Lekutian (Rakuten.com.cn), Chinese internet company Baidu's (Nasdaq: BIDU) B2C e-commerce joint venture with Japanese firm Rakuten, announced recently that it will begin offering e-commerce platform store operations services for clients. The redesigned Rakuten.com.cn will more strongly emphasize the site's Japanese roots and distinctive international pedigree, and will primarily feature products from Japanese brands.

Lekutian's store operations services team will provide clients with online store development, maintenance, promotions, planning, and other operations in exchange for a set commission on sales, meaning that the stores will be responsible only for customer service and shipping.

A spokesperson for Lekutian's store operations services project said that the service was only open to a select subset of clients at present, having just launched. The initial group of store operations clients will be well-known brands, manufacturers, or first-tier retailers. As Lekutian's current strategy includes launching Japanese-themed products, it will give preference to Japanese brands.