Rakuten

Rakuten Group, Inc. (楽天グループ株式会社) (Japanese pronunciation: [ɾakɯ̥teɴ]) is a Japanese technology conglomerate based in Tokyo, founded by Hiroshi Mikitani in 1997. Centered around the online retail marketplace Rakuten Ichiba, its businesses include financial services utilizing Fintech, digital content and communications services such as the messaging app Viber, e-book distributor Kobo, and Japan's fourth mobile carrier Rakuten Mobile.[2] Rakuten has more than 28,000 employees worldwide, operating in 30 countries and regions,[3] and its revenues totalling US $12.8 billion as of 2021.[4] Rakuten was the official sponsor of the Spanish football club FC Barcelona from 2017 until 2021,[5][6] and the Golden State Warriors of the NBA as of 2022. It is often referred to as the "Amazon of Japan".[7]

Rakuten Group, Inc.
Native name
楽天グループ株式会社
Rakuten Group kabushiki kaisha
FormerlyMDM, Inc. (1997–1999)
TypePublic KK
Industry
Founded7 February 1998 (1998-02-07)
FounderHiroshi Mikitani
HeadquartersSetagaya, ,
Area served
30 countries and regions
Key people
Hiroshi Mikitani (founder & CEO)
ServicesOnline shopping
RevenueIncrease ¥1,681.76 billion (2021)[1]
Decrease ¥−194.7 billion (2021)[1]
Decrease ¥−135.8 billion (2021)[1]
Total assetsIncrease ¥16,831.2 billion (2021)[1]
Total equityIncrease ¥629.01 billion (2021)[1]
Owner
Number of employees
18,364 (2019)
Subsidiaries
Websiteglobal.rakuten.com

Some past significant investments include Buy.com (now Rakuten.com in the US), Priceminister (France, now Rakuten.fr),[8] Ikeda, Tradoria, Play.com, Wuaki.tv, Pinterest,[9] Ebates, Viki, The Grommet. The company also holds and has held stakes in Ozon.ru, AHA Life, Lyft, Cabify, Careem, Carousell and Acorns.

History

Early years (1997–1999)

Hiroshi Mikitani, founder and CEO of Rakuten

Rakuten was founded as MDM, Inc. by Hiroshi Mikitani on 7 February 1997.[10] The online shopping marketplace Rakuten Shopping Mall (楽天市場, Rakuten Ichiba) was officially launched on May 1, 1997.[11] The company had six employees and the website had 13 merchants.[12]

The name was changed to Rakuten in June 1999.[11] The Japanese word "rakuten" (楽天) means "optimism".[13]

Harvard-educated former banker Mikitani envisioned the site as an online shopping mall, offering the opposite of what the larger companies like IBM were trying to do with similar services, by offering empowerment to merchants rather than trying to tightly control the virtual storefront. The service was offered for a smaller fee than the larger Internet malls were charging, and merchants were given more control, such as the ability to customize their storefronts on the site.[14][15]

2000s

The company went public through an IPO on the JASDAQ market on April 19, 2000.[11][15][16] At the time, the online marketplace had 2,300 stores and 95 million page views per month, making it one of the most popular sites in Japan.[16]

In March 2001, the online hotel reservation service Rakuten Travel was launched.[11]

In April 2002, a new system was introduced for merchants, combining monthly fixed fees with commissions on sales. That November, the Rakuten Super Point Program, a membership loyalty program, was introduced.[11]

In September 2004, Rakuten grew its financial services businesses by acquiring consumer finance company Aozora Card Co., Ltd., later renaming it Rakuten Card Co., Ltd.[11][17] The company began offering a Rakuten credit card in 2005.[18] By November 2016, the Rakuten card was held by over 13 million people, and nearly 40% of Rakuten's revenue was from financial services, as it was operating Japan's largest Internet bank and third-largest credit company.[19] Rakuten card holders are a part of a point-based membership program, and can use those points to make purchases on the Internet mall.[19] In 2016, the company introduced Rakuten Pay, an app-based smartphone payment system.[19]

In October 2004, Rakuten Baseball was created, and the baseball team Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles was formed and joined Nippon Professional Baseball.[11]

