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Japan’s Stores.jp partners with major e-commerce portals to help merchants find traffic

Takeshi Hirano 2013.07.30

See the original story in Japanese.

Recently we’ve seen fierce competition among two Japanese e-commerce platform builders, Stores.jp and Base. Now it seems both are moving past simple merchants acquisition, looking beyond to see what value they can add to their respective services.

Bracket, the startup behind Stores.jp, yesterday unveiled a new feature that will help merchants promote their e-store on the platform, using partner e-commerce portals such as EC Navi, Kakaku.com, and Value Commerce. For merchants, if you use this promotion feature you will be asked to pay a 10% commission for a purchase made via this affiliated traffic.

For merchants, products will be featured in search results on partnering portal sites, such as MSN Japan which is pictured below. The startup is exploring partnerships with many other e-commerce portal sites based on a revenue share model.

The advent of these simple e-commerce platforms allows merchants to put up an online store far more easily than with conventional ASP-based shopping cart services. It has spurred an abundance of merchants to start e-businesses, but subsequently they have no way to attract new customers. The startup is trying to solve this problem, recently partnering with fashion giant Zozotown, which could be new partner site for them in the future, in terms of helping merchants drive traffic.

Bracket’s CEO Yusuke Mitsumoto explains how they plan to evolve their e-commerce platform.

As well as keeping the image of a simple-to-launch platform, we plan to give merchants many solutions to acquire customers. We have partnered with Zozotown, but we will not change into to a fashion commerce site — we will keep going beyond what we have been doing.

Some of our readers may be familiar with the startup’s competitor Base. Base recently launched an iOS app and an interface that curates featured shops. In contrast with Base, which has not yet partnered with other sites, Stores.jp unveiled a partnership with GMO Makeshop, an e-commerce platform from GMO, one of Japan’s leading internet companies. This could be an indication that the startup might be exploring a partnership-based business.

We’ll try to keep you updated about how these two companies’ business strategies compare in the future.

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Japanese restaurant review site sees its premium membership soar

Yukari Mitsuhashi 2013.07.30

It was almost three years ago that Japanese food review portal Tabelog went premium. That was back in September of 2010, and since then it has made some progress in gathering paid users. Kakaku.com, the company behind Tabelog, has just announced that the number of premium members now exceeds 250,000, as of July 28th. The total number of monthly users is over 46 million, and page views are over one billion, as of June 2013. With a monthly fee of 315 yen (or about $3.20), premium members can enjoy additional features such as: Sorting or filtering by preferences Coupons with discounts of 20% to 100% A GPS-enabled feature that finds you nearby restaurants Ranking sorted by age and gender An ad-free version of the mobile app Tabelog launched way back in March of 2005, taking about five years to release its premium version – which at the time they did not handle very well. The change was very sudden and the site forced constraints in usage of exisiting features. It was so bad at one point that the almost all of over 440 app reviews submitted were one star ratings. The biggest complaint from the users was the restriction in…

Sorting or filtering by preferences
Coupons with discounts of 20% to 100%
A GPS-enabled feature that finds you nearby restaurants
Ranking sorted by age and gender
An ad-free version of the mobile app

Tabelog launched way back in March of 2005, taking about five years to release its premium version – which at the time they did not handle very well. The change was very sudden and the site forced constraints in usage of exisiting features. It was so bad at one point that the almost all of over 440 app reviews submitted were one star ratings. The biggest complaint from the users was the restriction in using sorting features.

But looking at the gradual increase in the number of premium members, people seem to have finally accepted it now, and they continue to use the site. Honestly, there aren’t many good enough alternatives out there.

But the lessons to be learned here are very simple. Don’t make a sudden change without taking the time to educate users and adjust their expectations. Premium accounts should offer additional services, and not cripple something that was already available. Although Japanese people are relatively used to micropayments on mobile, when it comes to smartphone apps where free or one-time purchases are more common, they are more unwilling to pay monthly fees.

Tabelog has found other ways to monetize the site too. In addition to premium memberships, the company also operates an equivalent of OpenTable called Cena that allows users to easily make restaurant reservations. It’s likely that they take a cut when reservations are made, just like they do for when a reservation phone call is made through Tabelog restaurant page.

Despite incidents in the past, Tabelog is considered one of the most successful services in Japan, and it will be interesting to see their future attempts in boosting the number of premium members.

