TOKYO -- Japan's largest online retailer Rakuten is combining two flea-market services under its umbrella into a single app in pursuit of a larger share of a market dominated by compatriot Mercari.
Rakuten launched the Rakuma consumer-to-consumer marketplace app in 2014, which was followed by the 2016 acquisition of Fablic, the Tokyo startup behind rival app Fril. Under the new structure, Fril will compete as a single entity by absorbing Rakuma's user base and data, and eventually operate under the Rakuma name.
