株式会社askme

What 株式会社askme does

株式会社askme is a privately held Japanese professional services firm specializing in e-commerce site production and operational support. Founded in November 2004 as 有限会社askme and reorganized into a stock corporation (株式会社askme) in November 2017, the company is headquartered in Osaka with a secondary office in Tokyo, operating exclusively within the domestic Japanese market under founder-led management (Representative Director: Takahiko Konan / 小南貴彦).

The company's core offering is the design, construction, and ongoing operation of storefronts on Japan's three major marketplace platforms — Rakuten Ichiba (RMS / GOLD), Yahoo! Shopping (StorePro), and au PAY Market (Wow! / Wowma!) — complemented by independent EC site construction on Shopify, MakeShop, FutureShop, ShopServe, ecbeing, EC-CUBE, and Tamago Repeat. Supporting services include email newsletter production, banner design across web/SNS/display ad formats, mobile-first site design, landing page creation, product photography, mall data migration, advertising operations (RPP, listing, search ads), and EC consulting. All design and development work is performed by an in-house team; askme states explicitly that it outsources nothing. The firm reports producing or operating more than 1,500 EC stores since 2004, with named enterprise clients spanning global cosmetics brands (Estée Lauder, Clinique, La Mer, Bobbi Brown, Jo Malone London, Too Faced, M·A·C), consumer goods (Nestlé Health Science), fashion (kissora, BONAVENTURA, Dorran), food and beverage, and multiple municipal governments operating Furusato Nozei (hometown tax donation) portals.

Revenue is generated through project-based fees (Rakuten Original/Standard Plans at ¥398,000+, Rakuten Start Plan at ¥180,000+, au PAY Market New Store Pack at ¥170,000+, independent EC Original Plan at ¥1,000,000+, etc.) and recurring monthly services such as newsletter production at ¥72,000/month. Go-to-market is sales-led: customers reach askme via prominent phone numbers (Tokyo and Osaka), online inquiry forms, and Yahoo! Japan partner-program referrals; there is no self-serve or PLG motion. askme holds Yahoo! Japan Commerce Partner Expert and Promotion Advertising Official Agent certifications. The firm uses no proprietary technology platform — it is a design-and-services business operating on third-party marketplace and EC infrastructure.

Name

株式会社askme

Legal name

株式会社askme

Website

https://askme.co.jp

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Short description

株式会社askme is a Japanese professional services firm that designs, builds, and operates e-commerce storefronts on Rakuten, Yahoo! Shopping, and au PAY Market, plus independent D2C sites, serving enterprise brands, SMBs, and municipal Furusato Nozei programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

E-commerce Production Services

akta.pro primary industry

Marketplace Enablement, Seller Tools & E-commerce Infrastructure (BPAMAGAK)

Keywords

• EC site production
• Marketplace store design
• Email newsletter services
• Mobile-first design
• EC operations outsourcing

Headquarters

HQ city

Osaka

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. EC Site Production & Operational Support Services: askme generates revenue through one-time project fees and recurring monthly service contracts for EC site design, development, and operational support across major Japanese marketplaces (Rakuten, Yahoo! Shopping, au PAY Market) and independent EC platforms. Revenue is earned via fixed-price project packages (e.g., Original Plan, Standard Plan, Start Plan for Rakuten; Wow! Manager Plan, Wowma Plus Plan for au PAY Market) and monthly retainer arrangements (e.g., monthly newsletter creation at 72,000 yen/month, maintenance plans).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

askme designs, builds, and operates e-commerce storefronts for Japanese merchants on major marketplace platforms (Rakuten Ichiba, Yahoo! Shopping, au PAY Market) and on independent D2C platforms (Shopify, MakeShop, FutureShop, ShopServe, ecbeing, EC-CUBE). It also provides add-on operational services such as email newsletter creation, banner production, mobile-first design, mall migration, mall advertising management, and EC consulting.

