Web Shopping Online in Japan

1.Global.rakuten.com Rakuten not only runs Japan’s largest e-commerce site, but also one of its leading online travel agencies, booking over 3.8 million hotel nights each month. Now the company is expanding its horizons beyond hotels and flights with the acquisition ofVoyagin, a Tokyo-based tour planning startup.

2. Origami.co is a self-styled completely new mobile ecommerce platform that seeks to improve on traditional online shopping in Japan. Users can follow brands and receive notifications when new items are made available.

Users can also share their shopping journey via check-ins and purchases at a store’s real or virtual location. Origami claims that these check-in’s are a critical part of its business model since they act as advertisements for the brands.

3. Sumally.com is a growing community that connects what you love with the people you love. The word “Sumally” was coined from the words “sum” + “all” .. meaning an “addition of everything”. With the help of users and style leaders from all over the world, Sumally is finding and cataloging every and anything. Sumally aims to become the go-to online encyclopedia of treasured objects. Use Sumally to keep track of who owns what, who wants what, and whether they're selling the items you've been looking for.

4. Iqon.jp iQon, from Vasily, is an app that lets users figure out what they should wear. People can play around with outfit combinations and buy what they like.

With a social aspect as well, users can follow individuals who fit their fashion tastes. When you find an outfit you like, it is possible to buy part or all of it from the retailers.

In an interview with Tech in Asia, co-founder Yuki Kanayama said iQon’s 650,000 registered users are spending more than $1 million in aggregate purchases. He also commented that a single transaction often costs around US$100.

iQon raised $4.4 million from Itochu Technology Ventures, Globis, and GMO Ventures Partners in 2011.

5. Locondo.jp specializes in shoes; they supplied 70 percent of its US$50 million revenue in 2013. the remainder was made up by bags (20 percent) and apparel goods (10 percent).

To prevent customers from feeling disappointed if they receive shoes that don’t fit, Locondo delivers three pair of shoes to each customer – one size bigger and one size smaller than what was originally chosen. Once a decision is made on the right pair within thirty days, the customer has to call the delivery guy to bring the other shoes back. In 2013 alone, Locondo delivered over 600,000 pairs of shoes.

 6. Mercari.com is Japanese online shopping is not limited to new goods only. Mercari is a successful flea market for second-hand goods. Mercari CEO Shintaro Yamada told Tech in Asia earlier this year that users post over 10,000 items each day, and there are over one million listings. In the same interview, Yamada noted that over half of those items are related to women’s goods, which reflects that most users are women in their twenties.

7. Monoco.jp Online shopping in Japan is bound to result in finding many Japanese products. For individuals who want a taste of something different, Monoco has a collection of clothes and everyday goods from over 40 countries. It curates both the items and their designers, claiming that most of the products cannot be found in Japanese stores.

Stockpiles of goods are low, so there can be a several-week wait while a user’s desired product is made and shipped. Registered members get access to sales as well.

8. Ohmyglasses.jp Not every Japanese online store is going to carry a wide range of products. Oh My Glasses has found their niche catering to glasses wearers.

Connected to 1,000 stores, OMG (the official abbreviation) provides 400 brands and over 20,000 glasses to choose from, including some of its own design. Users input their prescription and can have their glasses delivered for free. Should the glasses be unsatisfactory, the user can return them for free within five days of delivery.

OMG recently made headlines for securing US$10.7 million in funding led by SMBC Venture Capital, Nissay Capital, Revamp Capital, and the government-funded Innovation Network Corporation of Japan.

9. Zozo.jp A dedicated fashion portal for online shopping, Zozotown was founded in 1998 and has managed to stay independent and growing despite heavy competition from Amazon Japan and Rakuten.

Zozotown’s longevity has resulted in several offshoots of the core business.ZozoUsed is for selling old clothes. Wear is a mobile-first social network for users to take pictures of themselves and explain what brands and products they are wearing.

The company’s growth has been steady recently, from 1.37 million unique shoppers in 2007 to 3.21 million in 2013. Net income for 2013 reached US$78 million, a 45.5 percent increase on the previous year.

10. Fril.jp , the main product from local startup Fablic, is a flea market like Mercari. While Mercari is female-focused to a degree, Fril, as its pink and latticed design suggests, is almost exclusively used by high school- and college-aged Japanese women.

With a quick photo snap, the user can upload the item they wish to sell and wait for notifications from interested buyers.

Fril came out of the Open Network Lab accelerator in 2012 and has seen 1.5 million downloads and monthly transaction volume of approximately US$5 million.

11. Aucfan.com are a popular form of online shopping in Japan, and AucFan aggregates them for you. Via AucFan, users can quickly price compare on a wide range of products before hopping over to the auction service with the best price.

AucFan has been in the black for several years and continues to push its net income up, doubling from approximately US$1 million in its 2012 fiscal year to US$2.10 million in 2013. The service has 381,000 users, 50,000 of whom are premium users with full access to AucFan’s 20 billion data points for products. The company went public in April 2013.


Source: www.google.com, https://www.techinasia.com/online-shopping-japan/, and all websites published.