Bangkok--22 Apr--Spark Communications
E-commerce Success Made Easy with Rakuten TARAD.com
Thai entrepreneurs use online stores to grow customer base and boost business
As e-commerce matures in Thailand and becomes an increasingly important sales channel, more and more entrepreneurs are choosing e-commerce as the preferred way to market and sell their goods, according to Pawoot Pongvitayapanu, founder and managing director of Rakuten TARAD.com.
As the marketplace grows and becomes more appealing to business owners, many retailers without experience in setting up a website are turning to Rakuten TARAD.comto provide guidance on how to create and manage their own online store and builduptheir customer base.
“Starting your own business can be a daunting projectand presents many challenges. At Rakuten TARAD.com we aim to make the process easier by providing an E-Commerce Consultant (ECC) to guide each new merchant through the initial stages of setting up their store and ensure they get off to a good start. The ECC continues to act as a mentor to the merchant on their business venture, advising on how to promote their store and keeping them up-to-date with trends and developments in e-commerce,” added Pawoot.
Among the key considerations for new merchants when startingup an e-commerce store are engaging customers, ensuring product distribution is reliable and offering a secure payments system. Creating trust among potential consumers is essential to the success of operating any online store.
Rakuten TARAD.com hosts over 300,000 merchants, with many of the online stores set up as a new venture or to complement an existing business. A recently published survey by Thailand’s National Statistics Office[1] reported that 68.5% of e-commerce businesses in Thailand were small enterprises employing less than five people.
When Nawaporn Sa-ardpan decided to set up Annabrandname, an online store selling branded handbags, she turned to Rakuten TARAD.com as a secure and trusted marketplace to base her business. Coming from a science background, with minimal experience in retailing or IT, the support she received from her ECC proved invaluable.
“I’d always dreamed of running my own business and had opened a food stall with friends, but the competition was really tough and it was hard to build a strong customer base. While searching for a brand name handbag I realized prices in the US were much lower than in Thailand and began to consider how I could setup a store in Thailand. I was attracted by Rakuten TARAD.com’s offer of helping me setup a store for free,” said Nawaporn.
“I quickly moved the store to the Premium Mall where I was assigned an ECC. They gave me great advice and we were able to exchange ideas on how to boost sales and visitors. With the ECC’s support we came up with a contest idea where customers could win prizes at my site. This helped boost my store’s profile and build trust between me and my customers, providing a great start to my e-commerce business. The great thing is, even three years after the store opened, my ECC is still there to give me advice,” she added
At Rakuten TARAD.comECCsare assigned to business owners to ensure each merchant has all the information and tools they need to stay at the forefront of e-commerce. Each ECC works as part of Rakuten University, a training institutewhich offers courses for merchants on how to optimise the virtual shopping channel for sales. They also advise each merchant on how they can customize their online storefront, including how to display products and providing additional value by personalizing their store and packaging, allowing the merchant to take ownership of their brand to help them create brand loyalty and drive sales.
The Annabrandname store has proven to be highly popular with Thai customers with a 10% increase in year-on-year revenue since it was founded in 2010. Nawaporn puts much of her success down to making sure she has the right products and building good relationships with her customers.
Nawaporn concluded, “Rakuten TARAD.com is central to why my store is successfulasthey truly do understand how to support merchants. It’s also a great marketplace to partner up with as it is continuously improving its features as well as providing seasoned guidance that you need when running your own business online.”
About Rakuten
Rakuten, Inc. (JASDAQ: 4755), is one of the world’s leading Internet service companies, providing a variety of consumer- and business-focused services including e-commerce, eBooks &eReading, travel, banking, securities, credit card, insurance, e-money, portal and media, online marketing and professional sports. Selected by Forbes as 7th among the World’s Most Innovative Companies of 2012, Rakuten is expanding globally and currently has operations throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia and Oceania. Founded in 1997, Rakuten is headquartered in Tokyo, with over 10,000 employees and partner staff worldwide. For more information, visit http://global.rakuten.com/corp/.
[1] National Statistics Office of Thailand 2011 e-commerce survey, published in February 2013