The less bumpy way to ride e-commerce = Rakuten

[FlankerStan]

Advertising Business

Advertising Business

Revenue in the advertising business grew to 206.5 billion yen in FY2023, achieving double-digit growth of 12.9% YoY and surpassing the full-year sales revenue target of 200 billion yen.

[FlankerStan]

Switch to Rakuten Mobile from DOCOMO—no MNP Reservation Number

May 05, 2024

In this video, I'll guide you through the process of transferring your Docomo carrier to Rakuten Mobile without needing an MNP (Mobile Number Portability) reservation number. Whether you're looking to switch carriers or simply want to explore your options, this step-by-step tutorial will make the transition smooth and hassle-free. From understanding the requirements to completing the transfer, I've got you covered with all the essential information. Watch now and make your move to Rakuten Mobile seamlessly!

[FlankerStan]

AI and Rakuten Ichiba

MS AI Assistant (Beta): This AI-powered store management tool is accessible to merchants via the Rakuten Merchant Server (RMS).

Features of RMS AI Assistant (Beta) include:
Product description generation: Automatically creating compelling product descriptions.
Product image processing: Enhancing product images.
Text generation for user inquiries: Crafting responses to customer queries.
Data analysis of sales trends: Helping merchants make informed decisions.
AI chatbot for store operations: Assisting with common questions.

By leveraging these AI features, merchants on Rakuten Ichiba can enhance efficiency and reduce workload hours.

AI-nization: Rakuten is actively driving the use of AI across its entire business.

For Rakuten Ichiba, this means improving the customer shopping experience through AI while simultaneously empowering merchants and realizing operational efficiencies.

The goal is to strengthen connections with customers and drive better results.

In summary, Rakuten Ichiba is embracing AI to enhance its platform, benefitting both shoppers and merchants. If you’re a merchant on Rakuten, these AI tools could significantly improve your business operations!

[FlankerStan]

Rakuten India Announces the 4th Edition of RPC '24

Read more At:
https://aninews.in/news/business/rakuten-india-announces-the…

[FlankerStan]

Positive financial performance in FY2023

Overall, Rakuten Mobile’s focus on improving ARPU and subscriber numbers has contributed to its positive financial performance in FY2023. The company aims to achieve self-funding at the group level by leveraging the mobile business’s financial performance along with cash flow from other segments

[FlankerStan]

Why ads increase the ARPU of Rakuten

Oliver Matthew: .... question on Mobile. I've been using the service reception is very good in Tokyo, thank you. But I'd like to check what you mean about the ad revenue. I don't really see ads. So I'd like -- could you explain more about how it works or how you think it will work? That's the first question.

Hiroshi Mikitani: Oliver, you use iPhone right?

Oliver Matthew: No, I'm actually using the Xiaomi RedMi. Sorry.

Hiroshi Mikitani: No. So now we introduced the rich communication service called Link. So people who call on Link, who message on Link it is SMS and also the free voice. And then in exchange we have two things. We can utilize their data. And also we will be able to display the ads. And we are really personalizing ads on - based on our CNDA database code. We have a consumer database for everybody and there Rakuten each display ads are connected. Number one.

And we are sending so much traffic to our ecosystem. And if you calculate that so if you calculate the gross revenue we are making from our ecosystem it is already ¥2,769 which is we are not counting as our ARPU. So maybe we can make this like affiliate model a little bit and because we are sending -- creating a lot of the value through the other services.

So basically ad is - and also we periodically send an e-mail to Rakuten Mobile users. In the future probably we will integrate the Rakuten Pay SDK into Rakuten Link app. So Rakuten Link app will become super app for Rakuten ecosystem. There are so many display opportunities because 40 million people a day will come to our website. And we also can include the Link. And I should say, I assume the line ARPU which most of the money is coming from ads and maybe some will understand it's about ¥300 per sub I think. So I think it's kind of a reasonable to say we can probably get close to what noise making using our data and the engagement level.

Oliver Matthew: Okay. So I get it. I haven't been using the Link app.

Hiroshi Mikitani: Please, please, please use it.

Source: Last Conference Call

[FlankerStan]

CAGR of 33.40% from 2024 to 2033

The global open RAN market size was valued at USD 1.8 billion in 2023 and is expected to hit around USD 32 billion by 2033, poised to grow at a CAGR of 33.40% from 2024 to 2033.

www.precedenceresearch.com/open-ran-market

[FlankerStan]

Like Rakuten and 1&1

Sangwon Seo, CEO of Stage X, said: “Rakuten Mobile and Stage X are the latest mobile network operators representing their respective countries, and together with Rakuten Symphony we wish to continue broad cooperation. Rakuten Mobile built and deployed the world’s first fully virtualized, cloud-native mobile network with a modern infrastructure that ensures stable telecommunication services as the newest mobile network operator in Japan. As Stage X builds out its infrastructure to provide 5G services in the 28 GHz spectrum, we look forward to working with Rakuten and learning from their experience across a wide range of areas.”

Stage X, which has been awarded spectrum that will enable it to be Korea’s fourth mobile carrier, plans to launch nationwide mobile network services in the first half of 2025, Korean press reported.

https://www.rcrwireless.com/20240503/5g/rakuten-mobile-signs…

[FlankerStan]

Addition to my last posting

JPY 300 per month in terms of ad revenue = JPY 3,600 per year in terms of ad revenue = about $25 in terms of ad revenue per year from every subscriber

When Rakuten reach 10 million subscriber during 2025 = a quarter billion $ from ad revenue.

When Rakuten reach 20 million subscriber during the years after 2025 = a half billion $ from ad revenue.

All analysts I ever had read ignored this point.

[FlankerStan]

Strong ad revenues from Mobile

Hiroshi Mikitani on the last conference call: "Especially ad, of course, revenue in the Link is going to increase. And we believe that is going to take place and already for iPhone basically it's going to be open on RCS. So there will be some revenue that we'll be able to drive out of this. So we have high expectation on this. So in the future per PET capita JPY 300 per month in terms of ad revenue is what we are trying to achieve. And we would like to do most."