Reaching 100 Million Japanese Shoppers on Rakuten Ichiba
1. Reaching 100 Million Japanese Shoppers
on Rakuten Ichiba
Ryan Miller
Vice President of Global eCommerce Strategy
Reid Wegner
Merchant Development Manager, Overseas Sales Strategy
2. 1. Rakuten Introduction
2. Japan eCommerce Market Overview
3. Cross Border eCommerce In Japan
4. Content Considerations
5. Rakuten Cross Border Overview
6. Achieving Success
7. How To Get Started
2
Agenda
3. 3
Rakuten Japan Marketplace Overview
44,201 merchants
$81.5B
(AUD)
15.6M
persons
105.9M
persons
25.0%
*as of Jan 31, 2006
60.0%
*as of Jan 31, 2015
16. Average Female Shoe Size
16
US = 8.5 JP = 23.3cm (US 6.5)
Sources: National Shoe Retailers Association
Japan National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
21. Identifying Cross Border Opportunities
• Use web analytics to identify
existing cross border visitors.
• Research local competitors in
markets you’re considering.
• Brand manufacturers have the
most control over pricing and
product selection.
• Keep an eye on exchange rates
to ensure competitive pricing.
23. Content Considerations
• Don’t just translate English
product descriptions – localize!
• Use high quality images / video.
• Make sure content is optimized
for mobile.
• Leverage user generated
content.
• Weights and dimensions in
metric units.
• Apparel sizing conventions vary
by country.
99% of population
speak Japanese
almost
exclusively.
Over 50% of
orders are from
mobile devices
27. New Markets Bring New eCommerce Challenges
Establish local business entity and bank
account
Design a Japanese storefront on
Rakuten Ichiba
Translate product catalog and brand
assets
Prepare for ongoing eCommerce
operations in Japan
Run local marketing campaigns
Accept international payments
Manage a new set of inventory and
orders
Ship products internationally
Handle customer service in Japanese
28. Rakuten’s Cross Border Program Simplifies EC in Japan
1. Customers shop on the Rakuten
marketplace in Japan
2. Rakuten orders go to merchant in
Australia
3. Australian merchant ships merchandise
to customer in Japan
Rakuten
Merchant Customer
12
3
Australia Japan
29. “Personal Import” Makes it Easy to Sell in Japan
• Business registration in Japan not required
• Product registration in Japan not required
• Customer imports product as if purchasing from
overseas website
Direct purchase of foreign goods from overseas companies by an
individual for personal use.
Customer is responsible for import process
Fully-landed cost paid by customer
• Customer in Japan pays for duties and taxes
• Shipping cost depends on seller’s carrier
options
• DDP options available from major carriers
Merchandise valued
below ¥16,666 is
exempt from duties
and taxes.
Reference: Japan Customs (http://www.customs.go.jp/)
30. Service Partners Ease Local eCommerce Ops in Japan
Service PartnersMerchant Rakuten
Store Design
Marketing
Order Management
Customer Service
Logistics
TrafficProduct Feed
Shipping
Promotion
Order
Support
31. Rakuten’s Cross-border Program Simplifies EC in Japan
Rakuten
Merchant
Service Partner
Australia Japan Deep knowledge of Rakuten
marketplace and success factors
Knowledge of Japanese market and
buyer behavior
Japanese/English language capability
Knowledge of Japan marketing and
conversion optimization tactics
Communication with Japanese
customers
Order management integrated with
Rakuten
End-to-End logistics support
35. Rakuten eCommerce Consultant Advises Your Business
• Business requirements
• Strategic objectives
• Branding
• Japan market entry knowledge
• Merchandising guidance
• Performance feedback and improvement
consulting
• Marketing strategies
• Promotional recommendations
36. Rakuten eCommerce Consultant Leads You to Success
How can I increase
my average order
value?
Let’s look at your
site analytics!
How can I increase
repeat customers?
Try nurturing
customers using R-
Mail!
How can I attract
new customers?
Try a limited-time
offer!
Sales Target
$100,000 / month
$50,000 / Month
$10,000 / Month
37. Rakuten Marketing Tools Drive Traffic to Your Store
• Sample/trial sets
• Product branding
• Prepare “entrance product”
• Secure stock
• Gift wrapping
Product
• Including “recommendations”
• Advertisements, SEO
• Events such as Rakuten Super SALE, Shopping Marathons
• Rakuten Super DEAL
• Follow the Japanese calendar for seasonal events/sales
Events/AdsMarketing
• R-Mail (mail magazine)
• Press release
• Affiliate
• Customer reviews
• Super Points incentive
• Improving quality of page design
38. Australia Cross-Border Case Study: The Beauty Club
38
Store: The Beauty Club
Country: Australia
Category: Cosmetics
Partner: EC Robo
Shop Open: 2015 September
39. ECC Helped The Beauty Club Grow Sales in Japan
39
Challenge
The Beauty Club is a cosmetics retailer who competes with Japanese merchants to sell
many famous foreign brands. They recognize that price competitiveness is a key to
winning customers, but they don’t want to sacrifice margin.
Strategy
Rakuten’s ECC worked closely with The Beauty Club to select inventory that would take
maximum advantage of the cross-border eCommerce model:
Emphasize items whose brands control prices in Japan, so The Beauty Club can offer a
lower price as an international seller.
Offer exclusive products by identifying brand products that Japanese merchants do not
currently sell on Rakuten.
