Meryl Loh: [Media Invite] Celebrating Rakuten Singapore's Launch

If you happen to be at Orchard Road between March 28 to 30, you probably have noticed or even visited the Singapore launch "Rakuten Super Bag" extravaganza at Ngee Ann City Civic Plaza by RAKUTEN!

It is an experiential showcase which allow members of the public a taste of what Rakuten has to offer on its Singapore e-commerce site - www.rakuten.com.sg

Event highlights include product showcases from top merchants in the fashion and beauty, food, and home and living categories; celebrity culinary demonstrations; as well as sampling of Japanese snacks and games.

About Rakuten:

Rakuten has been a household name with currently more than 75 million members using its site to purchase an extensive array of items ranging from fashion to cosmetics, electronics, toys, household goods, food and much more.

Officially launched in Singapore in January 2014, the Rakuten Singapore Marketplace currently carries over 100,000 goods from over 150 merchants with a diverse mix of product categories. Its global tagline is "Shopping is Entertainment" and its idea of service is to provide shopping as a form of entertainment in people's lives. Rakuten does that in several ways - by ensuring that the shopping site has many merchants providing an exciting range of quality products; through its reward programme, Rakuten Super Point, which allows customers to shop more, for less. (A 100 Super Points are worth S$1, which can be spent on products across the website during the next purchase); and by creating enjoyable shopping-related events such as the hallmark Rakuten Super Sale - a big discount festive event.

At the event:

On March 27, 2014, i was invited over to their media launch.

Four interesting booths in different categories; fashion, food, toys and home and living..

In the food section showcase, it consists of many Japanese premium goodies!

Japanese health and beauty products,

Japanese fashion apparel and accessories,

In the Home and Living section:
There's a lot of interesting items to look out for - from cups to Captain America's cufflinks to furnitures and luggages!

And last but not least, toys and games:

The launch started out with Mr. Shin Hasegawa, Global Vice Chief Marketing Officer, making his speech about the exciting experiences on Rakuten.

“One key reason why we chose to start up our Singapore operations was that we saw a tremendous response from Singapore consumers on our global marketplace. We thus wanted to create a Singapore e-marketplace that offers consumers access to high-quality Japanese products that are not readily available elsewhere, with the added benefits of lower shipping rates and shorter delivery times than when purchasing from our global marketplace. Through this event, we hope to introduce the Rakuten brand to even more people in Singapore, and enable more people to experience and enjoy what we have to offer.”

Launching the celebrations was Kiren Kumar, Director, Infocomms and Media, Singapore Economic Development Board, together with Shin Hasegawa, Global Vice Chief Marketing Officer, Rakuten and Shingo Okamoto, Head of Singapore e-Commerce Business, Rakuten.

VIPs unveiling the Rakuten Super Bag
(From left to right: Shin Hasegawa, Global Vice Chief Marketing Officer, Rakuten;
Kiren Kumar, Director, Infocomms and Media, Singapore Economic;
Shingo Okamoto, Head of Singapore e-Commerce Business, Rakuten Development Board)

Next was the Rakuten's media tour by the super gorgeous host, Nikki Muller.

First stop on fashion!

Standing on the left is the beautiful Ms Cue Sae Katayama, the fashion curator of Rakuten who share with us her role and the current fashion trend and style! Happy to know that pastel colour is still trending this season!