In 2005, Rakuten started expanding outside Japan, mainly through acquisitions and joint ventures.[20]

In December 2005, Rakuten established the Rakuten Institute of Technology in Tokyo as its department in charge of research and development.[11]

In a joint venture in February 2008, Rakuten and President Chain Store established Rakuten's first e-commerce site outside of Japan with Rakuten Ichiba Taiwan.[11]

2010s

Around 2011, Rakuten started heavily expanding outside of Japan, with prominent moves including a stake in Canadian e-book maker Kobo Inc. and an investment in Pinterest.[21]

In 2011, Rakuten launched Indonesia's Rakuten Belanja Online.

By late 2012, Rakuten had moved into online retail in Austria, Canada, Spain, Taiwan and Thailand and into the online travel markets in France—with Voyager Moins Cher.com—and China, Hong Kong, Korea and Taiwan—with its Tokyo-based international Rakuten Travel platform. In North America, Rakuten Golf made booking tee time online possible. To increase its global competitiveness, and to better incorporate non-Japanese speakers, Rakuten decided to adopt English as the company's official language starting in 2012.[22][23][24][25] By 2016, nearly 40% of the company's engineers in Japan were non-Japanese.[25]

In September 2014, Rakuten bought Ebates for $1 billion to enter online shopping membership rewards in Canada, China, Russia, South Korea, and the United States.[26]

In January 2015, Rakuten entered the sport of football by acquiring Vissel Kobe, a top J-League team formed in 1995.[27]

In March 2015, Rakuten announced that it would begin accepting bitcoin across its global marketplaces, shortly after investing in San Francisco–based bitcoin payments-processing startup Bitnet Technologies. Rakuten has been a strong supporter of bitcoin's potential, and was one of the first major companies to accept bitcoin for payment.[28]

In 2016, Rakuten shut down retailing websites in the UK, Spain, Austria, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia.[19] In that year, the company lost its long status as the largest e-commerce site in Japan to Amazon Japan.[29]

On November 16, 2016, Rakuten announced it had agreed to a four-year partnership with the La Liga football club FC Barcelona, one of the most successful football teams in Europe. The agreement would see Rakuten become FC Barcelona's main global partner beginning with the 2017-18 season, with its name appearing on match-day jerseys. The deal was worth at least €220 million and includes an option for a one-year extension.[30]

In February 2017, Ebates and Rakuten acquired Shopstyle and its influencer marketing group, Collective, to extend into fashion curation and discovery and product search.[31]

Rakuten partnered with California-based Blackstorm Labs to launch an online social gaming platform called R Games in April 2017, going live with 15 free games optimized for smartphones, including Pac-Man and Space Invaders.[32][33] The games are based on HTML5, which can be played across any device and on any platform, and Rakuten will tap into its worldwide database of 114 million online shoppers. Rakuten plans to integrate R Games into its messaging app Viber.[33]

In September 2017, Rakuten signed a three-year, $60 million deal to become the official sponsor for the jersey patch on the front of the uniforms for the Golden State Warriors of the NBA.[34]

Rakuten partnered with Walmart for a late push on e-books in January 2018.[35] The company announced plans to launch its own cryptocurrency in March.[36] In May 2018, Rakuten announced the fourth wireless mobile network of Japan, named Rakuten Mobile.

In June 2018 Ebates and Rakuten acquired Curbside to accelerate its online-to-offline offering to members and merchants.[37]

In September 2019, negotiations successfully closed to acquire Chinese baseball team, the Lamigo Monkeys.[38] With the sale, Rakuten became the first foreign company to own a Chinese Professional Baseball League team.[39] Terms of the deal were not disclosed.[40] The team name was formally changed to the Rakuten Monkeys on 17 December 2019. New uniforms, similar in design to those of the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles were released.[41]

2020s

In July 2020, Rakuten announced that it would be closing its online shop/marketplace in the United States, which formerly went under the name Buy.com. The marketplace closed to new orders on 15 September, and shut down after all remaining orders have been fulfilled.[42]

