This is my journey as an E-commerce Consultant
Archive for September, 2010
Kimono De Jack UK
605 days
by Liz
in Rakuten/Japan
Well, it was going to happen eventually – Kimono De Jack is starting in the UK October 23rd, 11am, Trafalgar Square.
So how are we marketing this event?
1. Facebook
2. Twitter
3. Hyper Japan
4. Asking Kimono Sellers to send email to their customers
5. Contacting Japanese societies to relay the information to their members
6. Blog with news, photos, stories and updates
Creating a community means getting the word out there to the right people and not giving up. Kimono De Jack will be held once a month and the first one might not have too many people but it will catch on just like it did in Japan (started with 11 people and now ‘many’)
If you wear kimono or are just interested come along, you don’t actually NEED a kimono (but you will want one after the day)
Shipping Weights on Rakuten (Kimono Examples)
614 days
Most sellers on Rakuten don’t tell you the shipping weight and for international trade this is essential for the shipping calculator function on the site. I have been getting questions about this so I will post some weights of items I often buy on Rakuten for comparisons sake.
However, I buy Kimono on Rakuten and related goods so this post will only serve a few people 
– Included are the prices too at time of going to press, and are shipping costs from Japan and Europe.
Standard Kimono: 800g (2400 yen/£18.11)
Furisode: 1200g (3250 yen/£24.54)
Kakeshita (Wedding furisode but often more padded and heavier): 1900g (4600 yen/£37.73)
Uchikake: 2900g (6200 yen/£46.81)
Cotton Yukata: 500g (1800 yen/£13.60)
Hanhaba Obi:300g (1500 yen/£11.30)
Maru/Fukuro Obi: 700g (2200 yen/£16.61)
Nagoya Obi:600g (2000 yen/£15.10)
Juban: 500g (1800 yen/£13.60)
Haori: 400g (1800 yen/£13.60)
Most average western clothing parcels come to about 200-300g which is £11-12 for 3/4 day shipping fully insured and tracked the whole way. For the same fully tracked service from UK to UK you will pay between £6 and £8 at the post office. As with all international trade, you need to figure the postage cost into the full cost of the item – but for me the unique range of items on Rakuten is the key. I can’t get what I really want anywhere else really.
This also pulls me to a point also, if I wanted to send a parcel to Japan (from the UK) with the same specification as EMS for a 500g parcel (£13.60 from Japan) I would have to pay £54. How silly is that? How can we expect to be a global trader if we have to pay that much for decent shipping abroad? We have to chance it with Royal Mail International Signed For which is £17.49 (takes around 2 weeks and the tracking is terrible really), and compensation for loss takes 4 months if your even lucky to get it…
Will privatisation of the Royal mail help our economy? I have a strong feeling of doom around the subject. I am a Royal Mail doom cookie at the best of times….
UK Based Sellers on Rakuten!
617 days
by Liz
in Rakuten/Japan
With the launch of the new UK facing Rakuten site it comes to your attention that there ARE UK based sellers on the site. For example: ChelseaGardensUK who are based in London and bring UK style to Japan!
Could this be a future outlet for UK retailers to reach Japan and the rest of Asia?
We shall see
I am bookmarking some hello kitty items for Christmas as there is nothing like the range on Rakuten
Rakuten launches UK facing site!
620 days
Today! Here! http://global.rakuten.com/uk/ and guess who gets to be on the homepage…..
I am going to kimono hunt this weekend and share my thoughts on the new format
If you have any issues finding the stuff you want or questions on using the site you can comment or email me and I will help you out if I can!
Rakuten Parcel Arrives….
622 days
by Liz
in Rakuten/Japan
I normally use SAL shipping which takes 7-14 days from Japan so I forgot how FAST EMS was. I ordered, what last Thursday? Got my confirmation email Friday? and then a crappy…’I had to get out of bed on my day off to answer the door to Parcelforce’ text from my husband on Monday morning. He also complained that he has been waiting for a parcel delivered from within the UK for a week
So there you go, it might seem expensive, but for how fast you get your items it is worth it. I paid £29 in total for two han-eri and on eBay it would cost me £30 without shipping.
