Shopping at FamilyMart now boosts your Rakuten Points

Japan’s loyalty program landscape is undergoing a new transformation: Rakuten Group and convenience store operator FamilyMart have announced a major expansion of their strategic partnership. From July 2026, FamilyMart will officially join Rakuten’s SPU (Super Point Up) program, allowing shoppers to earn even more points when shopping on Rakuten Ichiba.

This latest integration marks a major milestone for the program. FamilyMart is the first company outside of the Rakuten Group to take part in SPU. With Rakuten’s far-reaching digital ecosystem linking up with FamilyMart’s network of 16,000 brick-and-mortar convenience stores, the boundaries between online and offline retail are blurring more than ever.

“Currently, Rakuten Points ranks No. 1 as the most utilized common point program and No. 1 in user satisfaction according to third-party surveys,” explained Rakuten Group CMO Naho Kono at an event celebrating the partnership. “So far, we have issued and awarded to users a cumulative 5 trillion points, which is incredible. 1 point can be used as 1 yen, so we have given back quite a lot to everyone.”

Point-lovers rejoice: the power of SPU

One major driver of this 5-trillion-point milestone was the launch of SPU in 2016. The program quickly became Rakuten’s compounding rewards system. The concept is simple: the more Rakuten services a customer uses, the higher their base point multiplier climbs for purchases on Rakuten Ichiba.

At launch, the program allowed shoppers to earn up to 7x the usual base Rakuten Point rate, if they used all four of the participating services.

“Through our partnership with FamilyMart, starting July 1st, SPU will expand to a maximum multiplier of 18.5x, covering 17 services,” Kono continued. “We believe that only the Rakuten Ecosystem offers an ongoing point program with such a high multiplier.”

To encourage customers to add FamilyMart to their roster of SPU services, the barrier to entry for the new SPU benefit has been set particularly low. Customers need only to present their Rakuten Point Card (physical or digital) or a linked FamiPay app, and spend a cumulative 3,000 yen or more at any FamilyMart within a given month. In return, they earn an additional 0.5x multiplier on Rakuten Ichiba.

For example, Kono illustrated the program’s compounding value for average users. She highlighted how a customer using a Rakuten Card and Rakuten Mobile could combine those benefits with a visit to FamilyMart for a constant 7.5x multiplier on Rakuten Ichiba. In many cases, the points generated from this basic cross-use could effectively offset a user’s monthly mobile data fees.

“Looking back over these 10 years, Rakuten Ichiba users have come to use a staggering 2.8 times more services. As it becomes more rewarding, users shop more and use more services. It’s a virtuous cycle.”

A long-running partnership

In fact, this latest collaboration between the two companies is built on a deep foundation that extends back to 2007, when FamilyMart first began offering in-store pickup services for shoppers on Rakuten Books. This relationship evolved to incorporate digital payment services like Rakuten Edy, Rakuten Pay and the Rakuten Point Card.

“Now, FamilyMart will become the first company outside the Rakuten Group to join Rakuten Ichiba’s SPU Program. We are absolutely thrilled about this,” Rakuten Group Chairman and CEO Mickey Mikitani told the press. “The Rakuten Group’s mission is to empower people and society through innovation. I suspect this initiative with FamilyMart may be the first of its kind in the world, and I am confident that it embodies that very mission.”

As FamilyMart celebrates its 45th anniversary, the company is making a broader push to redefine the role of the convenience store in modern Japanese society. President Tatsuo Odani noted that the retail industry has reached a critical turning point, and points now function as valuable assets for consumers.

“We must evolve beyond being merely a place that sells goods, transforming into social infrastructure for local communities and a place to encounter new experiences,” he explained. “One of the crucial factors in this evolution is offering points that align with our customers’ lifestyles.”

Fusing digital and physical

“Participating in Rakuten Ichiba’s SPU as the first non-Rakuten Group company means the highly advanced integration of two platforms with distinct strengths: Rakuten’s online convenience and our massive physical store network,” Odani continued. “By having Rakuten members utilize FamilyMart as their main physical hub, we will maximize customer convenience while further elevating the value of our store network.”

Rakuten serves over 45 million monthly active users in Japan, while FamilyMart operates around 16,000 stores nationwide. Executing a loyalty integration across these two massive customer bases promises to create a powerful mechanism for shared customer traffic.

“Shopping at FamilyMart naturally boosts your points on Rakuten Ichiba. In turn, Rakuten users will naturally shop more at FamilyMart,” noted Mikitani. “We believe this will realize a new, seamless connection between the offline and online worlds.”

FamilyMart Executive Director and CMO Hikaru Adachi highlighted the long-term revenue opportunities that this fusion creates for physical storefronts.

“The biggest reason is that by fusing with Rakuten’s digital ecosystem, we can expand our touchpoints with a powerful, continuous, and massive external economic zone – namely, Rakuten’s customer base,” Adachi said. “The fusion of digital and physical, or offline and online, has been talked about for a long time, but I do not think there has been an initiative on this scale before.”

A launchpad for future collaboration

For now, both companies are focused on making the July launch a flawless experience for users nationwide. But as Rakuten CMO Kono points out, this is just the beginning of a vibrant new era for Japanese retail. “We want to first build a rock-solid foundation with FamilyMart and see how our users thrive with this new synergy,” Kono concluded. “We hope everyone enjoys seeing just how much value the combination of FamilyMart’s green and our red will bring to their daily lives.”