industry is generating an economic boom that has blessed it with architecture more sophisticated than that found in neighboring cities.
13
Rakuten ICHIBA http://www.rakuten.co.jp/
J A P A N
Galstar – making “gals” beautiful Bringing gal-style fashion to the world GALSTAR This shop has won Rakuten’s Shop of the Year award for two years running. Behind their success are the “gals” who love their styles, and the effort Masaki Kudo puts into listening to what they really want. Center: President
Masaki Kudo
http://www.rakuten.co.jp/galstar/ Shop open year: September 12th, 2007 Category: Casual wear Number of Staff: 70 Location: Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture Business Category: Manufacture/Wholesale/Retail Also has a brick and mortar shop?: Yes
14
CLOSE UP INTERVIEW Mouton Boots – their staple product gets an annual makeover. Some customers even collect them.
“I like this...” – and there a shop was born Bringing together gals and fashion
searched the wholesale districts for
factories to develop Galstar-original,
items that would make “gals” happy,
synthetic leather “mouton-style” boots.
and put them on sale in their shop.
Using a popular design, he set the price
In Japan, the word “gal” – from the
Now, seven years later, they ship about
at 4,000 yen (40USD).
American slang for “girl” – is used to
4,000 original items a year, and bring in
“I set the price based upon the amount
refer mainly to young women in their
200 million yen a month (approx. 2 mil-
of money gals usually spend. They can
teens and twenties. Especially since the
lion USD) – they’ve gone beyond Kudo’s
usually spend up to about 10,000 yen
turn of the millennium, there have been
wildest dreams.
(100USD) for an outfit complete with top,
a number of specialty magazines dedicated to “gal fashion.” It has become a social phenomenon, with the products worn by the models starting new trends.
pants, and footwear,” Kudo explained.
Understanding the mission through feedback on their hit “Mouton-style Boots”
“And there are plenty of them who will skip lunch in order to save some money or clothes. (Kudo laughs.) I don’t want
Galstar opened its shop on Rakuten
Kudo described the shop’s sales of
Ichiba in September, 2007, and has the
their mouton-style boots in 2009 as
to betray them with high prices.” He wanted to get the mouton-style
word “gal” right in its name. President
one example of something that helped
boots out as quickly as possible to
Masaki Kudo spoke to us about it.
them grow.
show as many gals as possible. Orders
“It all began with an offhand remark
“Celebs on the US West Coast were all
would be sent out starting in August,
from my wife. She was reading a gal
wearing these mouton boots, and I
but he started offering pre-orders in
fashion magazine, and said, ‘I want that
thought that Galstar’s customers might
July. The response was huge, and they
but it’s too expensive.’ I heard that and
want to wear them too. But real mouton
were hit with an avalanche of pre-
decided we should make a place where
is made from sheepskin, so the boots
orders. The shop entered the Rakuten
people could easily buy the clothes they
would cost tens of thousands of yen
Ichiba rankings, and order numbers
want. That’s how it started.”
(hundreds of US dollars). If they bought
grew even higher.
Nonetheless, they weren’t exactly roll-
those boots, they wouldn’t be able to
By putting their powerhouse mouton-
ing in the cash they needed to open a
buy any of the fall-winter fashions. I
style boots up for sale early, they made
business. At first, they only purchased
realized that this was our chance.”
many sales but they also got over-
ten stock items. When those sold, they
Kudo started preparing in the winter
whelming support from the customers.
got in 15 items. And on it went, as they
of 2008, and began talking with
Until the end of the year, the popular
The main office has around 50 employees all working on product planning, sales campaigns, webpage design, and customer service. With an average age of 26, the company is young and full of life.
15
G A L S TA R A number of employees even started as Galstar customers. Kudo says that it always makes him happy during interviews to hear people say how they want to work at Galstar because they love it.
product sold out, so they made more. Then it sold out and they made more, over and over. Kudo saw comments like “I’m so happy I got my hands on these stylish boots” and “I’m putting these on and going out right now!” and he had to rethink what Galstar’s mission truly was. “Trendy items make girls feel great. They get more self-confidence, and that makes dates or nights out more fun. I realized that Galstar isn’t just about giving people clothing. It’s our responsibility to make gals feel great.”
