Rakuten Closes More Country-Specific Marketplaces

The ultimate goal of cross-border commerce is to cross not just one but all borders and set up shops in every country possible. However, sometimes it’s not political issues or cultural roadblocks that keep merchants from realizing this dream; sometimes, like in Rakuten’s case, it’s their own decision to pull back.

TechCrunch is reporting that online marketplace Rakuten is set to shutter operations in the U.K. and Spain, including the physical offices that support those sites in Cambridge and Barcelona, respectively. Rakuten’s Austria office will also be taken off the map, although, since the company plans on using its restructured resources to focus on growth in France and Germany, shoppers in Vienna, Salzburg and Innsbruck will still have access to the marketplace.

“Subject to consultation processes, approximately 100 employees are expected to be impacted across the region by the current plans to close three marketplaces,” a Rakuten spokesperson said of the international reshuffling project. “Rakuten will offer staff alternatives where these are available.”

The moves come several months after Rakuten CEO Hiroshi Mikitani announced a multi-phase plan to return the company to a core of more profitable operations, and that necessarily meant that some branches on the tree would end up trimmed. Instead of casting a wide net that covers as many countries as possible, Rakuten will focus on some of its recent acquisitions to drive revenue and sales traffic in the territories in which it knows it can foster growth.

“Rakuten will also continue to grow its presence in Europe across its diverse business portfolio, from eCommerce to digital content businesses, such as Wuaki and Kobo, to the Viber messaging platform and the adtech business Rakuten Marketing,” a spokesperson told EcommerceBytes. “With the focus on eCommerce marketplaces in France and Germany, we will also work to increase the diversity of merchants trading on these platforms.”