E-Commerce Site

E-commerce sites are broadly classified into four types by operating model. Marketplace-type platforms (Amazon, Rakuten Ichiba, Yahoo! Shopping) allow multiple sellers to operate on a single platform, with strong customer traffic as their greatest advantage. Self-operated EC sites (built with Shopify, BASE, etc.) offer freedom to express brand identity and allow direct management of customer data. C2C platforms (Mercari, Yahoo! Auctions) facilitate transactions between individuals, primarily for secondhand and handmade goods. Subscription-type EC specializes in recurring purchases, with regular deliveries of food and cosmetics as typical examples.

The choice of business model depends on the scale and strategy of the business. Joining a marketplace is a rational choice for minimizing initial investment, though sales commissions of around 8-15% apply. Self-operated EC keeps commissions low but requires building customer traffic independently. Many businesses use both approaches in parallel - acquiring brand awareness through marketplaces while cultivating repeat customers on their own EC site.

The most important metric in EC site operations is the conversion rate (CVR). A typical EC site's CVR ranges from 1-3%, and product page quality, variety of payment methods, and flexibility of shipping options directly impact CVR. Photographing products from multiple angles and including comparison images that convey size helps reduce return rates as well.

Payment methods should cover a wide range suited to the target audience, including credit cards, convenience store payments, QR code payments, and buy-now-pay-later (BNPL). For EC sites targeting younger demographics, introducing BNPL services is particularly effective at improving CVR. On the shipping side, setting a free shipping threshold (e.g., free shipping on orders over 3,980 yen) is widely adopted as an effective measure for increasing average order value.