Rakuten has finally launched its online mall in China. After having inked a partnership with Google’s China, Baidu, “Lekutian” went live online in China today:
Rakuten, Japan’s biggest e-commerce company ($10 billion market cap), and Chinese search leader Baidu have today opened a new online shopping mall in China. Dubbed Lekutian (“Happy Cool Day” in Chinese), the launch of the site was announced back in January. Both web powerhouses will invest US$50 million over the next three years in their joint venture.
Under the deal, Rakuten holds 51% of Lekutian, with Baidu owning the rest. Much like Rakuten’s Ichiba market place in Japan (see here for our extensive case study on Rakuten), Lekutian is a B2B2C platform. Chinese merchants can set up an online shop in the online mall to sell directly to end consumers or source products from suppliers.
– read the rest in my article on TechCrunch:
Lekutian: Rakuten and Baidu Open Online Mall In China