See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based Fablic, the Japanese startup behind flea market app Fril, will be acquired by Rakuten for several billion yen (or several tens of million US dollars) and turned into an affiliate, as Nikkei reported early this morning. Combining with its own existing flea market app Rakuma, the e-commerce giant expects to grow its total trading volume up to about 3 billion yen (about $30 million). Founded in April of 2012, Fablic was born out of the 4th batch of the Open Network Lab accelerator and launched the app in September of the same year. The company introduced the concept of ‘flea market app’ for the first time in Japan. Followed by unveiling their trading volume hitting 500 million yen back in July of 2014, they secured a $10 million funding from Cookpad, Colopl and Jafco in October of said year. Fablic recently launched a new flea market app focused on trading motorcycles between individuals, called Ride, in an attempt to expand beyond fashion item peer-to-peer trading. While the app has been seeing a good growth, Mercari… another marketplace app from Japan launched in July of 2013… leapt forward and opened up a lead by…
Tokyo-based Fablic, the Japanese startup behind flea market app Fril, will be acquired by Rakuten for several billion yen (or several tens of million US dollars) and turned into an affiliate, as Nikkei reported early this morning. Combining with its own existing flea market app Rakuma, the e-commerce giant expects to grow its total trading volume up to about 3 billion yen (about $30 million).
Founded in April of 2012, Fablic was born out of the 4th batch of the Open Network Lab accelerator and launched the app in September of the same year. The company introduced the concept of ‘flea market app’ for the first time in Japan. Followed by unveiling their trading volume hitting 500 million yen back in July of 2014, they secured a $10 million funding from Cookpad, Colopl and Jafco in October of said year.
Fablic recently launched a new flea market app focused on trading motorcycles between individuals, called Ride, in an attempt to expand beyond fashion item peer-to-peer trading. While the app has been seeing a good growth, Mercari… another marketplace app from Japan launched in July of 2013… leapt forward and opened up a lead by reaching 10 billion yen (about $100 million) in deals through the platform.
See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based Fablic, the startup behind flea market app Fril, announced that it will start airing a TV commercial on Friday. Coinciding with this, the company will also launch a promotion campaign giving away costumes used in the commercial film. Four actresses from Fuji TV’s popular drama series First Class – Erika Sawajiri, Kavka Shishido, Tomoe Shinohara, and Mirei Tanaka – are featured in this film, where they perform as close friends giving and taking their fashion items from each others. The Fablic team said they do not intend to look into cross-marketing with the drama series but this casting makes it easier for viewers to understand the story’s background. By casting high-fashion actresses, the company wants to present their vision and brand image to potential users through this campaign. Fashion magazine Numero Tokyo editorial director Sayumi Gunji and popular fashion stylist Tetsuro Nagase participated in creating the film. Since its launch in July 2012, the Fril app has acquired over 2 million downloads, generating a monthly transaction volume of $5 million. The company fundraised about $10 million from Japanese internet companies like Cookpad and Colopl in September.
Tokyo-based Fablic, the startup behind flea market app Fril, announced that it will start airing a TV commercial on Friday. Coinciding with this, the company will also launch a promotion campaign giving away costumes used in the commercial film.
Four actresses from Fuji TV’s popular drama series First Class – Erika Sawajiri, Kavka Shishido, Tomoe Shinohara, and Mirei Tanaka – are featured in this film, where they perform as close friends giving and taking their fashion items from each others.
The Fablic team said they do not intend to look into cross-marketing with the drama series but this casting makes it easier for viewers to understand the story’s background.
By casting high-fashion actresses, the company wants to present their vision and brand image to potential users through this campaign. Fashion magazine Numero Tokyo editorial director Sayumi Gunji and popular fashion stylist Tetsuro Nagase participated in creating the film.
Since its launch in July 2012, the Fril app has acquired over 2 million downloads, generating a monthly transaction volume of $5 million. The company fundraised about $10 million from Japanese internet companies like Cookpad and Colopl in September.