From a shop that sells trends, To a shop that creates trends. Galstar started selling their own original brand products in 2011. Product planning sessions began to be held more often to find new products that would sell. Their gal customers, regular smartphone users, began to visit the shop website many times a day. “Even if people are just looking, that’s enough. If they are thinking, I wonder what they’re selling? I wonder how it would be worn? Then that’s enough. That very fact is proof that Galstar is no longer a “trend-seller,” it shows we’ve become a “trend-setter.” Getting more
colours,” and we had a meeting right
They check out stylish gals in fashion
and more gals to love our shop makes us
there and basically forgot about our
magazines and on the street, exchange
more confident, too” Kudo says.
trip. (He laughs.)”
information on Twitter, Instagram and
Kudo says that he really feels this when he sees “gals” wearing Galstar clothing. “My wife and I were away on a trip,
other SNS. When they see a hint of
Loved by girls around the world, Becoming a Global Galstar!
changing trends or a new fashion, they have a meeting to figure out how to
and we saw a girl wearing a pair of our
The shop now has more than 70
shoes. I was so happy when I realized
employees. From the beginning, Kudo
create their own version. “We opened a company in Los Angeles in
they were totally our product. Then
wanted to appeal to “gals”, and the
2012. Why? To keep pace with Rakuten’s
I thought, “We need some brighter
employees have taken up that banner.
globalization,” Kudo explains. While he
Wearing trendy items makes people feel good. We aren’t just about selling clothes. Our job is to make these gals happy.
16
CLOSE UP INTERVIEW
GOLDEN RULE OF SUCCESS
[PC page]
Giving customers all the info they could ever want – PC and smartphone long pages! Galstar’s Rakuten-style long pages were designed making use of buying psychology. The top of the page increases interest by showing how a product is worn, and the bottom provides peace of mind with more details. The smartphone site is designed so that users can swipe to see new images. Smartphone users spend less time on the site than PC users, so the smartphone page is designed differently to ensure that visitors see available colors, sizes, and other necessary info.
1
Stimulating interest with sales results and photos
2
Sales figures and images of models are shown big – to increase customer instinct to buy.
3
Giving details with close-ups Photos show products from different angles, and a simple touch can even show how much they stretch.
Using video to show different outfits and colors
1
This helps visitors see how easy it is to coordinate, and shows the variety of colors available.
4
Posting multiple product pictures Even the smartphone pages are packed with information with each page going right to the photo limit.
[Smartphone page]
2
laughs as he says it, his eyes show that he’s telling the truth. He says they are taking their first steps onto the world stage, and are using that in Galstar’s product planning. “Our next goal is to become the favorite store of gals all over the world. I want to see their smiling faces of gals wearing
3
our products around the world,” Kudo says, laughing.
4
17
[ TA I WA N ] Soup dumplings join the ice bucket challenge, Getting customers engaged in CSR [Facebook]
[R-Mail]
Wumajia http://wumama.shop.rakuten.tw/ Shop open year: August 28th, 2012
Shop Manager
Wu-shu-cheng
Describing the Ice Bucket Challenge in R-Mail and on Facebook. The Facebook page got many likes and comments.
We sell dumplings, and have a real restaurant in Taiwan’s Kaohsiung City.
18
customers involved and I came up with the “Dump water on our products” idea. We made a special ALS package for our soup
In August 2014, we took part in the Ice Bucket Challenge, a
dumplings, and pledged to donate 1% of sales. We told people
campaign to support and raise awareness of research into the
about it using R-Mail and Facebook and the customer response
neurodegenerative disorder known as ALS. People had to either
was beyond expectations. We got a lot of responses telling us to
dump a bucket of ice on their head or donate to the cause, and
“Go for it” and “I’ll help too.” Getting the customers involved in a
when they did the challenge, they had to nominate the next people
challenge like this is only possible on Rakuten. I want to keep
in line. I was nominated by the president of OKTEA, another shop
sharing other meaningful experiences like this with our
on Taiwan Rakuten. When I was nominated, I wanted to get our
customers.
