Ant Financial Services Group, the operator of Chinese mobile payment service Alipay, hopes to make it possible for users of its partner apps in Asia to make cashless payments in Japan, the company's top executive has said. The fintech company, an affiliate of e-commerce giant ...
METI and JETRO to boost e-commerce support for Japanese firms via Japan Mall websites
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will increase support for companies trying to sell products abroad by opening more Japan Mall sites on major foreign e-commerce sites, officials said. The support program was launched in Singapore and other nations on a trial basis in ...
Tough online competition forces Isetan Mitsukoshi to shutter one of its Singapore outlets
Leading department store operator Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd. will shut one of its five outlets in Singapore due to tough competition from online retailers. Its local subsidiary, Isetan (Singapore) Ltd., said Monday it will not renew its lease with JB Trustee Pte., landlord of the ...
Ruling LDP calls for law to prevent tech giants strong-arming vendors in Japan
Concerns have been raised that the tech groups are abusing their dominant position with regards to smaller companies using their platforms.
Amazon to close domestic marketplace business in China, say sources
Amazon.com Inc. plans to close its domestic marketplace in China by mid-July, people familiar with the matter said, focusing efforts on more lucrative businesses selling overseas goods and cloud services in the world's most populous nation. Amazon shoppers in China will no longer be able ...
Technology giants such as Google LLC, Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. came under pressure Wednesday as Japan's antitrust watchdog noted opaque practices that could disadvantage vendors on their e-commerce sites or smartphone app stores. Some 50 to 90 percent of such vendors said their contracts ...
Japan and U.S. agree to include e-commerce and digital services in new trade talks
Tokyo said it has started talks with Washington over cutting tariffs on agricultural and industrial products, and that the two agreed to include digital trade as part of a new trade deal.
Amazon Japan raises cost of Prime membership for first time in 11 years, by 26% to ¥4,900
U.S. e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc. has raised the price of its Prime membership service in Japan for the first time since launching the service 11 years ago, citing rising costs. The annual price for shipping, video-streaming and an array of other services rose by 26 ...
Cash-obsessed Japan slowly buying into digital payment systems
Every few meters along a shopping street near towering Tokyo Skytree, signs with the words "PayPay used here" can be seen promoting the availability of an electronic payment option, an option that remains a relatively uncommon offering in cash-obsessed Japan. Despite its reputation as one ...
Rakuten's Hiroshi Mikitani has a new goal for his 17,000 workers: Learn to code
Less than a decade after stunning workers at his tech giant with an edict to learn English, billionaire Hiroshi Mikitani wants to do the same with computer programming. Rakuten Inc. may soon expect its more than 17,000 employees to know how a computer compiles a ...
India proposes new e-commerce regulations with focus on data rules
India outlined a new draft policy for its burgeoning e-commerce sector on Saturday, focusing on data localization, improved privacy safeguards and measures to combat the sale of counterfeit products. The proposed overhaul, which would likely increase operating costs for the sector, comes two months after ...
Amazon's winner-take-all approach to small businesses
If small businesses are to survive in the digital age, the online economy can't be allowed to be winner-take-all.
