Retail in Asia

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CEO Talking Shop: Rakuten celebrates 4th anniversary in Taiwan, to focus on fashion, 3C markets

With its flagship B2B2C (business-to-business-to-consumer) model, Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten Inc, has developed numerous online properties worldwide since 1997. The company recently celebrated the fourth anniversary of Rakuten Ichiba Taiwan, the online shopping venture between Rakuten Inc of Japan and President Chain Store Corp. Retail in Asia caught up with Yuichi Ejiri, General Manager for Rakuten Ichiba Taiwan, to learn about the company’s business and its plan for the next step.

RIA: Rakuten has entered the Taiwan market for four years. Can you talk us through the company’s business development in this market?

Yuichi Ejiri (YE): In the past four years, even though Taiwan’s economic situation was very critical, Rakuten Ichiba Taiwan still retained growth in two digits. We have successfully transferred the B2B2C model and ECC (e-commerce consultant) to Taiwan. We have also empowered small enterprises in Taiwan, just like what we did in Japan. Right now, Rakuten Ichiba Taiwan is one of the top three e-commerce platforms in Taiwan.

RIA: Rakuten first launched its online shopping mall in Japan in 1997. How do you find the market here different from the Japanese market? What challenges and opportunities do you see here?

YE: Taiwan is a similar market to Japan, in terms of logistics system, payment etc. However, Taiwan’s market is so small that 24-hour delivery is one of the key competencies for e-commerce. Taiwan customers, especially the so-called office ladies, like group buying. We’ve learnt a lot from Taiwan’s market and have built up our own business model since our launch.

RIA: Rakuten takes "B2B2C" as its business model. How is it different from the "B2C" (business to consumer) model? How has this strategy contributed to the company’s success?

YE: The B2B2C model can empower small enterprises. Not only Rakuten employees are doing e-commerce marketing, but Rakuten ECC also consult hundreds of merchants doing e-commerce marketing. With the B2B2C model, we can amplify the e-commerce power and help small enterprises. B2C model only deals with big enterprises because of the limited manpower.

RIA: Can you share your marketing strategies with us? How do you market your own brand? And how do you help promote your member stores?

YE: We are building Rakuten as the world’s No1 shop. Social networking sites are getting popular in these two years, especially Facebook. It’s very popular in Taiwan too. Taiwan has 11 million Facebook users. Almost all Taiwanese aged between 15 and 50 have Facebook accounts. We started to have official Rakuten page on Facebook in February 2009. In 2011, Taiwan Rakuten’s Facebook fan page ranked No2 among enterprises in Taiwan by Business Next, a Taiwan’s leading digital media.

We use Facebook to communicate with our members, and also urge our merchants to do this. For traditional media, we promote what merchants want to sell to our members. Though social media, we try to communicate and let our fans tell us what they want so we can offer information they need.

RIA: What are the "top secrets" for a product to become a bestseller on Rakuten?

YE: Shopping is entertainment. We advise our merchants not to rely on price discount. How to incubate members among fans? If a merchant can own lots of loyal members, then it can easily become the bestseller on Rakuten as well. At Rakuten, merchants and our ECCs create the story for each item and let our members enjoy shopping in Rakuten.

RIA:  Are you planning for expansion? Can you share your next plan with us?

YE:  Rakuten Ichiba Taiwan is already No1 in the gourmet field. However, we are still working very hard on the field of fashion and computer, communication & consumer-electronics (3C). We will work to maintain the No1 position in gourmet and keep providing our members/fans with the best gourmet items, but we also want to maximise our member base and become the leader in fashion segment. We will continue to utilise social media and become friendlier in mobile devices for our customers. In addition to Ichiba, travel, credit card and other services will also come to Taiwan. We will build up an e-commerce ecosystem for Taiwan’s market.

 

Yuichi Ejiri joined Rakuten Inc in 2007 and is the General Manager of Taiwan Rakuten Ichiba.

Rakuten, Inc., is one of the world’s leading internet service companies, providing a variety of consumer- and business-focused services including e-commerce, e-reading, travel, banking, securities, credit card, e-money, portal & media, online marketing and professional sports. Rakuten is expanding globally and currently has operations throughout Asia, Western Europe, and the Americas. Founded in 1997, Rakuten is headquartered in Tokyo, with over 10,000 employees and partner staff worldwide. In 2008, Rakuten, Inc. and President Chain Store establish a joint venture to start Rakuten Ichiba Taiwan, an internet shopping mall business in Taiwan.

CEO Talking Shop is the Retail in Asia section devoted to interviews with brand CEOs and retail industry leaders.