[INDONESIA] [Review Page]
Wrapping and packaging with Japanese omotenashi, Basking in great reviews
perfectbeauty http://www.rakuten.co.id/shop/perfectbeauty/ Shop open year: February 5th, 2011
Shop Owner
Haris Anggoro
Our shop deals in Japanese and Korean cosmetics. We experienced the omotenashi philosophy when we visited Japan to purchase stock, and we were really impressed with the thinking behind it. It’s all about maximizing customer satisfaction. So we decided to give omotenashi our own flair and put a bit of it into our products when sending them out. First, we started using pink packages to make our female customers happy. We wrap each and every product in protective material, and then put a free product sample into the package. In Indonesia, not many shops put too much care into their packaging so when our customers got their orders in pink packages, it was rare for them. We get lots of reviews telling us how cute the packaging is, and how happy they were that it was so carefully wrapped. We’re going to continue using our own omotenashi to keep making our customers smile.
Product Page
[FRANCE] With multiple delivery services, offering value with more than just low prices
Delivery options on purchase information page
Webdistrib http://www.priceminister.com/boutique/Webdistrib/ Shop open year: January 14th, 2011
Right: Sales Director Lehoux, Caroline Left: Market place manager Luttringer, Thibault
Our shop deals in PCs, tablets, and other home electronics.
packages delivered during the day. Package pickup stores are open
Because a lot of shops sell products from the major manufacturer,
longer than post offices, and they’re cheaper than getting home
we want to offer value that wasn’t based on price, so we expanded
delivery, so around half of our customers choose that service. Our
our delivery services in May, 2014. We offered a maximum of 7 differ-
sales almost doubled after we started offering it. For an extra fee,
ent delivery options. The most popular was “Pickup,” a delivery
we offer another popular service that brings large electronics like
receipt service with more than 5,400 locations across France. Many
refrigerators right into the house. I hope people continue to choose
families in France have both spouses working, so they can’t have
us for the extra value we offer. (Lehoux, Caroline)
19
[R-Mail]
[ U N I T E D S TAT E S ] Using Rakuten events and R-Mail to grow Account Manager
Nicole Balais
The Watchery http://thewatchery.shop.rakuten.com/ Shop open year: August 29th, 2007
Our shop deals in high-end fashion brand goods like sunglasses, watches, and accessories. One thing that our ECC is always suggesting is that we try to get our name out, and we do so during Rakuten. com events. We first gather a bunch of eye-catching items to encourage users to buy, and then we send out R-Mail to tell them about it. For example, Rakuten.com has the Early Bird campaign where users who make a purchase before lunchtime can get bonus Rakuten Super Points. We send out our R-Mail so it arrives when most users are checking their email in the morning. Because of the time difference between the east and west coasts, we send out R-Mail timed to each region so that users can get the information at the right time. We’ve been doing this for three months, and we’ve seen a 186% increase in sales compared to the same period last year.
[THAILAND] [AD]
Seasonal featured products See sales of 550 in a day after SNS ad campaign
shopsmart http://shopsmart.tarad.com/ Shop open year: January 10th, 2013
Shop Manager
Dr. Sukontarat Nitisirisakul
We sell a broad range of useful lifestyle items like outdoor goods, kitchen products, DIY tools, etc. I want to talk about the outdoor goods campaign we ran in July 2014. The ECC suggested that if we wanted people to see the rich range of products we had, we first had to focus on pulling customers in. We didn’t offer a big variety of products in the campaign. It was the beginning of summer, so we focused on outdoor products as people were more likely to be enjoying the outdoors. We put a folding table on sale at the lowest price possible and made a category page for camping goods. Then we told people about it on LINE and other SNS. In one day, we got 550 orders! Even after the campaign was over, sales of camping goods continued to grow. We’re going to keep helping people in Thailand put more fun in their lives.
