Alibaba suffers culture conflicts
At Lazada, the Southeast Asian arm of Alibaba Group Holding, staffers are furious over demands that they submit health reports daily and other coronavirus-prevention steps seen as too invasive, highlighting a long-running culture clash with management from China. Since February, Singapore-based Lazada has asked all ...
Japan to punish reselling of masks for profit with year in prison, ¥1 million fine — or both
The rule will be implemented through a revision to a law enacted in response to panic-buying during the 1973 oil crisis.
Rakuten puts free delivery plan on hold after backlash from retailers
Rakuten’s retailers have made it clear that they are not all on board with shouldering the shipping costs.
Japan e-commerce sites crack down on profiteering from COVID-19 fears
Price-gouging to exploit the epidemic is so prevalent that even the government is weighing in.
Rakuten's plan to force shipping costs on retailers draws ire of Japan's FTC
The Fair Trade Commission said Friday it has asked a court to halt Rakuten Inc.'s plan to make retailers on its online marketplace shoulder the cost of free shipping amid complaints about the policy. The antitrust watchdog submitted the request to the Tokyo District Court ...
Mercari plans Tokyo store to tempt more into its online marketplace
Online flea market operator Mercari Inc. said Thursday that it would try its hand at brick and mortar operations in hope of reaching tens of millions of untapped users in the Japanese market, allowing them to sell their used goods on the spot and ...
Japan's antitrust watchdog searches Rakuten office over its free shipping policy
The antitrust watchdog Monday searched Rakuten Inc.'s head office in Tokyo over the internet mall operator's plan to make marketplace tenants shoulder the cost of its proposed free shipping service, sources close to the matter said. The Fair Trade Commission last month launched an investigation ...
As a shortage of face masks continues in Japan amid the spread of the new coronavirus originating in China, their prices are shooting up on online flea markets. Some people are apparently cornering masks at drugstores and other shops and selling them at excessively high ...
Antitrust watchdog launches probe into Rakuten's free delivery plan
The Japan Fair Trade Commission has started investigating online mall operator Rakuten Inc.'s plan to make marketplace merchants shoulder the costs of its proposed free shipping service, a source close to the matter said Wednesday. The source said the antitrust watchdog has begun hearing from ...
Tech giants will have to report annually to Japan on business practices
The obligation will be included in a bill to prevent them from taking advantage of their dominant positions against smaller retailers.
Online sellers petition for antitrust probe into Rakuten free shipping policy
A group of merchants on Rakuten Inc.'s online shopping mall on Wednesday submitted a petition with some 4,000 signatures to the Fair Trade Commission, asking it to investigate the e-commerce giant's planned free shipping policy. The union of more than 300 sellers on Rakuten alleges ...
Rakuten faces backlash from cybermall tenants over free delivery plan
Rakuten Inc.'s plans to scrap delivery fees for certain purchases on its shopping site are drawing harsh responses from tenants who complain the company's move violates the antimonopoly law. Some tenants at the Rakuten Ichiba cybermall plan to ask the Fair Trade Commission to investigate ...
