CRICKET WEB is an apparel brand that mainly sells ladies' bags. It is popular with many people because it is used by popular actresses and models. With the aim of expanding our business, we asked Commerce Media to manage and consult on Rakuten Ichiba, and we spoke with President and CEO Takataka Yamamoto and Mr. Segawa about their efforts.
What is CRICKET WEB?
--Firstly, could you tell us about the brand?
Our company, CRICKET WEB, was originally a necktie brand. We were the first company to popularize traditional neckties in Japan, and we started out by procuring fabric from Italy, producing neckties, and wholesaling them to large select shops.
After that, we decided to start selling women's items as well, and about 35 years ago we launched the traditional women's goods brand "TOPKAPI", which has since become our main brand.
--TOPKAPI is a unique name. What is its origin?
" TOPKAPI " is derived from Topkapi Palace in Turkey. The reason is that it was a place where the West and the East intersected.
Even famous Western brands incorporate old Japanese patterns into their brand symbols, don't they? I think that Western and Eastern cultures are mixed together in a good way. With that in mind, we took the name from Topkapi Palace, a place where the West and the East intermingle, and created the brand's concept and philosophy.
The COVID-19 pandemic
--Your company's e-commerce business seems to have quite a long history, but how did it get started?
Our company's e-commerce business was started by our current chairman with great enthusiasm in the early days of e- commerce, when sites like Rakuten Ichiba were emerging.
However, since I had no idea how to do it when I started, I was only able to sell about 100,000 yen a month. Meanwhile, the Lehman Shock hit, leading to store closures and internal staff reductions. Although we had hired about three people from outside the EC department, we were forced to downsize.
At that time, I was put in charge of EC , but because I loved computers, I worked hard on it on my own. (laughs)
--So that's how it all came about. But now you're focusing a lot on e-commerce , right?
That's right. When I took over as president from my predecessor, the coronavirus pandemic began and it became difficult to maintain a brick-and-mortar store. However, I was originally involved in e-commerce , so fortunately we already had a foundation for selling e- commerce. Therefore, with an eye on the future, we decided to steer the company in a direction that would make e-commerce our main focus, and I think that's how we got to where we are today.
At the time, excluding outlets, e -commerce sales accounted for approximately 60 % of our sales, but after COVID-19 hit and we shifted our focus to e-commerce , the proportion of e-commerce sales steadily increased to 60 %, then 80 %, and now e- commerce sales account for about 90 % of our in-house sales.
And because "CRICKET" was a men's brand, we decided to change the company name to "CRICKET WEB " at that time to tone down its masculinity and to be able to associate with a variety of other brands.
Background of the request
--Given that history, what made you decide to ask our company for help?
Actually, we had a partner who we had been working with since the time of the Lehman Shock, but it was no longer a good fit for our scale, and we thought that if we continued to ask them for work, we would both be unhappy, so we started looking for another partner.
So we asked a support company we had previously worked with on corporate websites to help us with our e-commerce website, and they introduced us to your company as a company that specializes in Rakuten.
--I remember when you introduced us to your company. Did you compare us with other companies?
I haven't done that much, but the support I got from all the companies was just mechanical, like "if you send us the data, we'll process it like this," so I didn't think you could expect flexible support.
Although our company has a lot of sales through EC , we are not a group of EC professionals, but rather a manufacturer. Compared to professionals, I don't think we can say that we are knowledgeable about EC . However, we want to steadily increase our EC sales, so we thought that a company that can provide flexible and thorough support would be a good fit, and so we asked your company for help.
Ask Commerce Media to do the work for you
-What did you think about asking our company to do the work for you?
CRICKET WEB's Segawa: It may sound cliche, but first of all, everyone is so kind and I am grateful every day for the careful and speedy work they do.
We actually worked together for about two years, and initially our company's policy was to focus on Rakuten, but we weren't sure what to do next, so we worked with Commerce Media to lay the foundation for that.
At first, I was very impressed by how we proceed with sales promotion on Rakuten Market, and how they were able to bring out the areas where our company was lacking and could be improved upon, and that is something I still feel today.
--When you first made the request, you were considering in-house production. What do you think about that?
CRICKET WEB's Segawa: Although I have gained some knowledge about Rakuten now, even with knowledge it's still difficult to get started, and I still think it would be difficult to produce things in-house.
Currently, there are many areas that cannot run without Commerce Media , so I'm grateful that they have created a system that allows one in-house employee to run the business on his or her own.
President Yamamoto: Also, EC and digital are developing rapidly. Furthermore, the necessary knowledge is also specialized, so I feel it is difficult to develop it in-house. Therefore, I think it is easier to ask a partner like your company to do the work than to have a lot of specialized experts in-house.
However, as the requesting party, I think that the conversation will not go well unless we understand the concept of Rakuten Ichiba and how it is structured. In that sense, although I thought it would be difficult, I brought up the keyword "in-house development" from the beginning in order to deepen understanding within the company.
Achievements with Commerce Media
--What do you feel has been the biggest achievement in working with our company?
CRICKET WEB Segawa: It's difficult to choose the best ... Commerce Media handles daily tasks such as product registration, content creation, and adjustment of programmatic advertising, as well as planning and executing strategies for marathons and super sales. They also manage the schedule, so we can assume that they have a good track record ...
Most recently, a collaborative product with an influencer was ranked number one in the overall rankings on Rakuten Market.
Of course there was the preparation beforehand, but everyone also chatted with me in real time at the time of release. Although I was handling it alone as a company, having everyone come together and work from the same perspective was a huge help both technically and mentally.
The influencer collaboration products released in March this year were:
It ranked first in the overall real-time rankings and first in the daily rankings in the bags and accessories category.
--Everyone involved was watching it at the time, lol.
President Yamamoto: Commerce Media contacted me via chat saying, "Congratulations on being number one overall on Rakuten!" I was so happy that I called Segawa-san right away!
--Is there anything else that impressed you?
CRICKET WEB's Segawa: Commerce Media is generally not negative about what I want to do, and they are always there to help me think about how to make it happen. It can be hard to get started on something you've never done before, but I'm very grateful that they've tried everything through trial and error.
Future outlook
--What do you see for your future prospects?
President Yamamoto: To put it simply, we want to focus on conveying the value of our brand. Until now, the EC market has been on the rise, so we have been able to sell products by offering discounts and coupons to create a sense of value.
However, with Japan's population not growing at the moment, the market is becoming increasingly saturated and will not grow that big, so I don't think we should rely on such external factors.
So, in order to compete in this market, it is important to communicate the added value of the brand to customers. In that case, instead of selling at a low profit margin, we would like to properly communicate the values of TOPKAPI and our other brands to customers and grow the brand so that we can sell it at a regular price.
CRICKET WEB's Segawa : I feel the same way. On Rakuten, there are a lot of TOPKAPI searches, but I feel like the brand value is not increasing. Some malls have strong discount policies, and Rakuten is also in that direction, so it can be difficult.
We are open to using special sales opportunities such as the Rakuten Super Sale to increase sales, but we would like to work with Commerce Media to increase our brand image and generate daily sales.
--Thank you. We also run our own brand business, so we believe that growing our brand is essential to survive in this day and age. We will continue to do our best to be a better partner.
lastly
Finally, I would like to introduce the brand's e-commerce website and popular products.
If you've seen it and are interested, please take a look.
It is a very popular item and has been used in dramas.
This is a collaboration item with top Ameba bloggers. It won first place in the Rakuten real-time ranking.
