乐天:鲜为人知的电商巨头

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 Buy.com for $250 million and rebranded it to "Rakuten.com Shopping" earlier this year.
日本电子商务网站乐天公司（Rakuten）首席执行官三木谷浩史做客《财富》（Fortune）编辑部，推广他的新书《市场3.0：重写无国界商业的规则》（Marketplace 3.0: Rewriting The Rules Of Borderless Business）。他在这本书中详细阐述了乐天公司的全球化战略。由三木谷浩史创始于1997年的乐天公司是日本最大的电子商务网站，市值高达135亿美元，年销售额逾40亿美元，是世界上最大的互联网公司之一。今年初，乐天公司斥资2.5亿美元，收购了美国购物网站Buy.com，并将其更名为Rakuten.com Shopping。

Why it's not Amazon
乐天为什么不是亚马逊

While it has been called the "Amazon.com 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."
尽管乐天一直被誉为“日本的亚马逊（Amazon）”，但三木谷浩史声称，这种比较并不是非常准确。亚马逊的经营方式侧重于产品和顾客，一直在竭力改善分销环节和产品选择。乐天更关注的则是购物体验自身。这家公司奉行“以诚待客”（Omotenashi）原则，即提供日本式的高品质和个性化服务。“在日本，如果你去当地的一家咖啡店、杂货店或任何一家商铺，你都能享受到一种非常高水平的个性化服务，”三木谷浩史说。“互联网也应该这样。”

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，乐天尝试为它的用户创造一种个性化的购物体验。这家公司允许其网站上的每位卖家以独特的布局、图片和促销活动定制各自的页面。随后，这些供应商可以持续编辑、更新页面，同时与客户直接沟通。三木谷浩史说：“我们想让他们觉得这里的确有个大活人在为他们服务。”

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."
为了凸显这种差异，乐天公司在宣传材料上放置了两幅图像，一幅是绘有几个不同品牌标志的售货机，以此象征竞争者的经营模式，另一幅是一个拥有许多不同商铺，产品琳琅满目的路边市场，以此象征其自身的经营模式。“我们希望避免标准化，”三木谷浩史说。“我们正在创造更多发生在买家和卖家双方之间的故事、体验和沟通。”

A big site for small companies
面向小公司的大网站

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.
鉴于日本近九成的网民都是乐天网的注册用户，希望走向全国的零售商们当然无法承受不进驻这家网站的代价。目前，已经大约有4万家不同的企业和服务商进驻了乐天网。

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.
尽管东芝（Toshiba）、阿迪达斯（Adidas）和服饰品牌Forever 21这类大公司都开设了各自的页面，但乐天网的主要经营方式是，为小企业和本地企业家提供一个销售网点。这种营商理念与以出售手工针织物而闻名的网购公司Etsy非常类似，只不过乐天的规模比后者大17倍，上线时间也早了14年。三木谷浩史笑着说：“Etsy和 Fab正式上线之前真的应该仔细研究一下乐天的模式。”