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Rakuten
What drives Rakuten's sales and marketing?
Rakuten's sales and marketing strategy is a cornerstone of its global expansion in the internet services sector. A key strategic move was its diversification beyond e-commerce into a broad ecosystem, including fintech, digital content, and mobile services.
This ecosystem approach, spearheaded by its founder, transformed the company into a platform connecting users with a wide array of offerings.
Rakuten's strategy emphasizes building a comprehensive user experience, integrating various services to foster loyalty and engagement. This approach is evident in how they market their diverse portfolio, aiming to create a sticky user base. For instance, understanding the competitive landscape of their services can be aided by tools like the Rakuten BCG Matrix.
How Does Rakuten Reach Its Customers?
Rakuten employs a diverse array of sales channels, with a strong emphasis on its digital ecosystem. Its primary sales engine is its expansive e-commerce marketplace, complemented by dedicated online platforms for its various service offerings. This integrated approach is central to the company's overall business model.
E-commerce Marketplace Dominance
Rakuten Ichiba stands as a cornerstone of the company's sales strategy, functioning as one of Japan's largest online marketplaces. This platform facilitates a vast range of transactions, underpinning much of the company's retail revenue.
Integrated Service Platforms
Beyond its marketplace, Rakuten utilizes specialized websites for its diverse services. These include platforms for travel, financial products like credit cards and banking, securities trading, and mobile communications, each catering to specific customer needs.
Growth in Mobile Services
The launch and subsequent expansion of Rakuten Mobile have introduced a significant new sales channel. As of July 7, 2025, the service had surpassed 9 million subscribers, demonstrating strong customer acquisition through targeted programs.
Fintech Channel Performance
Rakuten's fintech segment shows robust growth across its channels. Rakuten Card's shopping gross transaction value (GTV) reached 6.3 trillion yen in Q1 FY2025, a 12.8% increase year-on-year, reflecting increased customer spending.
Omnichannel Integration and Partnerships
Rakuten actively pursues omnichannel integration, enhancing user experience by connecting various service apps. Strategic partnerships, such as with AST SpaceMobile, also play a role in expanding its distribution capabilities, particularly within the mobile sector.
- Rakuten Bank reached 16.48 million customer accounts by the end of December 2024.
- Rakuten Securities surpassed 11.93 million customer accounts by the end of December 2024.
- Rakuten Payment achieved quarterly profitability in Q1 FY2024, driven by offline merchant and user expansion.
- New subscriptions at Rakuten Mobile stores increased by approximately 20% year-on-year.
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What Marketing Tactics Does Rakuten Use?
Rakuten employs a multifaceted marketing strategy, integrating digital and traditional channels to enhance brand visibility and drive customer engagement across its diverse services. The company's approach is increasingly data-centric, focusing on personalized customer experiences and leveraging advanced analytics to optimize campaigns.
Digital Marketing Core
Rakuten's digital marketing tactics include robust content marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), paid advertising, and email marketing. These efforts are amplified through extensive social media engagement, reflecting the company's internet-centric business model.
Influencer and Affiliate Reach
The company actively utilizes influencer marketing, collaborating with content creators to promote its services. Affiliate marketing is also a significant component, connecting brands with publishers to drive conversions, with referred customers showing an 11% higher rate of repeat purchases.
Data-Driven Personalization
Rakuten's 2024 strategy prioritizes personalized, omnichannel customer experiences. The launch of Rakuten Analytics in September 2024 provides clients with deep ecosystem data for better customer understanding and decision-making.
AI Integration for Engagement
AI is being integrated across operations, from chat and search to UI/UX personalization. Rakuten plans to deploy AI on Rakuten Ichiba in Autumn 2025 for tailored product recommendations, enhancing the customer journey.
Loyalty and Performance Marketing
In February 2025, Rakuten introduced Programmatic Loyalty, an AI-powered advertising solution using first-party data to guarantee return on ad spend (ROAS) for retailers, strengthening its customer acquisition and retention strategies.
Traditional Media Presence
Beyond digital, Rakuten leverages traditional media for brand building, notably through its global partnership with FC Barcelona, significantly boosting its brand visibility and reinforcing its global expansion efforts.
Evolving Marketing Mix
The company's marketing mix is continuously evolving, with a strong emphasis on 'AI-nization' to enhance various customer-facing tools and services. This strategic integration of AI aims to provide a more intuitive and personalized user experience, a key aspect of Rakuten's competitive advantage in retail.
- Content marketing and SEO for organic reach.
- Paid advertising and email campaigns for direct engagement.
- Influencer collaborations, including with YouTube Gamers.
- Affiliate marketing driving significant repeat purchases.
- Data-driven personalization and AI integration for tailored experiences.
- Strategic partnerships, like with FC Barcelona, for brand awareness.
- AI-powered solutions like Programmatic Loyalty for guaranteed ROAS.
- Omnichannel approach to customer interaction.
- Leveraging Rakuten Ecosystem data for customer insights.
- Focus on customer loyalty and retention strategies.