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[Category Page]
[ J A PA N ] SUPER SALE Eve – sales for regular customers only Using regulars to bring in new customers
MY mama - Handicraft Workshop http://www.rakuten.co.jp/auc-my-mama/ Shop open year: August 29, 2008 Shop Manager Aki Oki, back row third from right
Step
1
The day before a SUPER SALE
Step
2
First day of SUPER SALE
Step
3
During the SUPER SALE
Sale for regular customers only
Place in the Rakuten Ichiba rankings
Timed sales, daily special deals, final sales, etc.
Send out the “Festival Eve” email
Using regulars to pull in new customers
Sales for different days and times
[R-Mail]
[Ichiba Ranking]
[Special Page]
[Product Page]
Our shop sells materials for handicrafts. We have many steady
to purchase from, they see us there, and then we get new customers
customers making regular purchases, so we try to give them deals
visiting our shop. One reason Festival Eve is so popular is because
when they buy something.
we also offer a reserve option for people (who want) to get the prod-
One popular campaign we run is the Festival Eve sale, which we
ucts they buy on Festival Eve at the same time as any products they
run on the day before Rakuten SUPER SALE, Shopping Marathons,
get during the actual sales event. Regulars find it really convenient
and other big Rakuten events. It makes the regulars happy, and they
that they don’t have to worry about delivery charges –they can get
help us bring in new customers, too. We’ve been doing it since the
what they want when they want it.
end of 2012. The morning of the day before an event, we send out a
We make events fun by introducing new products, running timed
Festival Eve mail saying that the Festival Eve is beginning this eve-
sales twice a day in morning and evening, and even a final sale just
ning to customers who made a purchase in the previous year. We get
before the event ends. Daily sales during events are between three
a lot of orders during the Festival Eve sale, so by the time the event
and four times normal and sales for Festival Eve are around double.
starts our products are already on the daily ranking in the handicraft
We hope to keep coming up with new ways for our customers to enjoy
genre. People will use the rankings as a reference to find new shops
shopping with us.
21
[SINGAPORE] Grow by teaching people about what makes you great, Bringing clean air to Singapore
Ecolive http://www.rakuten.com.sg/shop/ecolive/ Shop open year: December 3rd, 2013
[R-Mail]
Left: Co-founder Andrew Tan Right: Co-founder Anthony Gui
We started selling air cleaners nine years ago. As Singapore
necessary. We started making long pages that had knowleagable
developed, the air was getting dirtier. We saw a sales opportunity,
people describing what products do, and giving data on how
and started selling air purification systems that we’d purchased
effective they are at cleaing the air. After we made the long pages,
from the US to companies.
we ran an ad in the July, 2014 issue of eDM and reached around
The reason we started selling on Rakuten.com.sg was because we wanted to let individual customers know about the air cleaners
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50,000 Rakuten.com.sg users. Sales the next day were 11 times higher than normal.
we were selling. Selling to individual customers for the first time
Air pollution and other environmental issues are getting global
made us really worried, but the ECC was there to help. They sug-
attention. We want to raise our profile on Rakuten.com.sg and
gested we design our pages so that people can learn more about
want people to think of EcoLive when they’re looking for eco-
what makes each product good and why the products are
friendly products. (Andrew Tan)
[ AU S T R I A ] Working with the ECC on the Summer Sale Taking 1,500 orders of the featured product
Left: CEO and Shop Manager
Bernd Thann
World of Denim http://worldofdenim.rakuten-shop.at/ Shop open year: January 10th, 2014
[Newsletter]
We are a select shop that deals in casual brands from around the world. This summer, we worked with our ECC on putting together something for Rakuten’s Summer Sale. We got in some Tommy Hilfiger polo shirts to serve as our featured product for the Summer Sale, and we did an advertising campaign to bring in customers. The product pages that led from the advertising links had pictures showing all the different color variations. On the first day of the campaign, we sold 340 items, and over the course of the whole campaign, we got 1,500 orders just for the polo shirts. It's important for us to have customers who purchase at our rakuten.at shop remember us - so we always put a present of candy in each package and ask for recommendation. We’re going to keep trying to become Austria’s number one shop in the fashion genre.
