Secrets of the Marketplace: The Web Can Raise The Dead

Today, I want to address a key realization made by many of Rakuten’s most successful merchants: No matter what business you are in, no matter what you make or sell, your most important asset is virtual. The key to your success is the web.
Even today, far too many companies treat their web presence as secondary to other factors such as manufacturing, sales or traditional stores. But many in the Rakuten system have learned that the web experience must be a priority.
Microbrewery Yonayona no Sato is one of the oldest businesses on Rakuten Ichiba, founded in 1997. But by the mid-2000s, with the beer boom in Japan subsiding, the number of microbreweries across the country had dropped dramatically. So had Yonayona’s sales.
What saved the company? Their enthusiastic online following.
“We make beer but we serve our customers fun with it,” says CEO Naoyuki Ide. That includes blogs, photos, special offers and other content on the Yonayona site.
And here is the most important part of his story: they actually have more people working on their website and online experience than salespeople.
Ide has learned the key lesson of our times; the web is the secret ingredient to success. Many firms can find success in boom times. But when times are tough, it’s often an Internet-based activity that helps to keep a company moving forward. By weighting resources to the web, Ide helped save his company during a slow period, and secure its success for the future.
My book: Marketplace 3.0

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