In September 2020, Rakuten launched its wireless carrier service's 5G network in some areas of Japan after it started 4G services in April.[43] The company named its network technology the Rakuten Communications Platform (RCP) which makes use of cloud computing to lower the price and started sales activity abroad, gaining at least fifteen international customers by the spring of 2021.[44]

On September 24, 2020, Rakuten announced that they would shut down their online marketplace in Germany. As of October 15, 2020, they no longer accept new orders while all orders prior to that date were to be fulfilled.[45]

In March 2021, Rakuten announced at a joint press conference attended by CEO Mikitani and the President of Japan Post Holdings that Rakuten would allot more than 8 percent stake to Japan Post Holdings for 150 billion yen, accepting Japan Post Holdings as the third-largest shareholder after the Mikitani family in the first-ever major capital tie-up for Rakuten, to be financially equipped to spend billions on installing telecommunications infrastructure across Japan in competition with rival Amazon Japan. Tencent and Walmart, the previous owner of Seiyu Group, now partially-owned by Rakuten, also took stakes of 3.65% and 0.9% respectively.[46]

In February 2022, Rakuten founder Hiroshi Mikitani donated ¥1 billion ($8.7 million) to humanitarian actions in Ukraine amid 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[47]

In 2023, Rakuten partnered with Supermicro on high-performing Open RAN technologies and storage systems for operators of cloud-based mobile services.[48]

Acquisitions and investment

In September 2013, Rakuten acquired Singapore-based video streaming site Viki.[49] In November 2013, Rakuten led a US$800,000 seed round of funding for Singapore-based consumer-to-consumer marketplace app Carousell.[50]

On February 13, 2014, Rakuten announced the acquisition of Tel Aviv-based web messaging company Viber Media for $905 million, to link up messaging with e-commerce.[51] The Viber app is for making phone calls and sending free messages.[21][24]

On May 29, 2014, Rakuten Marketing acquired DC Storm, a UK-based technology company which specializes in marketing attribution modeling and data-driven marketing.[52]

In August 2014, Rakuten announced its purchase of Slice, a US company that provides online shopping services and sells business intelligence based on digital commerce measurement, for an undisclosed sum.[53]

In September 2014, it was revealed that Rakuten would acquire US rebate site operator Ebates Inc. for approximately US$952 million to give the company more access to US consumers and help it grow abroad, as it takes on rivals such as Amazon.com and Alibaba. Ebates offers coupons and cash rebates to customers who shop at its more than 1,700 partner retailers.[24]

In March 2015, Rakuten announced the acquisition of OverDrive, Inc., a wholesale distributor of e-books and other digital content that serves libraries and retailers, based in Cleveland, Ohio. The acquisition price was $410 million in cash.[54] In 2019 private equity firm KKR announced it would be purchasing Overdrive from Rakuten. In June 2020 the acquisition was finalized.[55]

In 2015, Rakuten relocated its corporate headquarters from Shinagawa to the Tamagawa neighbourhood of Setagaya-ku, to consolidate its Tokyo offices and to accommodate future growth.[56]

Since 2015, Rakuten has invested in several ride-hailing services. In March 2015, Rakuten led a $530 million round of venture financing for Lyft, spending $300 million for a 12% stake in the company.[57][58] In April 2016, Rakuten announced it would invest an additional $92 million in Cabify, which was founded in 2012 in Spain and is one of the largest ride-hailing services in Latin America. Rakuten previously invested $3 million in Cabify in 2015.[59] Rakuten led a $500 million Series E round of funding in Middle Eastern transportation startup Careem, which closed out in June 2017.[60]

In April 2016, Rakuten participated in a $30 million round of financing for investing app Acorns.[61]

In August 2016, Rakuten confirmed that it had acquired the assets of bitcoin wallet startup Bitnet, with the assets to be used to create a research facility, Rakuten Blockchain Lab, based in Belfast that will explore the potential of the blockchain.[62]

In April 2017, Rakuten invested US$2.4 million in Singapore-based MetroResidences, which allows homeowners to rent their properties out to companies and corporate tenants.[63]

