Since the start of 2013, the rapidly growing fashion e-commerce industry has seen signs of restructuring.
On January 21st, Yoshito Tanaka, President and Co-CEO of Enigmo, operator of the social shopping site "BUYMA," announced his retirement at the annual general shareholders' meeting scheduled for April 26th. He also resigned as a director to make way for his successor.
"BUYMA," launched in 2005, is a new type of fashion e-commerce site where users can purchase brand-name products from around the world listed by buyers residing overseas. The site has grown to over one million members and was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Mothers section in July of last year.
On January 30th, NTT Docomo announced a tender offer for shares in Magaseek, operator of the fashion online shopping site "MAGASEEK." The company plans to acquire 75% of the company's outstanding shares and make it a subsidiary within this fiscal year.
With a view to forming a business alliance with Itochu Corporation, the current parent company of "MAGASEEK," NTT Docomo is considering launching a fashion e-commerce site within "dMarket," an online shopping service for smartphones and tablets that was launched last December. "MAGASEEK"'s core users are women in their 20s and 30s, who also have a high mobile shopping usage rate. NTT Docomo aims to use this TOB as an opportunity to expand its business into the fashion sector, where it has had limited presence.
Furthermore, on February 4th, Rakuten announced a tender offer for shares in Stylife, which operates the fashion online shopping site "Stylife." Rakuten acquired 32.5% of the company's shares in May last year, becoming its largest shareholder, but with this TOB, it is poised to bring the company fully under its umbrella.
"Stylife" is an e-commerce site operated by Nichimen that launched in 2000 and has 1.5 million members. Rakuten operates a "Stylife" shop within its own fashion e-commerce site, "RAKUTEN BRAND AVENUE," which opened in April last year. Going forward, the company plans to leverage collaborations with Stylife's various brands to expand the scale of its fashion e-commerce operations.
For the past few years, the fashion e-commerce industry has been dominated by Start Today, which operates "ZOZOTOWN." However, this restructuring may redraw the industry's power map from this year onward.
Amazon, another major fashion e-commerce company, also launched a "10% Amazon Points Return Campaign" last fall, launching a sudden offensive.
Will the deciding factor in the future of the fashion e-commerce industry be price, product selection, or user-oriented service? Keep an eye on this new arena, where new and old players mingle.
On January 21st, Yoshito Tanaka, President and Co-CEO of Enigmo, operator of the social shopping site "BUYMA," announced his retirement at the annual general shareholders' meeting scheduled for April 26th. He also resigned as a director to make way for his successor.
"BUYMA," launched in 2005, is a new type of fashion e-commerce site where users can purchase brand-name products from around the world listed by buyers residing overseas. The site has grown to over one million members and was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Mothers section in July of last year.
On January 30th, NTT Docomo announced a tender offer for shares in Magaseek, operator of the fashion online shopping site "MAGASEEK." The company plans to acquire 75% of the company's outstanding shares and make it a subsidiary within this fiscal year.
With a view to forming a business alliance with Itochu Corporation, the current parent company of "MAGASEEK," NTT Docomo is considering launching a fashion e-commerce site within "dMarket," an online shopping service for smartphones and tablets that was launched last December. "MAGASEEK"'s core users are women in their 20s and 30s, who also have a high mobile shopping usage rate. NTT Docomo aims to use this TOB as an opportunity to expand its business into the fashion sector, where it has had limited presence.
Furthermore, on February 4th, Rakuten announced a tender offer for shares in Stylife, which operates the fashion online shopping site "Stylife." Rakuten acquired 32.5% of the company's shares in May last year, becoming its largest shareholder, but with this TOB, it is poised to bring the company fully under its umbrella.
"Stylife" is an e-commerce site operated by Nichimen that launched in 2000 and has 1.5 million members. Rakuten operates a "Stylife" shop within its own fashion e-commerce site, "RAKUTEN BRAND AVENUE," which opened in April last year. Going forward, the company plans to leverage collaborations with Stylife's various brands to expand the scale of its fashion e-commerce operations.
For the past few years, the fashion e-commerce industry has been dominated by Start Today, which operates "ZOZOTOWN." However, this restructuring may redraw the industry's power map from this year onward.
Amazon, another major fashion e-commerce company, also launched a "10% Amazon Points Return Campaign" last fall, launching a sudden offensive.
Will the deciding factor in the future of the fashion e-commerce industry be price, product selection, or user-oriented service? Keep an eye on this new arena, where new and old players mingle.