Tactics
Rakuten’s ECC helped The Beauty Club analyze historical sales data by item and CVR
to distinguish competitive and non-competitive products, and advised regular additions to
increase catalog demand and total sale.
40. ECC Helped The Beauty Club Solve Customer Challenges
40
“I finally found it on Rakuten. I used this item for over
10 years but could not find any stores that sell this item
in Japan.”
“I used this product when I traveled abroad,
now I found it on Rakuten.”
“It’s hard to find in Japan. Great items and
the service of the store was excellent.”
41. ECC Increased Traffic and CVR for The Beauty Club
41
• Identified key products to attract
customers and differentiate from
competing Japanese merchants
• Increased traffic by introducing large
catalog of 20,000+ SKUs
• Overcame price competition by
identifying products with lower prices in
Australia
• Increased conversion by giving
customers unique assortment at
attractive price
Traffic
CVR
43. What are your Business Goals in Japan?
43
• What products are you selling?
• What is the demand for your products in Japan?
• Who are your local competitors?
• Who are you international competitors?
• What’s your strategy for selling in Japan?
• What is your sales target in Japan?
• When do you want to start selling in Japan?
44. Find a Rakuten Service Partner in Japan
44
• Brand manufacturer or multi-brand
retailer?
• New brand or known brand?
• Content-dependent or brand-dependent?
• Size of catalog?
• Type of products?
• Marketing requirements?
• Inventory regularity?
Which Service Partner is Right for Your
Business?
Official Rakuten Service Partners
45. Choose a Shop Plan
45
• Select Shop Plan based on catalog size,
commission rate, and contract period
• One-time non-recurring account setup
• System fee ranges between 8% – 12.5%
of sales, varies by plan and volume
46. Plan Your Target Launch Date
46
Phase
Activity
Who
Consult Partner Agree Apply Design Open
Rakuten
Merchant
Rakuten
Merchant
Service Partner
Merchant
Service Partner
Rakuten
Service Partner
Merchant
Service Partner
Rakuten
Merchant
Service Partner
• Discuss
business
objectives in
Japan
• Understand
operating
requirement
• Introduction to
local Service
Partner
• Understand
Partner
services (store
mgmnt, order
mgmnt, CS)
• Proposal from
Service Partner
• Merchant signs
Agreement with
Service Partner
• Partner applies
for Rakuten
account on
Merchant’s
behalf
• Design webstore
on Rakuten
Marketplace
• Localize
merchant
content and
branding
• List product
catalog
• Open merchant
store on
Rakuten
Marketplace
• Begin active
selling
Duration from CONSULT to OPEN is approximately 2 months
47. Rakuten Empowers Australian Merchants to Sell in Japan!
47
More customers Japan’s largest eCommerce channel
Your brand Fully customized store design
Your success Account consultants and partner services
LET’S TALK!
Ryan Miller
VP of Global eCommerce Strategy
ryan.miller@rakuten.com
Reid Wegner
Merchant Development Manager
reid.wegner@rakuten.com
Editor's Notes
It is often said that Rakuten is the largest eCommerce company that you’ve never heard of. However, in Japan, Rakuten is a household name:
Over 100M members which is more than 80% of the entire population
44K merchants
AU $23B online sales
Globally we have businesses in eCommerce, Banking, Digital Content, Mobile, Travel… even a professional baseball team!
By 2018, eMarketer forecasts AU $4T global eCommerce market of which APAC will represent about 63%.
Japan has among the highest mobile penetration globally. Halfway through 2014, smartphone orders surpassed desktop.
Remaining 7% of payments are through various channels including mobile payments.
Forrester commissioned a study of 6000 global online shoppers to ask about online buying preferences.
Overwhelming majority of cross-border shoppers prefer to shop from online marketplaces.
Marketplaces have buyer protection in place to build trust with shoppers.
Loyalty programs such as Rakuten’s Super Point program.
The items highlighted are already addressed when using a marketplace vs own site.
Generally two reasons for buying cross border – item not available domestically or better price.
With the previous example, Gilt would reach a much larger addressable customer base in Japan and most likely sell the item at a higher price.
The example shown here was inspired by one of my Japanese colleagues who spent some time in our San Francisco office and took a liking to some local chocolate. She has since moved back to Japan and now turns to the internet to order her favorite variety.
Almost 4.5x more expensive in Japan from a top domestic merchant on Rakuten.
Left side chart represents breakdown of total eCommerce market in Japan. Right side list comes from PayPal – top cross border categories by customer spend.
Look at specific ways to identify sales opportunities:
Get started and closely monitor what sells well and what doesn’t.
In the past year goods priced in USD have gotten about 20% more expensive in Japan.
Products will not convert well if simply translating English content.
Mobile Optimized: Over half of Rakuten sales are from mobile devices.
APAC customers expect much more content than Australian customers!
To demonstrate the importance of localization, consider the following item pages for the same product – one from Australia and the other from Japan.
Large, clean image with bulleted text and prominently displayed Add to Cart button.
http://item.rakuten.co.jp/kompas/10027338
Japanese product descriptions have much more images, text and video than Australian websites.
Lifestyle images and product video (35 images in JP vs 2 in AU).
Exact dimensions of all components with schematics.
Step-by-step instructions for using grinder, cleaning grinder and adjusting grind settings.
Emphasis on quality materials and where item was built.
Excerpt of magazine review.
Customer testimonials included on item page.