Product overview

askme (株式会社askме) is an EC site creation and operational support company offering a comprehensive suite of services for major Japanese e-commerce platforms. The core portfolio consists of marketplace store creation services for Rakuten, Yahoo! Shopping, and au PAY マーケット, complemented by independent EC site construction using platforms such as Shopify, MakeShop, FutureShop, ShopServe, ecbeing, and EC-CUBE. Additional services include email newsletter management (メールマガジン代行), banner design (バナー制作サービス), mobile-first site design (超モバイルファーストプラン), and landing page production. The company provides supporting services including mall migration, operational outsourcing, consulting, advertising management, photography, general web development, and systems development. The service architecture is modular, allowing clients to select individual services or comprehensive packages ranging from entry-level starter plans (180,000 yen) to full-scale original creation (1,000,000 yen+). askme has completed over 1,500 EC site projects since 2004.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Rakuten Marketplace Store Production Support (楽天市場制作サポート) End-to-end Rakuten Ichiba store creation, design, and operational support for brands and merchants selling on Rakuten. Includes Original Plan, Standard Plan, and Start Plan tiers with product registration, banner production, RPP ad support, and consulting.
• Yahoo! Shopping Production Support (Yahoo!ショッピング制作サポート) Yahoo! Shopping store creation and operational support using the StorePro platform, with Omakase Pack and Regular Pack options including responsive design, format creation, and product registrations.
• au PAY Market Production Support (au PAY マーケット制作サポート) au PAY Market (formerly Wowma!) store creation and operational support with New Store Omakase Pack, Copy Store Pack, and Original Production Plan tiers for new and existing merchants.
• Independent EC Site Production Plan (自社ECサイト制作プラン) Independent EC site construction on platforms such as Shopify, MakeShop, FutureShop, ShopServe, ecbeing, EC-CUBE, and Tamago Repeat. Includes Original Plan and Copy Store Plan for D2C brands seeking standalone online stores.
• Email Newsletter Agency Service (メールマガジン代行サービス) Email newsletter creation and distribution service supporting HTML and text formats for Rakuten, Yahoo!, and au PAY Market merchants, available as monthly subscriptions or per-issue production.
• Banner Production Service (バナー制作サービス) Banner design service for websites, SNS (Instagram, Facebook), display ads (Google, Yahoo), and LINE official accounts, with size- and format-based pricing.
• Super Mobile First Plan (超モバイルファーストプラン) Mobile-first EC site production plan targeting smartphone users to reduce costs by eliminating PC-specific design while maintaining PC compatibility. Eligible for the Japanese government's IT Introduction Subsidy program.
• Rakuten New Smartphone Top Page Production Plan (楽天市場 新スマホトップページ制作プラン) Rakuten smartphone top page creation service for the new Rakuten GOLD layout, including hero image, supporting images, ranking setup, featured product registration, and common banners.
• EC Site Operations Outsourcing (ECサイト運営代行) Outsourced store operations management including page updates, inventory management, and customer service on behalf of EC merchants.
• Mall Migration Plan (モール引っ越しプラン) Product data migration service between Japanese e-commerce malls, with unit-based pricing per item migrated.

Quantifiable outcome

• 1,500+ EC sites produced and operated since 2004
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers20 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration10 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• ヤフージャパン (Yahoo! Japan)coreGTM or Marketing Partneraskme holds Yahoo! Japan Commerce Partner Expert (コマースパートナーエキスパート) and Yahoo! Japan Promotion Advertising Official Agent (プロモーション広告 正規代理店) certifications. These designations indicate official recognition by Yahoo! Japan as a qualified EC production and advertising partner, enabling askme to offer verified Yahoo! Shopping store production services and paid advertising management to its clients.
• IT導入補助金 2023 (IT Introduction Subsidy 2023)minorOthersaskme participates in the Japanese government's IT Introduction Subsidy program, which provides subsidies of up to ¥3.5 million to small and medium enterprises adopting IT tools. The Super Mobile First Plan is eligible for this subsidy, allowing eligible clients to reduce upfront costs.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• 株式会社いつも: Direct Japanese peer. 株式会社いつも (Itsumo) is a Tokyo-based EC consulting and operations agency supporting Rakuten, Yahoo! Shopping, and Amazon sellers with site production and operational services — closely overlapping askme's core offerings and customer base.
• 株式会社カラフル: Direct Japanese peer. 株式会社カラフル (Colorful) provides EC site production, design, and operational support for Rakuten and other Japanese marketplaces, serving a similar customer base of marketplace sellers seeking professional production help.
• 株式会社ペンシル: Direct Japanese peer. 株式会社ペンシル (Pencil) is an EC consulting agency offering strategy, site production, and operational support for marketplace and D2C clients, with a service portfolio comparable to askme.

Broad incumbents

• 株式会社ecbeing: Broader incumbent. ecbeing is an established Japanese EC platform vendor offering enterprise SaaS for large-brand e-commerce sites; overlaps with askme's independent EC site production work but operates as a platform vendor rather than an agency.
• GMOメイクショップ株式会社 (GMO MAKESHOP): Broader incumbent. GMO MAKESHOP operates one of Japan's largest independent EC platforms (MakeShop), which askme explicitly supports for clients. GMO also offers design and migration services that compete with askme for the same marketplace-to-independent migration clients.

Others

• Shopify: Adjacent platform. Shopify is a global EC platform that askme supports for Japanese clients building independent stores. Not a direct competitor, but Shopify's expanding DIY tooling and merchant services partially overlaps with askme's production scope.
• BASE株式会社: Adjacent platform. BASE is a major Japanese no-code EC platform enabling small merchants to launch stores without professional design help. Competes indirectly for entry-level EC sellers that askme otherwise serves as new-store-build customers.
• STORES株式会社: Adjacent platform. STORES operates Japanese EC (STORES.jp) and payment (COLE) products enabling small merchants to sell online with minimal technical support. Competes indirectly for budget-conscious sellers that askme otherwise targets.
• フューチャーコマース株式会社 (futureshop): Adjacent platform. futureshop is an established Japanese independent EC platform that askme explicitly supports for client store builds, positioning it as both an ecosystem partner and a partial feature competitor for independent EC merchants.
• 株式会社イーキューブ (EC-CUBE / ロックオン): Adjacent platform. EC-CUBE, developed by ロックオン (Rockon), is Japan's leading open-source EC platform that askme supports. It enables self-build merchants, creating both partnership opportunity and DIY competition for askme's independent EC production services.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about 株式会社askme