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Mixi’s photobook service gets the TV bump, is now Japan’s top app

Rick Martin 2013.07.30

I’ve been pretty fascinated with Mixi’s efforts this year, in particular with those of its internal innovation team. This is the team that developed the Nohana photobook creation app, which initially launched back in February. Interestingly it has just become the number one free iOS app in Japan. I was curious this morning to know exactly why Nohana saw this sudden surge. Some quick Twitter research shows that the application received a big boost last night when it was featured on popular television show ‘A deep, life-changing story in one minute‘. Although it has been said before, this really underscores the value that television represents to any app or game in Japan [1]. Coincidentally, I had a Nohana photobook order delivered to me just yesterday, and the package included a handy little growth chart about the services first few months which you can see below. So far over 40,000 photobooks have been ordered, with 9860 printed in June. I’m still unsure as to whether Nohana can turn a profit with its “your first book is free, the second one is paid” model. But given Japan’s aging demographic, I’m sure that there are lots of customers who send second and third…

I was curious this morning to know exactly why Nohana saw this sudden surge. Some quick Twitter research shows that the application received a big boost last night when it was featured on popular television show ‘A deep, life-changing story in one minute‘. Although it has been said before, this really underscores the value that television represents to any app or game in Japan [1].

Coincidentally, I had a Nohana photobook order delivered to me just yesterday, and the package included a handy little growth chart about the services first few months which you can see below. So far over 40,000 photobooks have been ordered, with 9860 printed in June.

I’m still unsure as to whether Nohana can turn a profit with its “your first book is free, the second one is paid” model. But given Japan’s aging demographic, I’m sure that there are lots of customers who send second and third copies directly to grandparents when they place an order [2].

Nohana also launched on Android earlier this month, so ostensibly that’s a sign that things are still going well enough to continue its efforts.

If you live in Japan and you still haven’t tried Nohana, do give it a try.

nohana-photo-books-sold — Photobooks sold, February to June

For example, it played a huge part in the early success of Line, as well as popular games like Rage of Bahamut and Puzzle & Dragons. Serkan Toto explored this a little further in a post last year, specific to the social gaming industry. ↩
The app lets you save multiple addresses, making the process of sending a book to other family members very easy. ↩

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Japanese homescreen decoration app CocoPPa looks for new markets through Opera Mobile Store

Junya Mori 2013.07.29

See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based United, the company behind smartphone homescreen decoration app CocoPPa, announced today that it has introduced its popular app on the Opera Mobile Store. That store reaches various mobile platforms including Android, BlackBerry, Java, Symbian, and Windows Mobile. In addition to Apple’s AppStore and Google Play, the company has also introduced the app on Amazon’s Android AppStore earlier this month. The Opera Mobile Store doesn’t aim to defeat conventional app stores, but rather create an alternative for users who may have different needs in terms of mobile accessibility or location. The store has more then 45 million monthly downloads from over than 30 million users in 200 countries, with an especially strong presence in India, Indonesia, Brazil, and Russia. CocoPPa launched on this app store to intensify its user acquisition in these countries in particular. For those who are not familiar with the app, our previous articles will show you how it works and why it’s currently trending. Or check out the video below for a quick overview.

See the original story in Japanese.

Tokyo-based United, the company behind smartphone homescreen decoration app CocoPPa, announced today that it has introduced its popular app on the Opera Mobile Store. That store reaches various mobile platforms including Android, BlackBerry, Java, Symbian, and Windows Mobile. In addition to Apple’s AppStore and Google Play, the company has also introduced the app on Amazon’s Android AppStore earlier this month.

The Opera Mobile Store doesn’t aim to defeat conventional app stores, but rather create an alternative for users who may have different needs in terms of mobile accessibility or location. The store has more then 45 million monthly downloads from over than 30 million users in 200 countries, with an especially strong presence in India, Indonesia, Brazil, and Russia.