See the original story in Japanese. Nikkei’s Sept. 25 morning edition reported earlier today that Tokyo-based Fablic, the startup behind Japanese flea market app Fril, has fundraised about 1 billion yen (or $9.2 million) from Japanese online recipe site Cookpad, gaming company Colopl, and VC firm Jafco. Fablic is earmarking the funds to enhance promotional activities with TV commercials as well as to hire in new employees. See also: CNet Japan Startup Award nominees: Mobile C2C flea market apps – Fril and Mercari Fablic, established in 2012, is a fourth batch graduate of Tokyo-based seed accelerator Open Network Lab. The company introduced a C2C (consumer to consumer) marketplace app in September 2012, an early entrant in the Japanese market which started its business about an year before Japan’s Mercari. In July of 2014, Fablic CEO Shota Horii unveiled that the company has acquired over 1.5 million downloads, handling deals worth over $5 million via the platform every month. But today’s Nikkei report says that the downloads have already exceeded 1.9 million. Fablic has not fundraised except for a small portion of seed funding from Open Network Lab. It is also understood that they have grown to date without much promotional…
Nikkei’s Sept. 25 morning edition reported earlier today that Tokyo-based Fablic, the startup behind Japanese flea market app Fril, has fundraised about 1 billion yen (or $9.2 million) from Japanese online recipe site Cookpad, gaming company Colopl, and VC firm Jafco. Fablic is earmarking the funds to enhance promotional activities with TV commercials as well as to hire in new employees.
Fablic, established in 2012, is a fourth batch graduate of Tokyo-based seed accelerator Open Network Lab. The company introduced a C2C (consumer to consumer) marketplace app in September 2012, an early entrant in the Japanese market which started its business about an year before Japan’s Mercari.
In July of 2014, Fablic CEO Shota Horii unveiled that the company has acquired over 1.5 million downloads, handling deals worth over $5 million via the platform every month. But today’s Nikkei report says that the downloads have already exceeded 1.9 million.
Fablic has not fundraised except for a small portion of seed funding from Open Network Lab. It is also understood that they have grown to date without much promotional efforts.
This is part one of our CNET Japan Startup Awards nominee rundown. The rest can be found here. Several C2C flea market apps have been popping up in Japan recently, including Mainichi Frima, Stulio, and CNet Japan Startup Award nominees Fril and Mercari [1]. Unlike traditional desktop-focused C2C platforms such as Yahoo Auctions, these newer marketplaces are adopting a mobile-first approach. Both Fril and Mercari have a mobile-only strategy. Sellers can complete the entire selling process seamlessly on the app – from photographing their item using their smartphone camera, to posting the listing, to receiving notifications when their item has been sold. A listing can be created in just a few minutes, and is free to create. Both apps charge a 10% commission upon purchase, and a fixed-rate transaction fee. Payment is handled by their system. By providing a payment infrastructure, Fril and Mercari grant buyers the convenience of paying through convenience stores, ATM transactions, or credit cards. Selling is also simplified into the easy processes of listing, shipping, and receiving payment. Compared to traditional platforms, the user experience is easier and comparatively frictionless. The differences Despite similarities in functionality, Fril and Mercari diverge in a few ways as well….
Several C2C flea market apps have been popping up in Japan recently, including Mainichi Frima, Stulio, and CNet Japan Startup Award nominees Fril and Mercari[1]. Unlike traditional desktop-focused C2C platforms such as Yahoo Auctions, these newer marketplaces are adopting a mobile-first approach.
Both Fril and Mercari have a mobile-only strategy. Sellers can complete the entire selling process seamlessly on the app – from photographing their item using their smartphone camera, to posting the listing, to receiving notifications when their item has been sold.
A listing can be created in just a few minutes, and is free to create. Both apps charge a 10% commission upon purchase, and a fixed-rate transaction fee. Payment is handled by their system.
By providing a payment infrastructure, Fril and Mercari grant buyers the convenience of paying through convenience stores, ATM transactions, or credit cards. Selling is also simplified into the easy processes of listing, shipping, and receiving payment. Compared to traditional platforms, the user experience is easier and comparatively frictionless.
The differences
Fril
Despite similarities in functionality, Fril and Mercari diverge in a few ways as well. Fril (pictured right) is primarily targeted towards females in their teens and 20s, and specifically focuses on ladies’ fashion. Mercari (pictured below), on the other hand, offers a range of product categories from ladies’ and men’s fashion to electronic appliances.
Fril’s more specific target allows it to adopt a stronger visual style, with a very girly color palette. It also provides functions that work well with its fashion focus – such as searching by brand names, shop page customization, and following other users.
Mercari, instead of focusing on fashion, differentiates itself with a strong emphasis on buyer and seller security. It uses an escrow payment system, where the payment is held by Mercari and is not transferred to the seller until both parties have reviewed each other.
