Rakuten Launches AI Product Recommendation on Ichiba App

TOKYO, Japan — Rakuten Group Inc. announced Thursday the addition of an artificial intelligence-based recommendation feature to its Rakuten Ichiba shopping application in Japan.

According to the company, the feature is accessible via a tab on the app’s home screen and displays product images and videos selected by an algorithm that processes user purchase histories, browsing records, and bookmarked items.

Rakuten Ichiba lists about 500 million products from more than 50,000 stores, the company stated.

The system uses data from over 100 million registered user accounts and more than 70 services operated by the group, Rakuten said.

The feature is available on both iOS and Android versions of the application, according to the company.

The company described the release as part of a broader effort to integrate artificial intelligence into its operations.