CocoPPa launched on this app store to intensify its user acquisition in these countries in particular. For those who are not familiar with the app, our previous articles will show you how it works and why it’s currently trending. Or check out the video below for a quick overview.

news

The pen is mightier than the finger: New Puzzle & Dragons branded stylus to go on sale

Rick Martin 2013.07.29

If you’ve played Japan’s most popular mobile game, Puzzle & Dragons, for any real length of time, you may find that occasionally you might forget the color of the orb beneath your finger as you move it. (Or perhaps its just me and my own fat fingers?) Despite my own aversion to using a stylus, this is a game that could likely be greatly improved by using one. And now one Japanese company, MetaMoJi, through a collaboration with AppBank has created a P&D branded version of its Su-Pen stylus that will go on sale in a few weeks. This is actually a colorful version of MetaMoJi’s Su-Pen, with multi-colored Puzzle & Dragons orbs decorating the pen’s body. AppBank is the operator of the official Pazudora-ya store, which is where the new pen will go on sale on August 9th. It will retail for 1980 yen (or about $20). MetaMoji is best known for its 7notes and Note Anytime apps handwriting recognition apps, which also make use of the company’s Su-Pen stylus for a better writing experience. On a related note, the aforementioned AppBank has also recently assisted a prominent overseas company improve their reach here in Japan, lending their services…

Despite my own aversion to using a stylus, this is a game that could likely be greatly improved by using one. And now one Japanese company, MetaMoJi, through a collaboration with AppBank has created a P&D branded version of its Su-Pen stylus that will go on sale in a few weeks.

This is actually a colorful version of MetaMoJi’s Su-Pen, with multi-colored Puzzle & Dragons orbs decorating the pen’s body. AppBank is the operator of the official Pazudora-ya store, which is where the new pen will go on sale on August 9th. It will retail for 1980 yen (or about $20).

MetaMoji is best known for its 7notes and Note Anytime apps handwriting recognition apps, which also make use of the company’s Su-Pen stylus for a better writing experience.

On a related note, the aforementioned AppBank has also recently assisted a prominent overseas company improve their reach here in Japan, lending their services to Finnish developer Supercell, creating Japanese tutorials for its Clash of Clans game and promoting it on the AppBank site.

Supercell’s other partner in promoting the game was GungHo, creating a cross promotion with special Clash of Clans characters within the Puzzle & Dragons game.

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Reaching out to women: Shiseido does it well

Yukari Mitsuhashi 2013.07.29

One of my favorite makeup and skincare brands is Shiseido. The cosmetics company has a 140 years of history, and is the number one cosmetics brand in Japan, and fifth worldwide. I like the brand not because I’m a devoted Shiseido products user, but more because of the company’s great digital initiatives both online and offline. The most recent such effort from Shiseido is the launch of its Makeup Simulator app, which is used by over 11,000 beauty consultants at Shiseido stores on ‘Beauty tablets’ (iPads). By looking into the screen as you would look into a mirror, the app replicates your face without makeup, using that representation as a base to try on various makeup products. The app cleverly eliminates the hassle of removing your own makeup to try on products. Shiseido’s first skin analysis product was invented back in 1984 and it has been enhanced and upgraded ever since. There are handy skin sensors installed in its Beauty Tablets as well, allowing skin condition to be measured anywhere in the store. The results can be saved, making continuous advising possible. To see many of Shiseido’s unique digital-enabled services, you can visit Shiseido – The Ginza located in Ginza,…

The most recent such effort from Shiseido is the launch of its Makeup Simulator app, which is used by over 11,000 beauty consultants at Shiseido stores on ‘Beauty tablets’ (iPads). By looking into the screen as you would look into a mirror, the app replicates your face without makeup, using that representation as a base to try on various makeup products. The app cleverly eliminates the hassle of removing your own makeup to try on products.

Shiseido’s first skin analysis product was invented back in 1984 and it has been enhanced and upgraded ever since. There are handy skin sensors installed in its Beauty Tablets as well, allowing skin condition to be measured anywhere in the store. The results can be saved, making continuous advising possible. To see many of Shiseido’s unique digital-enabled services, you can visit Shiseido – The Ginza located in Ginza, Tokyo.

But if you can’t make it there in person, Shiseido offers part of its simulation app over on its website. By uploading your photo on Beauty Check, the simulator analyses the balance of your face, and then according to the type of look you want to try on, it makes suggestions from different Shiseido product lines such as Integrate or Maquillage.

Shiseido is also well known for its social media activities. For example, Majolica Majorca is a makeup line for younger women, popular both inside and outside of Japan. The company operates social accounts on Facebook and Pinterest in both Japanese and English. As you might expect, the company is active on Line too, opening that account back in July of 2012.

There are many apps and services that specifically target females, especially here in Japan. There is much to be learned from Shiseido’s many digital initiatives to better understand how to sell to the female demographic.

Japan’s Stores.jp partners with major e-commerce portals to help merchants find traffic

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