TOKYO—KDDI, the second-largest operator in Japan, on 11 April launched an m-commerce mall on its EZ Web sites. EZ Web is KDDI’s version of NTT DoCoMo’s i-mode wireless Internet access service.
KDDI’s new m-commerce mall, called “EZ Shopping Parade,” will offer small retailers the opportunity to open virtual stores with small investments and will give mobile users the ability to shop at various virtual stores on their cellular phones, KDDI said. The rent for the EZ Shopping Parade is 30,000 (US$227) to 150,000 yen (US$1,135) per month depending on the service.
On 11 April, about 100 retailers opened their virtual shops on the mall. If these retailers opened their own sites on EZ Web by themselves, they would need a large initial cost for setting up a server or servers and would have to establish a settlement system.
KDDI’s EZ Web had 9.6 million users as of the end of March. In Japan, Internet-enabled mobile services, such as NTT DoCoMo’s i-mode offering, are winning popularity. As of the end of March, 51.9 million mobile users subscribed to such Internet access services.
