Rakuten
Innovating E-commerce and FinTech: How Motomtech Empowered Rakuten's Digital Transformation
About Rakuten
Rakuten is Japan’s leading e-commerce and financial service provider, offering a comprehensive ecosystem that includes Rakuten Ichiba for e-commerce, Rakuten Travel, Rakuten Card, Rakuten Bank, and Rakuten Securities. In April 2020, Rakuten launched its services as Japan's fourth mobile network operator. The company also provides financial services leveraging fintech, digital content, and communication services like Viber and Kobo.
Industry
E-commerce and Financial Services​
Service
Technology Department as a Service​
What We Did
Product Conceptualization, Software Prototype, Web & Mobile Application Development, Maintenance & Enhancement​
Custom Team
11 people (6-in-1 Business Analyst, UX/UI Designer, DevOps, Quality Assurance, Project Manager, Software Architect, plus 5 Developers)
Results
Since its launch, Rakuten's platforms have delivered tangible benefits like
95%
seamless integration of services,
reducing platform fragmentation and unifying the customer journey.
92%
enhanced user experience,
delivering smoother navigation and more intuitive design for millions of users.
45%
streamlined operational workflows,
reducing task completion times and minimizing service delays across departments.
3x
scalable platform growth rate,
supporting expansion of services without performance drops.
Challenge
Rakuten faced internal complexities as it sought to expand and modernize its diverse range of services. The core issue was fragmentation. With various teams managing disconnected systems across e-commerce, fintech, and digital communication, Rakuten struggled to deliver a unified experience for users. These silos created operational inefficiencies, inconsistent interfaces, and difficulty scaling product improvements across platforms. Manual handoffs between departments slowed down delivery timelines, while a lack of cohesive UX made it hard to maintain product consistency. The company needed more than just a software update. They required structural, cross-functional alignment that their existing internal resources could not support at scale.
Solution
Motomtech was brought in through a Technology Department as a Service engagement to help align and modernize Rakuten’s digital infrastructure.
Phase 1
Conceptualization
A full-stack team was embedded within Rakuten, bringing together the necessary expertise to rebuild and unify their platforms from the ground up. The project began with deep discovery work across business and engineering teams to identify delivery obstacles and system fragmentation. Motomtech then designed a centralized architecture tailored to Rakuten’s business goals, integrating design, engineering, DevOps, QA, and project management functions into one synchronized delivery pipeline.
Phase 2
Software Prototype
Our UX/UI team developed user-centered design flows that reflected the needs of multiple user groups. These designs were tested and validated early, ensuring that the final product delivered consistency and intuitive functionality.
Phase 3
Implementation
On the engineering side, Motomtech leveraged C# and React to build a robust, scalable platform capable of handling millions of users across various services. A strong DevOps foundation enabled smooth deployments and long-term maintainability.
Phase 4
Maintenance & Enhancement
Once the changes launched, Motomtech continued to support them through active iteration. We implemented roadmap features, gathered user feedback, and deployed improvements rapidly. This agile approach allowed Rakuten to keep pace with evolving market needs without disrupting live operations or compromising product quality.
Technology Stack
To ensure a high-performance, scalable, and secure solution, Rakuten's updates were built using:
Backend
C#
Frontend
React
Testimonial
"Motomtech's expertise in developing our unified platform has transformed the way we deliver services. Their dedication to understanding our needs and delivering a tailored solution has significantly enhanced our user experience and operational efficiency."
Nick Golden,
Project Manager, Rakuten