In January 2018, the Group purchased Asahi Fire and Marine from Japanese bank Nomura for an estimated 45 billion yen. This will be the first foray for Rakuten into the general insurance market, and Asahi will become a wholly owned subsidiary. The company provides fire, automotive and accident insurance to consumer and corporate clients.[64]

In June 2018, Rakuten purchased Palo Alto based retail pickup startup, Curbside Inc.[65] In October 2018, CafeX Communications announced that Rakuten Communications Corp., the telecommunications company within Japan-based Rakuten Group, has launched 'Connect Live', a cloud service powered by CafeX that enables business users to collaborate more easily in web browsers and mobile devices. Employees, customers and online visitors can simply click a link in a web browser to connect without needing to download new software or step through a sign-in process. Attendees can also join from mobile devices too.

In December 2019, Rakuten was reportedly selling OverDrive to private equity investment firm KKR. The price of the sale was not disclosed, though Rakuten said it would recognize about $365.6 million in profit from the sale in the first quarter of 2020. OverDrive's purchase from Rakuten was engineered by KKR's Richard Sarnoff, a one-time executive at Random House who also was president of Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments until leaving for KKR in 2011.[66]

In February 2020, Rakuten Marketing was rebranded as Rakuten Advertising.[67] That month, Rakuten also sold its US$1.4 billion worth of stakes in various tech companies, including its entire shares in Pinterest.[68]

In November 2020, Rakuten teamed up with KKR to acquire 85% of Seiyu, the Japanese nationwide retail chain owned by Walmart.[69]

Businesses

Rakuten, Inc. has more than 70 services[70] operating via the three segments: Internet Services, FinTech, and Mobile.[71]

The services constitute the Internet Services segment are as follows:

The FinTech segment operates the following businesses:

The services operating under the Mobile segment are:

  • Telecommunications network & sale of mobile devices
    • Rakuten Mobile

    Criticism

    Corporate culture

    In 2010, the founder and CEO, Hiroshi Mikitani, mandated that all business, from official meetings to internal emails, be written in English.[72] Corporate officers that do not become proficient in English in two years were to be fired.[73] At the time, only an estimated 10% of the Japanese staff could function in English,[74] with the mandate facing criticism from other CEOs at the time.[75]

    Rakuten introduced the English-only policy, dubbed "Englishnization," as part of Mr Mikitani's push to "globalize" the company and its employees.[76]

    The new policy resulted in the resignation of some staff. Eventually, Rakuten decided to provide free English classes, offered time to study, and made clear that learning English was a part of employees' job. In light of Japan ranking 14th globally with "moderate proficiency" in the global English Proficiency Index behind South Korea and ahead of Portugal it also introduced difficulty in hiring staff with both Japanese and English skills.[77]

    While claiming it a success in 2012,[77] it was not until 2015 that the average employee score on the Test of English for International Communication, or TOEIC, had reached 802.6 out of a possible 990 points. A score above 800 indicates advanced proficiency.[76]

    TOEIC does face criticism, though, concerning its validity.[78][79]

    An example of official meetings held in English is "Asakai". It is a morning company-wide meeting that started on Saturdays,[80] but is now on Monday mornings at 8:00 am (JST).[80]

    Disabling product reviews

    On July 17 2012, the Kobo Touch eReader was launched in Japan to widespread criticism. The client app and networking was inoperational and devices could not be activated after purchase. A wave of 1-star reviews on Rakuten such as "my expectations were betrayed" were posted by angry consumers, after which the company disabled product reviews for the first time in its history. A Rakuten spokesman stated "In order to avoid confusion we will re-enable reviews after this issue is resolved. We do not plan to delete negative reviews. As a special case out of special cases it was unavoidable that we took this action."[81] However in opposition on July 27 CEO Hiroshi Mikitani later stated "Bad feedback is misinformation so we'll remove them and reinstate them after close review."[82]

    e-book advertising

    On July 19 2012, the Kobo e-bookstore launched. Advertising pamphlets for the Kobo Touch claimed a library of 30,000 Japanese titles when in reality only 19,164 were available. On July 27 2012, after criticism about the Kobo's available book selection, Mikitani vowed to "exceed 30,000 (books) within July" and "make 60,000 available by August." In reality ,those marks were met on August 27 and September 24, respectively. In response, the Consumer Affairs Agency stated Mikitani's promises and company marketing violated product misrepresentation laws and exerted pressure on the company.[83] Rakuten issued an apology shortly after.[84] The Kobo e-bookstore also included a repackaged version of 500 Wikipedia articles with a new ISBN number in violation of Creative Commons license standards. Mikitani's tweet announcing its inclusion attracted criticism on the internet.[85] The ISBN number was later changed to a product code and the DRM was removed.

