誓言打倒亚马逊的日本电商狂人

    日本商人通常都谦恭内敛，所以，他们很少会在衣服上打上“打倒亚马逊”这样的标语。不过，三木谷浩史个性骄傲，与众不同，他不能算是一位典型的日本CEO。

    作为日本最大互联网公司、世界第三大电商——乐天市场（Rakuten）的领头人，46岁的三木谷浩史特立独行，很早就抛弃了日本人隐忍的经商传统。这位哈佛（Harvard）毕业生、年轻的革新者偏爱更具侵略性的盎格鲁撒克逊式行事风格。他并不惧怕热血沸腾的企业家精神，与“老一辈日本”商人不同，他享受外界的关注。

    因此，在7月份举办的东京书展上，“打倒亚马逊”T恤首次亮相，并且，三木谷浩史与与加拿大电子阅读器制造商Kobo联合推出了一款电子书阅读器，被视为日本进军电子书市场的第一次成功尝试。之前的多次尝试一直未能付诸实施。

    用日文写的“打倒亚马逊”标语或许只是一句玩笑。但不论在日本市场还是国际市场，乐天都是亚马逊唯一真正够格的竞争对手，因此这个标语在调侃当中也透露出乐天的决心。正如三木谷浩史反复强调的那样，打造全球最大的互联网公司是他唯一的目标。如今，在拥有全球第三大电子书制造商Kobo之后，他终于开始对亚马逊的领地发起大规模进攻。他用带有日本口音的美式腔调，讲述着对电商网站和Kobo的未来规划。他说：“我们的计划是进行大规模扩张。”不久前，乐天以3.15亿美元的价格收购了Kobo。

    他接着说：“我们涉足的国家已经达到10个，但我们的计划是在未来五年将业务扩大到27个国家以上。可以确信的是，明年，Kobo阅读器将在超过27个国家上市销售。”

    日本国内出版商并不希望与外来者打交道，在与他们的协商过程中，乐天充分利用了作为日本民族企业这一身份，成功狙击了亚马逊的日本业务。与亚马逊放弃仓储功能不同，三木谷浩史采取“B2B2C”商业模式，并且在日本大获成功。如今，随着Kobo电子书阅读器的到来，他希望将这种商业模式扩展到海外市场。他说：“亚马逊凭什么取得成功？它只不过是一个巨型自动售货机，完全以产品为中心。他们创建一个庞大的目录，经销商在上面贩卖，但一旦某种商品热销，亚马逊马上就会成为经销商的竞争对手。大部分电商网站采用的都是这种战略。亚马逊就像一个超级市场，但乐天则坚持以店铺为中心。”

    三木谷浩史一直依靠零售商友好模式来赢得经销商和投机者。他在英国和法国已经取得了成功。他还表示，法国已经开始采用乐天市场的商业模式。他认为：“亚马逊最大的敌人就是它自己的商业模式。”

    乐天市场日本业务的统计数据似乎也为三木谷浩史的话提供了佐证。1997年，三木谷浩史成立了乐天市场，并且很快将其打造成日本最大的在线零售商，员工超过了8,000人。目前，公司市值约130亿美元，2011年，公司年收入比2007年上涨了177%，达到47.5亿美元。公司提供的商品数量甚至超过日本大多数超级市场、百货公司和便利店的总和。网站上的商品从鸡蛋到武士铠甲，应有尽有。而据估计，亚马逊在日本的销售额仅为19亿美元。尽管这位日本最年轻的亿万富翁热衷虚张声势，但他也并非“常胜将军”。公司与中国搜索引擎百度（Baidu）合作，试图进军中国市场，结果惨败而归。目前，公司已经放弃了与百度的合作业务。日本科技行业顾问塞尔坎•托托认为，寓意“乐观主义”的乐天市场要实现自己的雄心壮志，未来肯定会遇到更多困难。他说：“最近，乐天市场关闭与中国百度的合资企业，可能不会是该公司在海外市场遭遇的首次大溃败。”他补充说，之前还没有任何一家日本的网络公司或手机公司能够在美国站稳脚跟。

    不过，三木谷浩史的优势在于，除了在海外市场表现非常出色的优衣库（Uniqlo）外，从来没有一家公司能像乐天市场一样，通过英语优先战略成功完成国际化。三木谷浩史解释道：“为了融入全球市场，我们启动了一个所谓‘英语化’项目。我们把公司的交流用语从日语转换成英语。许多（日本）人认为这种想法太过疯狂，但等到他们转变观念，他们也会追求这种改变。”

    与此同时，出人意料地与其他公司进行联合也证明了三木谷浩史非常善于寻找机会。比如图片分享网站Pinterest，用户可以在该网站设计精美的虚拟钉板上张贴照片。托托解释道：“与Pinterest合作的主要目的是通过这个网站向未登录乐天市场的用户展示网站销售的商品，将这些用户变成买家，最终成为乐天市场的会员。”

    Pinterest可以帮助乐天市场吸引更多外国买家（毕竟图片不存在语言障碍），同时也能给网站带来更多日本消费者。但美国公司Pinterest为什么要与乐天市场合作？三木谷浩史称，这是一种化学反应。作为企业家中的创业家，他喜欢Pinterest的地方在于它只有几名员工。“而Pinterest与乐天市场对互联网的看法相同。我们的与众不同让他们印象深刻，于是促成了我们的合作。”

    为了挑战美国互联网零售业大鳄，乐天市场正在大批招募外国人，并与全球的非日本企业展开合作。打倒亚马逊看起来困难重重，但很明显，三木谷浩史一定会不断尝试。“五年内，我们的规模将达到目前的5-6倍。日本还有许多与我们一样的公司，比如优衣库；另外，许多雄心勃勃的日本公司正在崛起，他们将开创日本电商行业的先河，给后来者带个好头”

    译者：刘进龙/汪皓

    "Destroy Amazon" is not the kind of slogan often brandished on the typically courtier-like Japanese boss's attire. But Hiroshi "Micky" Mikitani is no normal Japanese CEO.

