Continuing the recent trend of Japanese internet companies expanding their businesses across the globe, leading e-commerce company Rakuten, who we recently profiled in our infographic series, has bought up an 80 percent stake in German online shopping site Tradoria.de.
This follows the company’s expansion into Indonesia which we covered just last month. You may recall we spoke to its local head of marketing about the company’s strategy there. Last month also saw Rakuten move into South American territory by picking up a 75 percent stake in Brazilian online retailer Ikeda (PDF). It has been a very productive summer for the company so far!
The acquisition of Tradoria marks its second European pick-up after it acquired France’s PriceMinister last year. The company also has joint ventures in China and Thailand.
Our regular readers are most likely aware of the many Japanese tech companies who are looking to overseas markets. Is the Japanese market not enough to sustain their businesses? We got in touch with Olivier Mathiot, who was the cofounder of PriceMinister’s and is in charge of the marketing development for Rakuten. He noted that “Rakuten’s growth rate in the Japanese domestic market is very good, even if the Japanese economy as a whole is slowing down.”
Nevertheless, the company does have strong global ambitions as Olivier added “We intend to become one of the major Global e-commerce companies in Europe and [beyond].”
Rakuten’s full press release can be found below, and you can read the German announcement over on Tradoria’s website (PDF).
Rakuten Acquires Tradoria in Germany
(See also: 11 options for Japanese online shopping that aren’t Rakuten or Yahoo)
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