THE BRIDGE

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Japan’s e-commerce company Locondo raises $4.6 million in series C round

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Japanese footwear e-commerce company Locondo announced last week that it had raised 500 million yen (or $4.6 million) in a series C round from Japanese investment firm Jafco. The company uses the funds to fulfill their logistics needs and relocate their headquarters to Shibuya, Tokyo. Locondo was launched in October 2010 with 76 million yen ($760,000) funding from Rocket Internet. Since its launch in February 2011, their e-commerce site has acquired 600,000 users and over 40% of their users buy at least one pair of footwear a year via the platform. Annual shipping revenue reached 5 billion yen ($50 million) last year. Locondo fundraised 700 million (or $7 million) from Lead Capital Management (LCM), and Itochu Technology Ventures (ITV). in October 2011, and subsequently fundraised 600 million ($6.3 million) from Mizuho Capital, Neostella Capital, Excite Japan, in addition again from LCM and ITV. Beginning October, the company started diversifying its lineups beyond footwear to sportswear and home interiors as well as enhancing its promotional efforts, including setting up an official Line account. Via Venture Now

locondo

Japanese footwear e-commerce company Locondo announced last week that it had raised 500 million yen (or $4.6 million) in a series C round from Japanese investment firm Jafco. The company uses the funds to fulfill their logistics needs and relocate their headquarters to Shibuya, Tokyo.

Locondo was launched in October 2010 with 76 million yen ($760,000) funding from Rocket Internet. Since its launch in February 2011, their e-commerce site has acquired 600,000 users and over 40% of their users buy at least one pair of footwear a year via the platform. Annual shipping revenue reached 5 billion yen ($50 million) last year.

Locondo fundraised 700 million (or $7 million) from Lead Capital Management (LCM), and Itochu Technology Ventures (ITV). in October 2011, and subsequently fundraised 600 million ($6.3 million) from Mizuho Capital, Neostella Capital, Excite Japan, in addition again from LCM and ITV.

Beginning October, the company started diversifying its lineups beyond footwear to sportswear and home interiors as well as enhancing its promotional efforts, including setting up an official Line account.

Via Venture Now

Japanese shoe company asks: Which woman has the prettiest feet?

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Locondo is a Japanese online shoes retailer that we have mentioned a few times before. It provides the same sort of experience you’ll find at real stores, allowing users to try on shoes before they actually buy them 1. The company is taking a unique approach to user acquisition, recently partnering with Bijin-Tokei. This is a popular site among men that features 50,000 good-looking ladies holding cards that tell what time it is. That’s a different girl for every minute. Together two companies are holding a ‘prettiest feet’ contest called Ashimoto-Bijin General Election. ‘Ashimoto’ means ‘foot’ in Japanese, and Bijin means ‘beautiful woman’. The contest began on August 5th, and a total of 102 Bijin Tokei models are running as candidates to become the party leader for the ‘Ashimoto‘ (a playful name that can mean both ‘foot’ and ‘foot party’). The chosen winner will be a model at Locondo for their shoes. For anyone with a thing for shoes – or even for those of you with a foot fetish – the pictures collected over on Locondo will make for interesting browsing. From sneakers to sandals to high heels, it’s all there. At first glance they are just photos of…

Locondo-ashimoto-bijin

Locondo is a Japanese online shoes retailer that we have mentioned a few times before. It provides the same sort of experience you’ll find at real stores, allowing users to try on shoes before they actually buy them 1. The company is taking a unique approach to user acquisition, recently partnering with Bijin-Tokei. This is a popular site among men that features 50,000 good-looking ladies holding cards that tell what time it is. That’s a different girl for every minute.

Together two companies are holding a ‘prettiest feet’ contest called Ashimoto-Bijin General Election. ‘Ashimoto’ means ‘foot’ in Japanese, and Bijin means ‘beautiful woman’. The contest began on August 5th, and a total of 102 Bijin Tokei models are running as candidates to become the party leader for the ‘Ashimoto‘ (a playful name that can mean both ‘foot’ and ‘foot party’). The chosen winner will be a model at Locondo for their shoes.

For anyone with a thing for shoes – or even for those of you with a foot fetish – the pictures collected over on Locondo will make for interesting browsing. From sneakers to sandals to high heels, it’s all there. At first glance they are just photos of shoes and feet, but by mousing over the photo, you can see a profile pic of the girl model. Most of the shoes that the girls are wearing are available for purchase on the site.

Voting in this general election will be closed on August 26th. Anyone with a Facebook account can cast a ballot.

This tactic of holding ‘general elections’ is becoming an increasingly common marketing tactic among brands here in Japan. We recently wrote about how beer maker Sapporo used a similar sort of vote to drum up some attention for a new flavor lager.


