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-most used 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 sometimes referred to as the "Amazon of Japan".[7]
This article is about the Rakuten holding company. For the mobile network operator, see Rakuten Mobile. For the cashback shopping service, see Rakuten Rewards. For the defunct U.S. e-commerce site, see Rakuten.com. For other Rakuten businesses, see Category:Rakuten.
Native name
楽天グループ株式会社
Rakuten Group kabushiki kaisha
MDM, Inc. (1997–1999)
7 February 1998
30 countries and regions
Hiroshi Mikitani
(Chairman and CEO)
Masayuki Hosaka
(Vice Chairman)
¥−194.7 billion (2021)[1]
¥−135.8 billion (2021)[1]
¥16,831.2 billion (2021)[1]
¥629.01 billion (2021)[1]
- Hiroshi Mikitani (25.5%)
- Haruko Mikitani (8.40%)
- Japan Post Holdings (8.30%)
- Tencent (3.64%)
18,364 (2019)
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.
Criticism[edit]
Corporate culture[edit]
In 2010, the founder and CEO, Hiroshi Mikitani, mandated that all business, from official meetings to internal emails, be written in English.[53] Corporate officers that do not become proficient in English in two years were to be fired.[54] At the time, only an estimated 10% of the Japanese staff could function in English,[55] with the mandate facing criticism from other CEOs at the time.[56]
Rakuten introduced the English-only policy, dubbed "Englishnization," as part of Mr Mikitani's push to "globalize" the company and its employees.[57]
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' jobs. 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.[58]
While claiming it a success in 2012,[58] it was not until 2015 that the average employee score on the Test of English for International Communication, or TOEIC, reached 802.6 out of a possible 990 points. A score above 800 indicates advanced proficiency.[57]
TOEIC does face criticism, though, concerning its validity.[59][60]
An example of official meetings held in English is "Asakai". It is a morning company-wide meeting that started on Saturdays[61] but is now on Monday mornings at 8:00 am (JST).[61]
Disabling product reviews[edit]
On July 17 2012, the Kobo Touch eReader was launched in Japan to widespread criticism. The client app and networking were 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."[62] 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."[63]
e-book advertising[edit]
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 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 that Mikitani's promises and company marketing violated product misrepresentation laws and exerted pressure on the company.[64] Rakuten issued an apology shortly after.[65] The Kobo e-bookstore also included a repackaged version of 500 Wikipedia articles with a new ISBN in violation of Creative Commons license standards. Mikitani's tweet announcing its inclusion attracted criticism on the internet.[66] The ISBN was later changed to a product code and the DRM was removed.
Price hiking[edit]
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 advantage of sales and coupons. In turn, they recommended "multiply the MSRP" and have a 50% off sale to appeal to consumers. A drinks vendor was reportedly told to hike prices by 5x.[67] Dummy product pages with inflated MSRP's were found to have passed Rakuten's inspection, hypothetically clearing it to be listed for sale.[68] The Consumer Affairs Agency stated company practices violated product misrepresentation laws and requested the prevention of further incidents. Rakuten later issued an apology.[69]
On 11/3 2017 to commemorate a Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles championship win Rakuten initiated a site-wide sale, with 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 iPhone 4S whose pre-sale price was listed as 43,3915 yen. A 10-pack of cream puffs previously sold for 2525 yen was advertised as 12,000 yen but 77% off (2500 yen). Under Consumer Affairs Agency standards such pricing was illegal.[70] 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 given 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" [71][72] 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[edit]
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.[73] In July 2017, Rakuten announced that it was also banning ivory sales on its sites.[74]
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.[75]