TOKYO, October 30, 2012 – Rakuten, Inc. today announced, that the 2012 annual gross merchandise sales of its online marketplace Rakuten Ichiba (including Rakuten Books) broke through one trillion yen milestone on October 29.
Rakuten Ichiba’s annual gross merchandise sales topped the one trillion yen mark for the first time on December 3, 2011. The reason why this figure was reached an entire one month earlier than in 2011, was because e-commerce demand has once again expanded robustly this year with the popularization of the smartphone. Rakuten was able to steadily increase merchandise sales by accommodating a wide range of customer needs, from daily essentials to special order items.
Rakuten will continue to enhance customer satisfaction, provide functions that make it easier than ever to shop, as well as organize events and campaigns with an added sense of entertainment – all under the brand slogan “Shopping is Entertainment!”