• German e-commerce site first Rakuten Group company in Europe to rebrand
• Introduces Rakuten Super Points in Germany to enhance global synergies
BAMBERG, Germany and TOKYO, Japan, November 29, 2011 -- Rakuten, Inc. (JASDAQ: 4755) and Tradoria GmbH today announced that the German e-commerce site, which was acquired by Rakuten in July 2011, will be rebranded as “Rakuten Deutschland.” The new brand will be inaugurated at Tradoria Live! on January 28, 2012.
“This represents a very exciting milestone for Tradoria,” commented Tradoria CEO Tobias Kobier. “Becoming Rakuten Deutschland represents both a symbolic and literal globalization of our business. Since joining Rakuten earlier this year, we have already seen significant synergies, but we expect this change to greatly accelerate e-commerce opportunities for our merchants and customers.”
Hiroshi Mikitani, Rakuten Chairman & CEO, added, “Tradoria has been a fantastic partner since joining the Rakuten Group and this is the perfect time for them to rebrand as Rakuten Deutschland. Rakuten is the global marketplace. We plan to bring more of Germany to the world by partnering with great German merchants and to bring more of the world to Germany through our global e-commerce platform. This brings our vision of world-wide, borderless e-commerce one step closer to reality.”
To mark the announcement, Tradoria will begin offering Rakuten Super Points from December 1. The Rakuten Super Points is a proprietary rewards program and is Rakuten’s way of thanking customers for their loyalty. The more purchases customers make on Tradoria or participating Rakuten Group companies, the more Rakuten Super Points they receive. Customers can then redeem their Rakuten Super Points and use them to pay for new orders. Please see our FAQ page for more details:www.rakuten.de/superpunkte/.
About Tradoria GmbH
The Tradoria e-commerce platform has been a leading German provider of online shop solutions (with shopping portal) since 2007, with a diverse and ever-expanding range of products. Visitors to www.Tradoria.de currently have a choice of approximately nine million products from 4,900 active sellers across Germany. The multi-award winning, end-to-end solution can be deployed by e-commerce newcomers, as a powerful sales channel for existing online stores, or as a multi-channel solution for brick-and-mortar retailers. Tradoria’s full-service offering includes complete payment handling, customer communication during the order process, continuous updating of sellers’ terms and conditions, and responsibility for the risk of non-payment. Tradoria was acquired by Rakuten, Inc. in July 2011.
About Rakuten
Rakuten, Inc. (JASDAQ: 4755), is one of the world’s leading Internet service companies, providing a variety of consumer and business-focused services including e-commerce, travel, banking, securities, credit card, e-money, portal & media, online marketing and professional sports. Rakuten is expanding globally and currently has operations throughout Asia, Western Europe, and the Americas. In November, 2011, Rakuten announced its intention to acquire eBook and eReader company Kobo. Founded in 1997, Rakuten is headquartered in Tokyo, with over 10,000 employees worldwide. For more information, visit https://global.rakuten.com/group.
November 29, 2011
- Rakuten, Inc