  1. Readers may recall that back in June the company announced that it had successfully raised 6.3 million yen.

Japan’s e-commerce service Locondo raises $6.3 million from Excite Japan and VC firms

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See the original story in Japanese. Locondo is a shoes and fashion e-commerce service that says it allows consumers to ‘buy first and than choose.’ Readers may recall that we recently featured the company after it partnered with Spanish brand Desigual. Locondo announced today it has just wrapped up series B funding worth 600 million yen (approximately $6.3 million) from leading Japanese web portal Excite Japan, Lead Capital Management (LCM), and Itochu Technology Ventures (ITV). LCM and ITV previously invested in the company in the series A round. Locondo was launched back in February of 2011 and has acquired more than 300,000 users with an annual turnover of 3 billion yen ($31 million) by using the strategy of easy refunds with free shipping and handling. By partnering with Excite Japan, the e-commerce company aspires to increase its user base by reaching the portal site’s 50 million monthly visitors. The two companies also plan to integrate their e-commerce platforms and cooperate on developing new services and features.

locondo

See the original story in Japanese.

Locondo is a shoes and fashion e-commerce service that says it allows consumers to ‘buy first and than choose.’ Readers may recall that we recently featured the company after it partnered with Spanish brand Desigual.

Locondo announced today it has just wrapped up series B funding worth 600 million yen (approximately $6.3 million) from leading Japanese web portal Excite Japan, Lead Capital Management (LCM), and Itochu Technology Ventures (ITV). LCM and ITV previously invested in the company in the series A round.

Locondo was launched back in February of 2011 and has acquired more than 300,000 users with an annual turnover of 3 billion yen ($31 million) by using the strategy of easy refunds with free shipping and handling.

By partnering with Excite Japan, the e-commerce company aspires to increase its user base by reaching the portal site’s 50 million monthly visitors. The two companies also plan to integrate their e-commerce platforms and cooperate on developing new services and features.

Japanese e-commerce service Locondo partners with Spanish brand to strengthen its lineup

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Locondo is a shoes and fashion e-commerce service that allows consumers to ‘buy first and than choose.’ What that means is that consumers can try on items that they have bought and return things that don’t fit within 30 days, with a full money-back guarantee. The site opened back in Feburary of 2011 and has over 300,000 registered members. Locondo is backed by Rocket Internet, as well as Lead Capital Management and Itochu Technology Ventures. Locondo can be described as a sort of ultimate e-commerce, providing its customers with free shipping, 30-day returns, next-day delivery, and even concierge service. The latter is available by both email and telephone, answering questions not only about how the site functions but also questions like what kind of shoes would be recommended to wear for a wedding. According to online fashion portal Fashionsnap, the return rate for orders is not as high as expected at 25%. Of those who buy, 30% of userscomes back to the site to buy more. Five months after launch, Locondo added bags to its line up, and they currently account for roughly 15% to 20% of total sales. And now, the company has announced a partnership with Spanish brand…

Locondo-top

Locondo is a shoes and fashion e-commerce service that allows consumers to ‘buy first and than choose.’ What that means is that consumers can try on items that they have bought and return things that don’t fit within 30 days, with a full money-back guarantee. The site opened back in Feburary of 2011 and has over 300,000 registered members. Locondo is backed by Rocket Internet, as well as Lead Capital Management and Itochu Technology Ventures.

Locondo can be described as a sort of ultimate e-commerce, providing its customers with free shipping, 30-day returns, next-day delivery, and even concierge service. The latter is available by both email and telephone, answering questions not only about how the site functions but also questions like what kind of shoes would be recommended to wear for a wedding. According to online fashion portal Fashionsnap, the return rate for orders is not as high as expected at 25%. Of those who buy, 30% of userscomes back to the site to buy more.

Five months after launch, Locondo added bags to its line up, and they currently account for roughly 15% to 20% of total sales. And now, the company has announced a partnership with Spanish brand Desigual, as well as its expansion into a wider range of fashion items. Desigual is a popular fashion brand in trendy locations like Harajuku in Tokyo or Shinsaibashi in Osaka.

Locondo will also be working with Cross Company, which runs well-known brands such as earth music & ecology. The company plans to acquire over 100 brands by this summer, and 1,000 by the year 2016.

All these moves by Locondo are not only attemps to enhance the user experience, but also to compete against its biggest competitor Javari, which is operated by internet giant Amazon. On the comparison site called EC Navi, Locondo has a rating of 89 points out of 100, where Javari has a rating of only 66 points. Locondo has reflected on its user feedback, including feedback on its ‘Easy Search’ which allows users to easily find what they are looking for through images.

In general, women in Japan seem to be more open to online shopping. At least that’s probably the case for women who use feature phones, shopping on popular and cheap fashion sites such as Yumetenbo. But on sites like this, girls buy only because items are unbelievably cheap. Locondo is taking another approach to making online shopping more accessible and affordable for many users, and giving them a way out in case they are disappointed.