樂天:鮮爲人知的電商巨頭大綱

Hiroshi Mikitani, CEO of the Japanese e-commerce site Rakuten stopped by the Fortune offices to promote his new book Marketplace 3.0: Rewriting The Rules Of Borderless Business, where he outlines his company's strategy for globalization. Founded by Mikitani in 1997, Rakuten is the largest e-commerce site in Japan and with a market cap of $13.5 billion and annual sales of over $4 billion; it is one of the biggest Internet companies in the world. In the U.S., it bought for $250 million and rebranded it to " Shopping" earlier this year.
日本電子商務網站樂天公司（Rakuten）首席執行官三木谷浩史做客《財富》（Fortune）編輯部，推廣他的新書《市場3.0：重寫無國界商業的規則》（Marketplace 3.0: Rewriting The Rules Of Borderless Business）。他在這本書中詳細闡述了樂天公司的全球化戰略。由三木谷浩史創始於1997年的樂天公司是日本最大的電子商務網站，市值高達135億美元，年銷售額逾40億美元，是世界上最大的互聯網公司之一。今年初，樂天公司斥資2.5億美元，收購了美國購物網站，並將其更名爲 Shopping。

Why it's not Amazon
樂天爲什麼不是亞馬遜

While it has been called the " of Japan," Mikitani says that comparison wasn't quite accurate. Amazon's (AMZN) focus has always been on the product and the customer, by improving distribution and choice. For Rakuten, it's more about the shopping experience itself. The company works on the principle of "Omotenashi," which is the Japanese concept of providing high quality and personal service. "In Japan, if you go to a local coffee shop, or a grocer or any local business, you will find a very high level of personal service," says Mikitani. "The internet should be that way as well."
儘管樂天一直被譽爲“日本的亞馬遜（Amazon）”，但三木谷浩史聲稱，這種比較並不是非常準確。亞馬遜的經營方式側重於產品和顧客，一直在竭力改善分銷環節和產品選擇。樂天更關注的則是購物體驗自身。這家公司奉行“以誠待客”（Omotenashi）原則，即提供日本式的高品質和個性化服務。“在日本，如果你去當地的一家咖啡店、雜貨店或任何一家商鋪，你都能享受到一種非常高水平的個性化服務，”三木谷浩史說。“互聯網也應該這樣。”

Mikitani says Rakuten tries to create a personal shopping experience for its users by allowing each seller on the site to customize their page with unique layouts, pictures and promotions. The vendors can then edit and update the page constantly as well as communicate directly with the customer. "We want to make them feel like there really is a person in there," says Mikitani.
三木谷浩史表示，樂天嘗試爲它的用戶創造一種個性化的購物體驗。這家公司允許其網站上的每位賣家以獨特的佈局、圖片和促銷活動定製各自的頁面。隨後，這些供應商可以持續編輯、更新頁面，同時與客戶直接溝通。三木谷浩史說：“我們想讓他們覺得這裏的確有個大活人在爲他們服務。”

To underscore the comparison, Rakuten's promotional material shows picture of a vending machine with several different brands signifying competitor models and a picture of a roadside market with many different stalls and products to signify its own model. "We want to avoid standardization," says Mikitani. "We're creating more stories, experiences and communication between people who buy and people who sell."
爲了凸顯這種差異，樂天公司在宣傳材料上放置了兩幅圖像，一幅是繪有幾個不同品牌標誌的售貨機，以此象徵競爭者的經營模式，另一幅是一個擁有許多不同商鋪，產品琳琅滿目的路邊市場，以此象徵其自身的經營模式。“我們希望避免標準化，”三木谷浩史說。“我們正在創造更多發生在買家和賣家雙方之間的故事、體驗和溝通。”

A big site for small companies
面向小公司的大網站

With nearly 90 percent of Japan's Internet users registered on Rakuten, retailers wanting to reach the country simply can't afford to not sell anything on the site. Currently it hosts 40,000 different businesses and services.
鑑於日本近九成的網民都是樂天網的註冊用戶，希望走向全國的零售商們當然無法承受不進駐這家網站的代價。目前，已經大約有4萬家不同的企業和服務商進駐了樂天網。

While it has pages for major companies such as Toshiba, Adidas and Forever 21, Rakuten built much of its business by providing a point of sale for small businesses and local entrepreneurs. It's a similar concept to Etsy, only Rakuten is 17 times larger and 14 years older. "Etsy and Fab really should have closely studied Rakuten before they started," says Mikitani with a smile.
儘管東芝（Toshiba）、阿迪達斯（Adidas）和服飾品牌Forever 21這類大公司都開設了各自的頁面，但樂天網的主要經營方式是，爲小企業和本地企業家提供一個銷售網點。這種營商理念與以出售手工針織物而聞名的網購公司Etsy非常類似，只不過樂天的規模比後者大17倍，上線時間也早了14年。三木谷浩史笑着說：“Etsy和 Fab正式上線之前真的應該仔細研究一下樂天的模式。”