Uber teams up with Japan's Rakuten as food delivery war heats up

Move comes after e-commerce giant scales back own ambitions in sector

Apr 18 (Nikkei) - Uber Technologies on Monday said it will partner with Japanese e-commerce company Rakuten Group in Uber's food delivery business, a move that will likely intensify the delivery battle in Japan.

By the end of April, users of Uber Eats will be able to pay for orders using the credit card linked to their Rakuten ID. They can earn Rakuten Points, a reward program run by Rakuten Group, as well as use the points to pay for purchases. Users will also be able to sign up for Uber Eats with their Rakuten ID.

In a recorded video message, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said the tie-up was a result of years of talks between him and Rakuten CEO Hiroshi Mikitani.

Rakuten has been a major investor in Lyft, Uber's ride-hailing rival in the U.S., since 2015, but Mikitani stepped down from Lyft's board in 2020.

Rakuten last year transferred its food delivery operation to Gurunavi, a Japanese restaurant booking site that counts Rakuten as a shareholder. The move signaled that Rakuten was scaling back ambitions of building its own delivery business.

Uber's biggest rival Demae-can said last week that net loss for the September 2021 to February 2022 period more than doubled from the previous year from 9.8 billion yen ($77 million) to 22.9 billion yen. Demae-can's revenue, however, also doubled to 22.7 billion yen. ...continue reading

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