    Price hiking

    On 3 2014 it was reported that Rakuten was ordering vendors to artificially hike the MSRP of items. During sales e-commerce consultants reported that high numbers of consumers took advantages of sales and coupons. In turn they recommended to "multiply the MSRP" and have a 50% off sale to appeal to consumers. A drinks vendor was reportedly told to hike prices by 5x.[86] Dummy product pages with inflated MSRP's were found to have passed Rakuten's inspection, hypothetically clearing it to be listed for sale.[87] The Consumer Affairs Agency stated company practices violated product misrepresentation laws and requested the prevention of further incidents. Rakuten later issued an apology.[88]

    On 11 3 2017 to commemorate a Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles championship win Rakuten initiated a site-wide sale, some vendors advertising 77% off their products. The company had claimed the sale would be a heavy financial burden but would consider it a "marketing cost." By 11 7 2013 It was revealed that 20 vendors and up to 1000 products were implicated in artificial price hikes. Products included iPhone4S's whose pre-sale price was listed as 43,3915 yen. 10-pack of cream puffs previously sold for 2525 yen were advertised as 12,000 yen but 77% off (2500 yen). Under Consumer Affairs Agency standards such pricing was illegal.[89] Rakuten initially denied liability and stated it was the actions of individual vendors but 3 of the 20 who had hiked prices were revealed to have received checks and approval from Rakuten employees. 17 out of the 20 offending vendors were give 1-month suspensions. They however remained anonymous and when asked if Rakuten would name vendors Mikitani stated, "1 month of suspension is too strict (for sellers) We're not the police and we think we do not have that right" [90][91] 18 Rakuten employees were later revealed to have pressed the idea of inflated prices to vendors. The company issued an apology and vowed to create a monitoring team to prevent similar incidents.

    Sale of ivory

    In March 2014, the UK-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) named the company as the world's biggest online retailer of whale meat and elephant ivory, calling on the company to stop selling the items. As a result of this, in April 2014, Rakuten announced that it was ending all online sales of whale and dolphin meat by the end of the month.[92] In July 2017, Rakuten announced that it was also banning ivory sales on its sites.[93]

    Recognition and awards

    Rakuten partnered with Stephen Curry in 2023 on a one-day shopping spree at the Warriors Shop in Chase Center for twenty Bay Area children. Curry posed as a team shop employee during the event and helped find sports gear around the store.[94]

    • Best Operator 5G Innovation [95]
    • Ground-breaking Virtualization Initiative [96]
    • Forbes Top 100 Digital Companies 2019[97]
    • Forbes Top Regarded Companies 2019 [97]
    • Linkedin Best companies to work for in Japan 2019 [98]
    • Forbes World's Most Innovative Companies 2017 [97]

