Rakuten Set to Ignite Online Shopping in Malaysia

E-Commerce giant Rakuten brings  “Shopping is Entertainment” experience to Malaysian consumers

KUALA LUMPUR, October 31, 2012 -- Rakuten Inc. (JASDAQ: 4755), Japan’s top e-commerce company today announced that its Malaysian Internet shopping mall, Rakuten Online Shopping is set to launch on November 1, 2012 at 09:00 Malaysia Standard Time. With over 11,000 goods from top local retailers available at launch and expanding daily, the service provides consumers in Malaysia with an entirely new online shopping experience that is entertaining and interactive.

Rakuten Online Shopping has recruited some of Malaysia’s top retailers to offer a diverse mix of product categories, including consumer electronics, computer and IT, healthcare, fashion apparels, jewellery and accessories. Customers can expect an exciting line-up from over 40 top retailers at launch, including Senheng Electric, Best Denki, CARiNG Pharmacy, Toys ‘R’ Us, and Poh Kong among others, with more merchants and products being added each day.

“Rakuten Online Shopping brings to the market a unique and interactive online shopping experience,” said Rakuten Online Shopping President and Chief Executive Officer Masaya Ueno. “At Rakuten, our philosophy is ‘Shopping is Entertainment.’ We believe that shopping online can and should be as exciting and interactive as a live market and not simply the vending-machine-like experience that most sites offer.”

Unlike existing shopping sites, Rakuten Online Shopping is a virtual mall populated with multiple stores that cater to various segments of interest. It employs Japan’s world famous customer service standards and innovative collaborations with reliable partners to deliver a trusted shopping environment that is efficient, hassle-free and secure.

Rakuten Online Shopping President and Chief Executive Officer Masaya Ueno.

Aside from the ability to shop anytime, customers are also treated with exciting promotions by the mall and individual merchants. It also features the award-winning Rakuten Super Points loyalty rewards programme that incentivise shoppers with points for all purchases that are redeemable as payment for future purchases.

“The launch represents a significant first step in our journey towards growing Rakuten into a full Internet services company in Malaysia. We aim to build an ecosystem here that is similar in Japan, where we now offer over 40 different Internet services, in addition to e-commerce, all connected by Rakuten Super Points.” added Ueno.

Going forward, Rakuten will continue to grow its base of merchant partners across key industries to expand its product categories in Malaysia. Utilising a proven business to business to consumer (B2B2C) model, merchants are able to build online storefronts on the marketplace and sell directly to consumers.

“Rakuten Online Shopping is a WIN-WIN model for consumers and merchants,” said Ueno. “We aim to foster continued e-commerce growth and elevate the maturity of the industry by empowering more retailers to open their businesses online, strengthening local expertise and transferring knowledge to local merchants.”

In May 2012, Rakuten announced plans to launch Rakuten Online Shopping in Malaysia, expanding its footprint in Southeast Asia and marking its third e-commerce market entry in the region following TARAD.com in Thailand in 2009 and Indonesia’s Rakuten Belanja Online in 2011. Malaysia was also Rakuten’s first greenfield entry in its global e-commerce expansion. With the launch of Rakuten Online Shopping, the company is set to tap the encouraging Internet retailing market in Malaysia which is expected to exceed MYR1.9 billion (USD 623 million) by 2016[1].

[1] Euromonitor International, 2011


乐天(Rakuten) 在马来西亚设置网上购物

电子商务巨头 - 乐天为马来西亚消费者带来“购物是娱乐”的全新体验


吉隆坡，2012年10月31日 – 日本最顶尖的电子商务公司，乐天公司(JASDAQ:4755)今天宣布，马来西亚网购商城Rakuten Online Shopping定于2012年11月1日，马来西亚标准时间早上9点推介。推介日时将有本地顶尖零售商家超过11,000的商品，并日益扩大。这将为马来西亚的消费者提供一个全新的网上购物体验，并且充满娱乐性和互动性。

乐天网上购物招募了一些马来西亚顶尖的零售商，提供不同组合的商品类别，包括电子、电脑和科技产品、医疗保健、时尚服装、珠宝首饰和配件。推介时，顾客将可以期待一个由超过40个顶尖零售商提供令人雀跃万分的产品阵容，包括Senheng Electric、Best Denki、CARiNG Pharmacy、Toys ‘R’ Us和宝光。同时每天也将增加更多的商家和商品。

“乐天网上购物为市场带来了一个独特和互动性的网上购物体验。”乐天网上购物总裁兼首席执行官马萨亚野说到。“在乐天，我们的理念是‘购物是娱乐’。我们相信网上购物也可以令人兴奋和作为一个互动的市场，而不如大部分的网上购物所提供的简单自动售货机般的体验。”

有别于现有的网上购物，乐天网上购物是一个虚拟的商场，里面拥有多个商店，以迎合各阶层人士的兴趣。它采用了日本世界著名的客户服务标准和创新合作，提供值得信赖，并且高效率、无障碍和安全的购物环境，是绝对可靠的合作伙伴。

除了随时随地可以购物，顾客也将可享受由商场和商家提供各种振奋人心的促销。此外，它还采用了屡获殊荣的乐天超级点数忠诚激励计划，把所有的消费化作积分，以便可以在下次消费时兑换。

“这次的推介踏出了重要的第一步，为乐天在马来西亚设立一个完整的互联网服务。我们的目标是建立一个与日本类似的生态系统，我们现在提供超过40个不同的互联网服务，除了电子商务，也连接乐天超级点数。”上野补充说。

展望未来，乐天将继续扩展与各大领域的商业伙伴合作，以扩大马来西亚的商品类别。通过一个已经稳定的企业对企业对消费者(B2B2C)模式，商家能够在市场上建立网上店面，并直接售于消费者。

“乐天网上购物为消费者和商家提供一个双赢模式。”上野说到。“我们的目标是继续促进电子商务的成长，邀请越来越多的零售商开启网上业务，加强当地的专业知识和把知识传授给本地商家。”

在2012年5月，乐天宣布计划在马来西亚推介乐天网上购物，扩大其在东南亚的足迹。乐天网上购物将是续2009年在泰国推介的TARAD.Com及2011年在印尼推介的Belanja Online后，在东南亚的第三个电子商务市场。马来西亚也是乐天第一个全球电子商务扩展的新建项目。随着乐天网上购物的推介，该公司已经开拓了令人鼓舞的网上零售市场，预计马来西亚在2016年的销售额将超过1.9亿令吉(6.23亿美元)。