Masaya Ueno, the director of Rakuten Asia has released a promising prediction for 2015 trends.
Rakuten, the massive e-commerce giant from Japan, has now released an official statement that has revealed that it has brought in $1.1 billion worth of revenue in Singapore via mobile commerce channels.
The company therefore feels that the Singapore market is a tremendously promising one for next year.
The director of Rakuten Asia, Masaya Ueno, who is also the company’s Country Manager for Singapore and the Head of the Business Development Division, explained that the country’s tremendous 80 percent adoption rate of smartphones has made it ready for a great deal more growth in mobile commerce. Smartphone shopping is already quite common in the country but the company feels that there remains a great deal more room for growth to continue throughout 2015.
The larger smartphones, nicknamed “phablets” are being called a driving force behind this mobile commerce trend.
According to Masaya Ueno, “Apple’s entry into the Phablet market with the iPhone 6 Plus and the launch of other phablets flagships like the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 will help to drive the adoption of mobile shopping is Singapore as well.”
At the same time, Rakuten’s forecast also explained that the focus on ‘mobile-first’ is also spreading throughout the Asian Pacific region, where many consumers use their smartphones as their exclusive method of accessing the internet. The prediction underscored the fact that this will be an important m-commerce factor in 2015, as it shows that the trend in mobile shopping will not be exclusive to Singapore, but will also have considerable potential in Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
Rakuten explained that this mobile technology trend should be telling retailers that they simply cannot think that they can continue to ignore this fast moving segment of m-commerce, as consumers throughout that region turn away from their desktops in favor of their smaller screen handsets.
The Rakuten prediction is that far more retailers will rapidly begin an investment into mobile commerce in both the marketing and retail efforts, and that this will be easily seen in all of 2015.
Rakuten launches new global investment fund managed by Rakuten Ventures
Rakuten, one of Japan’s largest e-commerce organizations, has launched a new global investment fund that will focus on the development of startups in Israel, the United States, and in the Asian Pacific region. The new fund will be based in Singapore, but will be managed by Rakuten Ventures and has more than $100 million at its disposal. The fund will seek to invest in startups that have ambitious goals in the mobile space, particularly those interested in mobile commerce.
Rakuten’s investments in Asia may continue to favor mobile companies
Rakuten has not yet announced which companies it is seeking to invest in but may do so in the near future. The fund is not meant to focus specifically on companies involved in the mobile commerce space, but Rakuten’s investments in Southeast Asia have favored these companies in the past. Mobile commerce has become quite prominent throughout Asia, largely due to the growing adoption of mobile technology. Consumers are becoming mobile-centric and, as such, the demand for mobile services has begun to rise dramatically throughout the region.
Company aims to compete with Amazon and others as it begins to expand
Over the past few years, Rakuten has been positioning itself to compete on a global level. The company has found major success in Japan, but intends to enter into other markets in order to take advantage of the growing popularity of mobile and e-commerce. As Rakuten begins expanding, it will have to compete with larger, well established companies, like Amazon and eBay. In order to compete effectively, Rakuten has been making strategic acquisition throughout the mobile space, hoping to bolster its tools and provide better services to new consumers.
Mobile commerce continues to grow among consumers
Mobile commerce is becoming one of the primary ways for people to shop online for products that they are interested in. People are also beginning to use their mobile devices to manage their finances more effectively, taking advantage of new mobile applications being offered by their banks. Companies like Rakuten see a great deal of promise in mobile commerce because of its convenient nature and how it appeals to consumers.