    See also

    References

    1. Earnings Release for Q4 of FY2021 Financial Results (PDF) (Report). Rakuten. Retrieved 2022-07-01.
    2. "Rakuten set to launch a wireless mobile network in Japan - Tamebay". tamebay.com. 17 May 2018. Archived from the original on 2020-06-16. Retrieved 2019-05-22.
    3. "About Us". Rakuten Group, Inc. Retrieved 2023-02-04.
    4. "Financial Data". Rakuten Group, Inc. Retrieved 2023-02-04.
    5. "Gross Merchandise Sales & Number of Employees", Rakuten
    6. Andy Gensler, "Napster Partners With Japan's Rakuten Music", Billboard, May 31, 2017.
    7. Evelyn M. Rusli, "Pinterest on Wish List of Rakuten, Japan's Amazon", The New York Times, July 12, 2012.
    8. "Rakuten abandonne la marque PriceMinister", Le Monde, November 6, 2019
    9. Reisinger, Don. "Why did Rakuten invest so much in Pinterest? Integration". CNET. Retrieved 2023-02-04.
    10. "The World's Biggest Public Companies: #855 Rakuten", Forbes, May 2017.
    11. Willis Wee, "The History of Rakuten, Japan's Largest E-Commerce Site", Tech In Asia, June 13, 2011.
    12. "Our History - Rakuten, Inc".
    13. "Rakuten". Jeffrey's Japanese English Dictionary Server. Retrieved 13 February 2013.
    14. Hiroshi Mikitani, "E-Commerce Lessons From The Early Days Of 'Virtual Shopping Malls'", Fast Company, March 19, 2013.
    15. Stephanie Strom, "Online Overseas", The New York Times, June 7, 2000.
    16. Phred Dvorak, "Japan's Highly Popular Rakuten Plans IPO Despite Shaky Market", The Wall Street Journal, April 18, 2000.
    17. Michiyo Nakamoto, “Rakuten agrees to purchase Aozora Card,” Financial Times, August 30, 2004.
    18. Kiyoe Minami and Chana R. Schoenberger, "A Taste of What's in Store", Forbes, July 11, 2008.
    19. Alexander Martin and Takashi Mochizuki, "Rakuten Banks on Credit-Card Business Growth", The Wall Street Journal, November 10, 2016.
    20. "Profile: Rakuten, Inc."Rakuten abandonne la marque PriceMinister", Bloomberg
    21. Hiroko Tabuchi, "As War for Web Messaging Users Grows, Rakuten Buys Viber for $900 Million", The New York Times, February 14, 2014.
    22. ""Rakuten to hold all formal internal meetings in English"". 18 May 2010. Archived from the original on 2016-03-26. Retrieved 2020-04-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link), Japan Press, May 18, 2010
    23. "Rakuten to make English official language inside company by end of 2012", The Mainichi Daily News, July 1, 2010 (archived 2010)
    24. Mayumi Negishi, "Japan's Rakuten Set to Buy U.S. Shopping Website Ebates", The Wall Street Journal, September 7, 2014.
    25. Patience Haggin, "Why a Japanese E-Tailer Requires Workers to Speak English", The Wall Street Journal, October 2, 2016.
    26. "Rakuten Buys Ebates For $1 Billion". TechCrunch. 9 September 2014. Retrieved 2021-07-01.
    27. Jon Russell, "Rakuten Buys Japanese Soccer Team Vissel Kobe, Mirroring Recent Alibaba Move", TechCrunch, December 7, 2014.
    28. Takashi Mochizuki, "Rakuten Starts Accepting Bitcoin", The Wall Street Journal, March 16, 2015.
    29. "Amazon's scale in Japan challenges rivals and regulators". FT.
    30. "Rakuten ups its brand game with €220m Barcelona sponsorship", Financial Times, November 16, 2016.
    31. "Ebates Acquires ShopStyle From PopSugar Inc". Bloomberg.com. 24 February 2017.
    32. Shotaro Tani, "Japan's Rakuten seeks reboot through online gaming", Nikkei Asian Review, April 4, 2017.
    33. "Rakuten wants to disrupt the App Store" Archived 2017-08-19 at the Wayback Machine, Business Insider, April 5, 2017.
    34. Darren Rovell, "Warriors sign jersey-patch advertising deal with Rakuten", ESPN, September 12, 2017.
    35. Corkery, Michael (2018-01-26). "Walmart Makes a Late Entry into the E-Book Market". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
    36. Malik, David (March 2, 2018). "Rakuten to launch e-commerce cryptocurrency".
    37. "Japanese e-commerce giant buys Palo Alto retail pickup startup". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2021-07-01.
    38. Shan, Shelley (19 September 2019). "Taoyuan Lamigo Monkeys sold". Taipei Times. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