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How Is Rakuten Positioned in the Market?
Rakuten positions itself as a global technology innovator, emphasizing entrepreneurship and a diverse ecosystem of internet services. Its core message focuses on empowering individuals and businesses by connecting them through a comprehensive platform that includes e-commerce, fintech, digital content, and mobile communications.
Core Brand Identity
The company's name, 'Rakuten,' meaning 'optimism' in Japanese, reflects its founding vision to revitalize Japan's economy. This optimistic outlook underpins its strategy to foster growth and connection across its various services.
E-commerce Differentiation
Rakuten distinguishes its e-commerce approach with a 'bazaar' model, allowing merchants to personalize storefronts and engage directly with customers. This fosters a human-centric shopping experience, a key element of its sales strategy.
Visual Identity and Global Recognition
The adoption of a unified global logo, featuring the Japanese character for 'one,' signifies new beginnings and unity. This visual rebranding has significantly boosted global brand recognition for Rakuten.
Unique Selling Propositions
Rakuten offers merchant customization, cost savings via its loyalty program, and risk reduction through merchant evaluation. These elements are central to its customer acquisition and retention strategies.
Rakuten's commitment to sustainability is integrated into its brand, evidenced by investments in renewable energy. The company strives for brand consistency across all touchpoints, adapting to consumer sentiment. For instance, Rakuten Mobile has secured the top position in the 2024 Oricon Customer Satisfaction Survey of Mobile Carriers for the second consecutive year, highlighting its customer-centric approach. The 'Englishnization' policy, making English the official language, supports its global expansion and fosters a unified international culture, a crucial aspect of its global expansion strategy.
Customer Loyalty Program
Rakuten's loyalty program, Rakuten Super Points, is a cornerstone of its customer retention strategies. It incentivizes repeat purchases and enhances customer lifetime value, contributing significantly to its overall sales strategy.
Merchant-Centric E-commerce
The 'bazaar' model in its e-commerce strategy empowers merchants with customization tools. This approach fosters stronger merchant relationships and a more engaging shopping environment, differentiating its competitive advantage in retail.
Global Expansion and Culture
The 'Englishnization' policy is a key element of Rakuten's global expansion. It aims to create a cohesive international culture, essential for managing its diverse operations and marketing efforts worldwide.
Data-Driven Sales Approach
Rakuten leverages data analytics to inform its sales and marketing strategy. This data-driven approach allows for personalized customer experiences and optimized campaign performance, enhancing its digital marketing tactics.
Brand Building and Consistency
The company focuses on building a strong brand through consistent messaging and service quality across its many platforms. This approach to brand building is vital for maintaining customer trust and market position.
Partnership Marketing
Rakuten actively engages in partnership marketing to expand its reach and service offerings. These collaborations are integral to its growth strategies and how it markets its services.
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What Are Rakuten’s Most Notable Campaigns?
Rakuten has strategically deployed various campaigns to enhance its brand presence and drive customer acquisition across its diverse business segments. These initiatives highlight a multifaceted approach to its sales and marketing strategy.
Global Brand Recognition Initiative
A significant move to bolster global brand recognition was the partnership with FC Barcelona, starting in July 2017. This collaboration successfully elevated brand awareness from nearly zero to approximately 70% globally.
Rakuten Mobile Subscriber Growth Campaigns
Targeted campaigns have been instrumental in Rakuten Mobile's subscriber growth. Programs like the 'Saikyo Family Program' and 'Saikyo Youth Program,' launched in 2024, offer competitive pricing. These efforts saw contracts for users 18 and under increase by 50% and for those 25 and under by 40% during the Spring Sales Campaign of 2025.
New Subscriber Acquisition Initiatives
The 'New Life Kickstart campaign' and 'Student Boost campaign' in February 2025 provided Rakuten Points up to 14,000 yen for new subscribers aged 5 to 25. As of July 7, 2025, Rakuten Mobile reached over 9 million subscribers, with new subscriptions at its stores up by approximately 20% year-on-year.
Financial Performance and Affiliate Marketing
The 'Saikyo Thanks Festival' in December 2024 contributed to Rakuten Mobile achieving monthly EBITDA profitability, recording 2.3 billion yen. Affiliate marketing also plays a key role, with customers acquired through publishers showing an 11% higher likelihood of repeat purchases and a 21% higher probability of returning.
Fintech Marketing Optimization
Optimized marketing efforts in the fintech sector led to significant profit growth for Rakuten Card in FY2024, demonstrating the effectiveness of their data-driven sales approach.
AI Integration in Marketing
The 'AI-nization' initiative, ongoing since 2024, integrates AI across operations and marketing. This includes AI-powered customer service and the development of a Rakuten AI Assistant, showcasing their commitment to leveraging technology for enhanced customer engagement.
Customer Loyalty and Retention
Rakuten's approach to customer loyalty is evident through its integrated ecosystem and loyalty programs, which encourage repeat purchases and long-term engagement, a key aspect of their Growth Strategy of Rakuten.
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