From search to discovery: The AI-nization of Rakuten Ichiba

With over 500 million registered products and more than 50,000 independent merchants, Rakuten Ichiba presents a paradox of choice: unparalleled variety that can overwhelm the everyday shopper.

To tackle this, the platform is weaving artificial intelligence directly into its core infrastructure, helping to streamline purchases and drive a fundamental shift from simple transactions to highly personalized, entertaining discovery.

Your AI Concierge for online shopping

In late 2025, Rakuten Ichiba launched a multimodal AI Concierge. The feature allows users to input specific prompts regarding their budgets and exact lifestyle needs (e.g., I’m looking for some skin-friendly sunscreen that is sweat-resistant for summer, uses environmentally friendly ingredients, is big enough for the whole family, and will arrive by the weekend). AI then steps in to analyze these complex, multilayered criteria and direct shoppers to exactly what they need.

Mari Takama, Executive Officer and General Manager of the Rakuten Ichiba Creative & Web Design Department, explained to journalists at a recent media event that the technology is already delivering a return on investment.

“Compared to traditional search, the time from searching to the purchase decision has been reduced by 40%, and the average order value has increased because the AI carefully analyzes the intent behind user questions,” she stated. “The AI Concierge also allows users to compare up to four products side-by-side (including contents, reviews, scores) and can summarize product pages on the spot (including features, variations, stock, reviews, price, and point rewards) so users don’t even have to leave the chat window to make a decision.”

The concierge has also introduced an element of gamification into the shopping experience. Takama observed that during major sales, user behavior undergoes a dramatic shift, as they seek to max out the number of Rakuten Points they can earn from their purchases. “Interestingly, during big events like the Rakuten Super Sale, users ask abstract questions to the AI like, What’s cheap right now? just to reach their 10-store purchase goal for point multipliers.”

The concierge represents a major transformation in the way shoppers navigate Rakuten Ichiba, which has been primarily driven by search for the better part of three decades.

“We haven’t stepped on the gas pedal all the way yet. We are being careful to ensure the quality of answers remains high before integrating it deeper into navigation,” Takama continued.  “Right now, we are focused on improving the user experience. We see traditional search and AI search coexisting for a while.”

Moving from transaction to discovery

Rakuten Ichiba’s AI strategy goes beyond just helping shoppers find exactly what they are looking for. The platform is leveraging AI to uncover users’ latent needs. It’s an approach that aligns closely with Rakuten’s founding philosophy, Takama explained: “Rakuten Ichiba was established in 1997 with the concept of Shopping is Entertainment.”

To modernize this concept, Rakuten Ichiba has introduced the Discovery Recommendation feature, seeking to shift behavior away from purely purpose-driven buying. Takama likened this novel, serendipitous approach to “wandering through a large shopping mall,” where unexpected encounters with new products and stores happen naturally.

Utilizing a personalized feed of product images and short videos created by merchants, the AI taps into shoppers’ underlying interests to surface hidden gems, effectively introducing shoppers to items they may not have even realized they wanted. “We plan to strengthen its entertainment value, potentially incorporating elements like live commerce.”

Empowering merchants and protecting individuality

Rakuten Ichiba’s consumer-facing AI tech is revolutionizing the shopping journey, but the platform is equally committed to supporting the merchants who operate behind the scenes.

“Our mission is to make unique merchants the main stars – not Rakuten,” Takama continued, “and facilitate as many encounters as possible between them and end-users.”

Merchants have access to a comprehensive suite of AI-driven operational support tools that assist with tasks ranging from writing product descriptions and editing image backgrounds to drafting responses to customer reviews.

“Currently, about half of our 50,000 merchants utilize these AI functions in some capacity,” explained Yusuke Yamakawa, General Manager of Rakuten’s Commerce & Marketing Technology Division.

“As usage has progressed, we are moving from just saving time to providing added value,” he continued. Merchants previously struggled to navigate complex data tools, but the new chat interface has changed this dynamic entirely. “Now, they can chat with the AI agent, which shows them actual numbers, insights based on those numbers, and suggests what to look at next.”

Today, some 72.9% of merchants using the agent are deeply analyzing their store data.

One concern among merchants is the prospect that relying heavily on AI will cause their stores to become generic and lose their unique appeal. Yamakawa reassured Rakuten’s partners that the technology is geared to highlight, not erase, their distinctiveness.

“The AI features are meant to streamline parts of the workflow, not replace everything,” he stated. “We are conscious of providing AI in a way that preserves individuality. The time saved through efficiency should be redirected into high-value tasks like merchandising and creating unique content to appeal to users, which actually helps them showcase their uniqueness better.”

The future of human-like hospitality

Rakuten Ichiba envisions its AI evolving into a bridge that replicates the highly personalized, human-like hospitality of an in-store expert – but on a massive scale. To achieve this, the platform plans to tap into the wealth of expertise held by its sellers.

“Moving forward, we want to integrate the knowledge of the merchants into this conversational AI,” Takama told journalists. “We have customer service pattern data from over 50,000 merchants, and we want to use this to create a true customer service AI.”

She gave an example: if a shopper has a general desire for a washing machine, Rakuten’s merchants have already created excellent content on how to choose one based on current trends. The AI Concierge should work exactly like a retail store clerk, offering this specific, curated expertise to users with abstract needs.

But there’s a delicate balance required to protect merchant secrets. “Merchants absolutely have original information they don’t want competitors to have,” Takama noted. “We are currently in the planning stages and want to design this carefully in consultation with the merchants. General trends can be learned broadly, but proprietary know-how won’t just be blindly handed over to the AI.”

By carefully blending general AI models – currently those of OpenAI – with the unique insights of individual merchants, Rakuten Ichiba is charting a bold course in the AI space. The platform is not replacing the human touch of retail but scaling it, ensuring that both buyers and sellers thrive in an increasingly AI-driven marketplace. “We believe the Rakuten Ecosystem has an overwhelming competitive advantage,” Takama remarked. “This is based on our ability to reach millions of users both online and offline, and the interconnected ecosystem we’ve built around the Rakuten ID. By leveraging data from over 3 trillion annual interactions across 70+ services, we can learn about our users’ needs to approach them in even more effective and novel ways. We want to use AI as a tool to achieve this.”