    39. Yeh, Joseph (19 September 2019). "Rakuten buys Taiwan baseball team, will officially run it next year". Central News Agency. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
    40. Shan, Shelley (20 September 2019). "Lamigo Monkeys officials discuss post-sale future". Taipei Times. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
    41. Hsieh, Ching-wen; Yeh, Joseph (17 December 2019). "Japanese owners rename Taoyuan baseball team Rakuten Monkeys". Central News Agency. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
    42. "Rakuten is shuttering the online shop formerly known as Buy.com – TechCrunch". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2020-11-17.
    43. Morris, Iain. "Rakuten is off to a slow 5G start". Light Reading. Retrieved 2020-11-17.
    44. "Rakuten counts 15 international customers for communications platform". Light Reading. Retrieved 2021-03-13.
    45. "Rakuten zieht bei deutschem E-Commerce-Marktplatz den Stecker (German)". t3n. 24 September 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
    46. "Rakuten lands $2bn in capital from Tencent, Walmart and Japan Post". Nikkei Asia. Retrieved 2021-03-13.
    47. "Founder of Rakuten Viber donates almost $9M to Ukraine". www.ukrinform.net. 26 February 2022. Retrieved 2022-03-07.
    48. "Supermicro and Rakuten Symphony Extend Their Collaboration and Offer Complete 5G, Telco, and Edge Solutions For Cloud Based Open RAN Mobile Networks". PR Newswire.
    49. "Rakuten extends its focus on entertainment after buying Singapore-based video service Viki". The Next Web. Retrieved September 2, 2013.
    50. Catherine Shu, "Marketplace App Carousell Raises $800K Seed Round Led By Rakuten", TechCrunch, November 13, 2013.
    51. "Japanese Internet Giant Rakuten Acquires Viber For $900M". TechCrunch. February 13, 2014. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
    52. "Rakuten Marketing Acquires DC Storm for Omni-channel Attribution, Measurement and Tag Management". Reuters. May 29, 2014. Archived from the original on June 1, 2014. Retrieved June 4, 2014.
    53. Bensinger, Greg (November 11, 2014). "Japan's Rakuten Buys Startup as It Mulls U.S. Entry". Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
    54. "Rakuten to Buy OverDrive". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2017-02-26.
    55. "Rakuten Sells Overdrive to Private Investment Firm". The Digital Reader. 2019-12-25. Retrieved 2021-04-09.
    56. "Rakuten to Move Corporate Headquarters to Accommodate Growth". Rakuten, Inc. Retrieved 2015-12-28.
    57. Mike Isaac, "Hiroshi Mikitani, Rakuten Founder, Joins Lyft's Board", The New York Times, June 23, 2015.
    58. Bruce Einhorn, "Japan's Rakuten is dreaming big", The Seattle Times, April 12, 2015.
    59. Yoko Kubota, "Rakuten Raises Investment in Latin America Ride-Hailing App Cabify", The Wall Street Journal, April 19, 2016.
    60. Ingrid Lunden, "Uber rival Careem closes $500M raise at $1B+ valuation as Daimler steps in", TechCrunch, June 14, 2017.
    61. Katie Roof, "PayPal leads $30 million round in Acorns investing app", TechCrunch, April 21, 2016.
    62. Jon Russell, "Rakuten buys struggling bitcoin startup to create a 'blockchain research lab'", TechCrunch, August 18, 2016.
    63. Jon Russell, "Rakuten invests $2.8M in 'Airbnb for business travel' startup MetroResidences", TechCrunch, April 10, 2017.
    64. Rakuten buys Asahi Fire & Marine Insurance from Nomura Holdings for Y45 billion - Japan Times
    65. Schubarth, Cromwell (8 June 2018). "Japanese e-commerce giant buys Palo Alto retail pickup startup". Silicon Valley Business Journal. American City Business Journals. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
    66. Milliot, Jim (26 December 2019). "Equity Firm Agrees to Buy OverDrive". Publishers Weekly.
    67. "Rakuten Launches Rakuten Advertising as a Premier Destination for Brands to Discover Customers and Engage Audiences". MarTech Series. 12 February 2020. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
