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Japan’s Rakuten plots e-commerce world domination.

The increasing popularity of e-commerce and other online activities are prompting many professionals and business owners to try and harness the potential of the internet.

To capitalise on the trend, Rakuten of Japan, the world’s third-largest online marketplace, is adding a “human touch” to its site, which it claims will mark the beginning of a new chapter in e-commerce. Rakuten’s marketplace enables its online merchants to directly contact and interact with their customers.

“I believe online shopping will become a mainstream channel over the next five to 10 years,” said Hiroshi Mikitani, Rakuten’s group chairman.

The internet firm has market capitalisation of US$14.8 billion in the US stock market.

The proliferation of smartphones, tablets and smart wireless devices, along with high-speed broadband availability in 3G and cloud computing technology, has encouraged the growth of e-commerce, said Mr Mikitani.

Online purchases via wireless devices last year surged five-fold year-on-year.

He expects people will use their face or a fingerprint as identification soon to access online shopping portals instead of a conventional password.

The higher capacity of software to analyse large amounts of digital data will also enable online merchants to personalise their marketing to target users based on behaviour segmentation.

The integration of online shopping malls with social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter promotes the social shopping experience, enabling merchants to communicate with their fans apart from blogs or e-mail lists.

Unlike other global e-commerce rivals including Amazon and eBay that focus on products, Mr Mikitani said Rakuten Ichiba’s site offers shoppers a human…

Full story from Bangkok Post at http://goo.gl/aZZTQ