China’s largest e-commerce platform, Taobao, uses a similar system, and that has been effective in offsetting the issue of low trust in a C2C transaction.
The competition
CyberAgent’s Mainichi Frima and Singapore-based Carousell are two flea market platform apps that are also mobile-only. A common feature of Mainichi Frima, Carousell, and Fril is the “follow” function. Mainichi Frima also allows users to create customized shop pages.
Where Fril and Mercari stand out, however, is that they handle the entire payment process. Both Mainichi Frima and Carousell leave it up to the buyers and sellers to figure out payments themselves. Carousell encourages face-to-face exchanges with a location function that allows buyers to search by the seller’s proximity.
The advantage of Mainichi Frima and Carousell’s model is that they allow for robust negotiations between buyers and sellers. In this sense, they provide a more accurate online representation of the offline flea market experience. However, if users are looking for a simple, frictionless experience, they will find Fril and Mercari much easier to use.
Mercari
The CNet Japan Startup Awards are coming up on December 10th. ↩
There’s a lot of hype around the e-commerce space in Japan, particularly mobile commerce. According to a recent survey, one of four smartphone owners who read news on their mobile (the most popular activity among those polled) also report having bought something on their device. So it is not surprising to find many tech companies eager to get a piece of this growing market. One approach that many companies are taking is to create a sort of mobile flea market platform. To understand more about this trend, here are five apps from the sector which we think are worthy of recognition. Mainichi Frima ¶ The Mainichi Frima app (roughly translated as ‘Everyday Flea Market’) from CyberAgent features a range of stores and items, and a bulletin board upon which you can negotiate deals and prices. The app has successfully reproduced the offline flea market experience in the online space. The service is most popular among women in their 20s and 30s, and just five months after its initial release, the app already features items worth over 300 million yen (nearly $3 million) in total. The app is available both on iOS and on Android if you’d like to check it…
There’s a lot of hype around the e-commerce space in Japan, particularly mobile commerce. According to a recent survey, one of four smartphone owners who read news on their mobile (the most popular activity among those polled) also report having bought something on their device. So it is not surprising to find many tech companies eager to get a piece of this growing market. One approach that many companies are taking is to create a sort of mobile flea market platform. To understand more about this trend, here are five apps from the sector which we think are worthy of recognition.
The Mainichi Frima app (roughly translated as ‘Everyday Flea Market’) from CyberAgent features a range of stores and items, and a bulletin board upon which you can negotiate deals and prices. The app has successfully reproduced the offline flea market experience in the online space. The service is most popular among women in their 20s and 30s, and just five months after its initial release, the app already features items worth over 300 million yen (nearly $3 million) in total. The app is available both on iOS and on Android if you’d like to check it out.
For those of you with kids, you know how fast they grow. They keep out-growing the clothes and toys you have bought for them faster than you can buy them. Web and mobile development company Xtone came up with a solution they call Prima.
Parents can simply hand down their items to other parents who have younger kids. The app is free for anyone who wishes to sign up, but it will take a 10% commision for every transaction made. Prima for Android can be downloaded here.
A graduate startup of the Open Network Lab incubator, Fril is a flea market app targeting young girls and women. Just a month after its launch, the app had over 8,000 items for sale. Fril very deliberately made the entire auction process mobile only — which is unconventional, but at this point it looks like a sound strategy. Of its total registered users, one in five girls puts their items on sale with the average price of a item falling somewhere between 2000 to 3000 yen (about $20 to $30). The app is available on both iOS and Android.
Behind every item in your closet, there is a story. Where you bought it and why, or maybe someone gave it to you for a reason. Miyazaki-based development company Aratana has created a commerce app for iOS called MicroStore.me. It provides a place where people can sell an item by telling the story behind that item. Users can share these stories on different social networks, allowing them to not only make money from what they don’t want anymore, but through the story process they get to connect with like-minded people. Check out how the app works in the video below.
Pashaoku is an auction app developed by the folks over at CyberAgent. As a comprehensive auction application, its competitors are internet giants like Yahoo Auction and Bidders (now known as DeNA Shopping). Auction categories ranges from fashion to interior decorations, or even manga and books. CyberAgent is using the same strategy that it has taken with its Ameba Blog, leveraging the power of celebrities and well-known TV talent. These celebrities are selling signed books and sneakers that they have worn, for which I’m sure fans will pay a high price. Pashaoku is available for download on both iOS and Android.