[ S PA I N ] First time trying long pages Showed product functionality and sold 140 items! CEO
Xavier Martínez Valle
Due-Home http://www.rakuten.es/tienda/due-home/ Shop open year: July 12th, 2013 Point
We sell interior products, and not just from famous manufacturers, so we have to communicate their appeal. That’s why we started making long pages. We did one for a chair that reduces the burden in your body when you sit with the correct posture. It’s hard to see that just by looking at it, but a long page is perfect for explaining that sort of thing. The page has pictures of a guy suffering from back pain so we can get the attention of people with the same problem. Then we have images of someone actually using the chair, and graphics that explain the chair in more detail. In the month after putting up the long page, we got more than 140 orders. We’re aiming to become Spain’s #1 interior shop by doing more things in the Rakuten style.
Images include bird’s-eye-view, detailed, and usage shots. Point Pictures show product features and explain functions.
23
DI S COVE RY S HOPPI NG When I first got into this business, I had a vision for an e-commerce experience that was more than just cheap and efficient. I was looking for more than the vending-machine experience — put credit card in, get goods in return — which, while functional, seemed like not much fun. There had to be room for fun, I thought. And it did not have to be frivolous fun. It could and should be purposeful fun—fun as driver of commerce. In our early days, we called this “entertainment shopping,” a process that not only got you the goods you needed but also provided you with a pleasant experience. We designed our site in a way that was playful and stimulating, and we encouraged our merchants to follow suit. Don’t rush your shopper to the exit, we said. Welcome your shopper and share what is enjoyable and unique and entertaining about your business. In many ways, this is a contrast in focus. We designed Rakuten to be shop-centric— a platform that encouraged and enabled consumers to discover different shops that might fit their needs. By contrast, many of our competitors are more product-centric—designed to help the consumer find a specific product. What’s different about these two approaches? The Rakuten approach takes a longer view of the shop—shopper relationship. Our goal is to create a system by which shoppers get what they need at any given moment and then also have the opportunity to discover more that they might enjoy. The more standard e-commerce approach, on the other hand, focuses on getting the consumer the specific product at that moment. It’s more of a search experience than a shopping experience. Efficient, to be sure, but hardly an avenue for discovery—only for acquisition. In our mind, this limits the possibilities for both the shopper and the merchant. Discovery, we’ve found, creates the potential for additional sales and additional successful shopping trips. To ensure this user experience would exist across our vast network of merchants, we had to allow for freedom and customization among our clients. We gave them the tools and the flexibility to design their sites in such a way that made them unique. This flexibility is vastly different from the site design of our major competitors. Vendors on the more rigid platform conform to the template. This is efficient, to be sure. It saves money and time. But is it fun? Is it entertaining? Does it inspire the customer to spend time browsing? Not really. A Rakuten customer, on the other hand, comes to our site knowing he or she will never have the same experience twice. Quite the opposite. There are no “cookie-cutter” shops in our ecosystem. We celebrate their differences and we encourage our customers to expect a diverse selection at their right. Over the years, we codified our description of this experience. It could not be only entertaining—anything with flashy graphics or other new technology could be entertaining. Customers were not coming to us for pure entertainment. Rather, they were coming to discover. We had created a platform built for more than speed and efficiency. We had created a forum for discovery shopping.
Chairman and CEO
Compiled from content taken from MARKETPLACE 3.0(PALGRAVE MACMILLAN, 2013), Chapter 7: Rewriting the Rules of E-Commerce: Discovery Shopping