We tend to forget that we are a reflection of our habits and culture. What makes sense to us may seem absurd to other cultures. And vice-versa.
That's why it's often beneficial, rewarding and inspiring to take a look at what others are doing, especially those in far off places!
The JDN [French online journal] published a case study examining e-commerce in Japan by selecting the top ten merchant sites with the most visits, according to Comscore, and analyzing their results with the help of data provided by the Bureau Van Dijk - Electronic Publishing Services.
The findings are a far cry from European norms in terms of concept, user-friendliness, design and use. Let's take a closer look at the number one e-merchant site in Japan:
- Rakuten is an online shopping center that sells everything from clothes to food to high tech items. It also provides travel and reservation services and houses an auction platform. The Rakuten site has a very large audience with 33.9 million unique visitors per month...in a country with a population of 127 million.
In Figures:
Unique Visitors (September 2009): 33.9 million
Rakuten Group 2008 Sales: 1.88 billion Euros
Rakuten Group 2008 Profits: - 413 million Euros
Employees: 4,874
And here's what the site looks like....
In its original version:
And in its English version:
Completely different!
By extension, this logic can be applied pretty much everywhere, including communications between European countries.
After all, you wouldn't talk to a German and a Spaniard the same way. You might even agree that you wouldn't talk to someone from London the same way you'd talk to someone from Edinburgh. That's something that deserves a bit of extra reflection.
In the meantime, itte kimasu. I'm off to visit e-commerce in Japan. Right from my chair, in front of my screen. If your curiosity has been peaked and you're anxious to see more, you can find the case study (in French) here.