Mobile commerce is definitely a fascinating sector to watch. Online auctions and flea markets can often be simplified when conducted on smartphones, wheras they sometimes confuse users on PCs. There’s certainly lots of potential for small services like these to seep into the mainstream.
“Kawaii” is a word you’ll hear from young Japanese girls all too often. It can be roughly translated as ‘cute’ – but times ten or even a hundred. Japanese female youth culture can not be described without it. Anything can be kawaii, ranging from pets to behaviors to boys. So it’s no surprise that we can also find kawaii mobile apps in Japan. Here are just a few of the popular ones. Fril ¶ Fril is a fancy online flea market for female students in high school or college. Within a month of its release, the app was downloaded over 5,000 times and the number of items sold exceeded 10,000. Since most of the users are students, the average price of items is pretty low, at around 2,000 to 3,000 yen (or $22 to $34). Surprisingly Fril is an all-guy team and a graduate startup from Tokyo-based Open Network Lab incubator. Over 100 interviews with their target users have paid off, because Fril is definitely one of the most well-designed app for girls. It is currently available for iOS and Android if you’d like to give it a try. Snapeee ¶ Snapeee is a purikura app, which means it lets…
“Kawaii” is a word you’ll hear from young Japanese girls all too often. It can be roughly translated as ‘cute’ – but times ten or even a hundred. Japanese female youth culture can not be described without it. Anything can be kawaii, ranging from pets to behaviors to boys. So it’s no surprise that we can also find kawaii mobile apps in Japan. Here are just a few of the popular ones.
Fril is a fancy online flea market for female students in high school or college. Within a month of its release, the app was downloaded over 5,000 times and the number of items sold exceeded 10,000. Since most of the users are students, the average price of items is pretty low, at around 2,000 to 3,000 yen (or $22 to $34). Surprisingly Fril is an all-guy team and a graduate startup from Tokyo-based Open Network Lab incubator. Over 100 interviews with their target users have paid off, because Fril is definitely one of the most well-designed app for girls. It is currently available for iOS and Android if you’d like to give it a try.
Snapeee is a purikura app, which means it lets you take photo booth style pictures with many decorative features. Released in May of 2011, the app has attracted users not just in Japan but all across Asia, including Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macao. People in other parts of Asia really like “kawaii” things too, and half a year after its release, the app has been downloaded over 800,000 times with half of those from overseas. Snapeee adds decorative stamps, brushes, and frames to the app everyday. Decorated photos can be shared on different social network such as Facebook, Twitter, mixi, GREE, Ameba, Renren, and Sina Weibo. The application is available for both iOS and Android.
A product of Community Factory Inc, Decopic is another popular purikura app and is a competitor of the afore-mentioned Snapeee. It was recently announced that it had reached the lofty milestone of 12 million downloads, which is certainly an impressive mark for any mobile app. The company was bought by Yahoo Japan in September of last year, for an estimated price of one billion yen (about $11 million) [1]. Yahoo Japan was eager to get into mobile, and successfully obtained Decopic’s eight million users.
The app can be distinguished by its unique user interface, as it is not designed like a typical smartphone app. It’s more like the purikura machines to which its target users are accustomed. It’s available for both iOS and Android.
iQon is a fashion community that allows users to create magazine-like collages of fashion styles, sort of the Japanese equivalent to Polyvore. iQon was originally a web service only, but it released an iPhone app in February of last year. With over one million visitors as of March, 2012, the number of collages posted on the service has increased by a factor of twenty. The main users are in their twenties, and they access the app nine times a day on average. It’s available for both iOS and Android.
The tweets and posts originating from within this app at one point practically filled my entire Twitter stream. Nameco is a game that requires users to grow and harvest mushrooms, and it has been downloaded over 13,000,000 times as of June, 2012, with a 4.5 star rating on the iTunes app store. The huge popularity of Nameco is due to its uber-cute mushroom character. There are over one hundred types of physical merchandise items for the character, and that certainly puts it in a lucrative space as we have seen from Rovio with Angry Birds. It has even managed to collaborate with Sanrio’s Hello Kitty. The app is currently available for both iOS and Android.
There are so many of these apps that it’s impossible to cover them all in just one article. But if you’re looking to reach Japanese or Asian girls in their twenties, these apps are certainly a good model to follow.
This is part of our cute Japanese apps series (RSS), examining a trend of ‘kawaii’ success stories emerging from Japan’s mobile space.
fril 
Takeshi Hirano
Yiling Ding
Yukari Mitsuhashi
