Rakuten set to move to Singapore to accelerate global expansion

Rakuten, Japan's biggest e-commerce site, will be officially online later this month. Although not yet officially online, 70 local suppliers have established partnerships, which in part helped Japan's Rakuten build its regional hub in Singapore, accelerating its global expansion.

Rain fruit nets from the Singapore Business Times January 6 reported that Lotte Singapore E-commerce chief Shingo Okamoto said Lotte will be officially on the market in Singapore this month, and hope that within a year, 300 local companies can become its website of commodity suppliers. It is reported that the Singapore market, Rakuten mainly sells products from Japan, including fashion, books, games, electronic products and furniture supplies. Okamoto said he hoped that 40,000 suppliers in Japan would also be able to take a firm foothold in the Singapore market. "We welcome those who want to get involved in the Singapore market and are keen to build or expand their online presence, wherever they come from," he said. ”

However, in the Singapore market, Rakuten suppliers of 70% of the source of choice from Japan, the other 30% from Singapore. Okamoto said the company's main goal is not only for Japan, but also for small local suppliers to provide more opportunities.

It is understood that among the 70 local suppliers that have signed an agreement with Rakuten, including the Cerebos company, which offers toys to fight the city, health and beauty products, and the food and beverage group Re&s.

Although Rakuten is not officially on the line in Singapore, it has been a long history for Singaporean consumers to buy Japanese products from the Rakuten website. According to statistics, the sale of products, fashion and accessories are the most popular, while the candy and food also have a great appeal to Singapore consumers.

If you think Rakuten only sees the potential of the market in Singapore, you are wrong. Singapore is just the first step in Rakuten's international expansion. Okamoto said the arrival in Singapore was only a preliminary attempt to get smaller Japanese suppliers to expand their overseas operations. If the plan succeeds, we can continue to expand our business. Singapore is like a test for us, which is why companies think that Singapore is a good start, as a reason for these suppliers to explore the field.

He explained further that the sound logistics network and infrastructure in Singapore meant that products were more easily imported, which would also help suppliers to build a hub in the area where they could export their products to other parts of the region. In fact, Lotte plans to build a warehouse in Singapore for two years to store stocks from local and Japanese sources, Okamoto said. Through this warehouse, products can be transported to other countries and regions. It will be more efficient for Southeast Asian consumers to shop from Japan's Rakuten website than direct shipments from Japan.

As a result, Rakuten hopes to establish a partnership with local logistics companies and payment companies in Singapore, thereby facilitating their access to the region through the Singapore market. At present, Rakuten, due to its logistics needs, and Singapore Post, home emergency and Yamato to establish a cooperative relationship. For example, consumers can pick up the products they buy on the Rakuten website at 15 Singapore postal sites near MRT and shopping malls. In the case of refrigeration or frozen food, consumers can choose the supporting delivery service. In terms of payments, Rakuten is currently working with Visa and credit cards, but Rakuten says it is looking at more payment options to maximize customer demand for flexibility.

Hugo Net learned: The decision to establish Singapore station is due to local residents accounted for a large part of Rakuten's global consumer, and Singapore's demand for Japanese products is also very high. Since 2013, Rakuten has been acting frequently in the international market. In the United States, Rakuten snapped up several electric-business websites, bought logistics company Webgistix and invested in social networking sites Pinterest. In Asia, Rakuten received 10 million dollars in start-up funds. In addition, Rakuten has established joint ventures or wholly-owned online stores in mainland China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.