Walmart and Rakuten open the first Walmart ecommerce store in Japan

The ‘Walmart Rakuten Ichiba Store’ combines Walmart’s expertise in delivering US brand products internationally and Rakuten’s knowledge regarding online commerce in order to provide a streamlined shopping experience to Japanese consumers. The digital store on Rakuten Ichiba is part of a strategic alliance between Walmart and Rakuten announced in January 2018.

The digital Walmart store offers Japanese consumers access to a wide variety of US branded products, including fashion apparel, outdoor goods, and toys. The store will initially offer approximately 1,200 products from a diverse range of brands. Orders will be fulfilled in the US and air freighted directly to Japanese customers, with a policy that includes shipping, duties, and taxes in the product price.

Walmart plans to continue expanding its product range and adding new product categories from its international assortment to the Rakuten Ichiba store to meet customer needs.

In addition, in August 2018 Walmart has announced the launch of a digital bookshop in partnership with Rakuten’s Kobo, an electronic book service. Thus, Walmart customers in the US are able to access a catalogue of more than 6 million eBooks and audiobooks, as well as the Kobo eReader and a co-branded free reading app for iOS and Android devices.