    68. "Rakuten sells entire Pinterest stake as it offloads tech holdings". Nikkei Asia. Retrieved 2020-11-17.
    69. "KKR and Rakuten to buy 85% of Seiyu from Walmart". Nikkei Asia. Retrieved 2020-11-17.
    70. Bureau, Telecomdrive (2020-03-28). "Rakuten Joins Open Invention Network". Telecom Drive. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
    71. "Rakuten, Inc". Nikkei Asian Review. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
    72. "The Japanese company that ordered staff to speak English". Financial Times. 2017-12-18. Retrieved 2023-02-04.
    73. "Rakuten's decision on English not welcomed by everyone". Japan Today. 19 July 2010. Retrieved 2023-02-04.
    74. "Language and Globalization: 'Englishnization' at Rakuten (A) - Case - Faculty & Research - Harvard Business School". www.hbs.edu. Retrieved 2023-02-04.
    75. "How "Englishnization" Changed Rakuten's Business | Technology". The ORIENTAL ECONOMIST. Retrieved 2023-02-04.
    76. Martin, Alexander (8 May 2015). "'Englishnization' Advances at Rakuten". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2023-02-04.
    77. Wakabayashi, Daisuke (29 June 2012). "Rakuten's English Policy: Just Speak It". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2023-02-04.
    78. Booth, Dawn Karen (2018), Booth, Dawn Karen (ed.), "The TOEIC", The Sociocultural Activity of High Stakes Standardised Language Testing: TOEIC Washback in a South Korean Context, English Language Education, Cham: Springer International Publishing, vol. 12, pp. 19–35, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-70446-3_3, ISBN 978-3-319-70446-3, retrieved 2023-02-04
    79. "'TOEIC unsuitable for civil service exam applicants'". koreatimes. 2016-07-13. Retrieved 2023-02-04.
    80. "Rakuten's 20th Anniversary: Our unique corporate culture". Rakuten Today. 2017-04-27. Retrieved 2023-02-04.
    81. "「大きなミスを犯してしまった」――楽天koboに何が起きたのか". IT Media News (in Japanese). Retrieved 25 May 2023.
    82. Toyo Keizai (27 July 2012). "Negative Kobo reviews will be deleted - asking Rakuten's Mikitani CEO". Toyo Keizai (in Japanese). Retrieved 25 May 2023.
    83. "楽天が消費者庁から行政指導--koboの書籍点数を過大表示". CNET Japan (in Japanese). 25 October 2012. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
    84. "消費者庁からの指導について". Rakuten Group (in Japanese). Retrieved 25 May 2023.
    85. "楽天koboストアが配信するWikipedia人物記事にライセンス違反の疑いが浮上". Gadget Tsushin (in Japanese). 20 September 2012. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
    86. "楽天「割引偽装」社員が指示 元値つり上げさせ二重価格表示". Sponichi Annex (in Japanese). Retrieved 25 May 2023.
    87. "楽天社員が偽装指示 77%オフ不当セール". Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2014-03-23. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
    88. "消費者庁からの要請について". Rakuten Group (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
    89. "楽天「77%OFF」そもそも無理だった? 出店者だけが悪いのか". J-cast News (in Japanese). 8 November 2013. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
    90. ""1万2000円のシュークリーム"は楽天が価格チェック済みだった 「ルール甘かった」と三木谷社長が陳謝". IT Media News (in Japanese). Retrieved 25 May 2023.
    91. Toyo Keizai (12 November 2013). "これで幕引き?楽天日本一セール問題 "超高値"のiPhone、シュークリームはお咎めなし". Toyo Keizai (in Japanese). Retrieved 25 May 2023.
    92. Justin McCurry, "Japan's biggest online retailer, Rakuten, ends whale meat sales", The Guardian, April 4, 2014.
    93. "Japan's Rakuten retail site bans ivory sales", BBC News, July 7, 2017.
    94. Brett Siegel (28 February 2023). "Stephen Curry And Rakuten Partner To Create The Perfect Day For Bay Area Youth". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
    95. "2021 Glotel Awards winners unveiled". Telecoms.com. 23 November 2021. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
    96. "2021 Glotel Awards winners unveiled". Telecoms.com. 23 November 2021. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
    97. "Rakuten". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
    98. Gilchrist, Karen (2019-04-02). "These are the best companies to work for in Japan in 2019, according to LinkedIn". CNBC. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
    This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.