    As head of Japan's biggest internet company,Rakuten, and the third largest ecommerce marketplace company worldwide, the maverick 46-year-old long ago rejected the tenebrous style of business that has shaped Japan. Instead, this Harvard-educated, young iconoclast has opted for a more aggressive Anglo-Saxon modus operandi. Mikitani is unafraid of red-blooded entrepreneurship and, unlike "Old Japan" bosses, he enjoys the limelight.

    Hence the "Destroy" T-shirt, which made its debut at Tokyo's book fair in July where Mikitani launched, with Canadian e-reader maker Kobo, Japan's fist successful attempt to jumpstart the e-book business which never really materialized in Japan.

    The Amazon (AMZN) taunt, written in Japanese, may be in jest. But because Rakuten is Amazon's only real competition at home and worldwide there is some iron to add to that levity. Mikitani's aim, as he as stated repeatedly, is to build the world's biggest internet company, no less. Now, as owner of the world's third most popular ereader, Kobo, he is starting with a colossal offensive on Amazon's turf. "We plan to expand abroad massively," he says, in his Japanese-tinted American drawl, about his plans for his e-commerce site and Kobo which he recently bought for $315 million.

    "We are already in 10 countries but we plan to be in more than 27 countries in five years," he goes on. "Kobo will be launched in more than 27 countries that is for sure next year."

    Rakuten has used its compatriot status to make pacts with Japanese publishers reluctant to deal with outsiders it seems. Leaving Amazon very much behind. Now, along with his Kobo incursion, Mikitani wants to bring his successful "B2B2C" business model -- which unlike Amazon eschews a warehousing function -- to merchants outside of Japan. "How does Amazon work? It's just a giant vending machine. Product centered," he says. "They create a huge catalogue. You sell on there, but if it sells well, Amazon will then be your competitor. That's the strategy of most e-commerce sites. Rakuten is shop-centered. Amazon is a supermarket."

    Mikitani is counting on his retailer-friendly model wining over merchants and punters alike. He has already had success in the UK and in France and says the French have now adopted Rakuten's business model."Amazon's model is its own worse enemy," he says.

    Figures from Rakuten's operations in Japan appear to bolster his claims. Mikitani founded Rakuten in 1997 and quickly built the enterprise into Japan's largest online retailer, employing more than 8,000 people. With a value of about $13 billion, its annual revenues are up 177% since 2007, to $4.75 billion in 2011. The company offers more items than most supermarkets, department stores and convenience stores combined in Japan. The site will sell you anything from eggs to samurai armor. Amazon's sales in Japan, according to one estimate, are about $1.9 billion.

    Despite the bravado, it hasn't been all success for Japan's youngest billionaire. A foray into the Chinese market went wayward after partnering with search engine Baidu. That business has now been abandoned. There could be more trouble ahead for Mikitani as Rakuten, which translates to "optimist," further tests its ambitions, says Tokyo-based tech consultant Serkan Toto. "The recently closed [joint venture] with Baidu in China might not be the first big failure for Rakuten outside Japan," he says. There has never been a web or mobile company from Japan that has ever gained foothold in the US, he adds.

    In his favour, there has never been a company, save for Uniqlo -- who do very well internationally -- that has made integration with the global market by speaking English a priority as Rakuten has. "To do this we are pushing forward our, what I call, Englishization project. Converting our language of communication from Japanese to English. Many (in Japan) thought this was crazy idea but they are coming around and they too are thinking they will pursue such a change as well," explains Mikitani.

    Meanwhile, out-of-the blue tie-ups with firms such as Pinterest which lets users clip images to a handsomely designed virtual pinboard, shows that Mikitani is capable of being savvy in his search for opportunities. "The main goal here is showcase products listed on Rakuten to users off the site, on Pinterest, and turn those users into buyers and ultimately Rakuten members," explains Toto.

    Pinterest could help in Mikitani's drive to bring more foreigners (pictures don't have a language barrier) and even more Japanese shoppers to his sites. But why did American Pinterest hook up with Rakuten? Mikitani says it was chemistry and as an entrepreneur's entrepreneur he liked the fact Pinterest had so few employees. "Pinterest share our vision for the internet. They got the impression that we are different, and that helped to get us aligned," he says.

    To challenge American internet retail dominance, Rakuten is aggressively recruiting foreign nationals and partnering with non-Japanese firms across the globe. Success seems like a tall order but it's clear Mikitani won't stop trying. "We will be six to five times larger than we are now in five years. Other companies like us, like Uniqlo; other aggressive Japanese firms are emerging and those will set a precedent and set the trend."