Press release

Curbside Is Now Rakuten Ready

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Sponsored by Businesswire

Curbside, the Silicon Valley startup that takes the friction out of the mobile order-ahead experience for thousands of stores and restaurants, today unveiled it is now Rakuten Ready, taking on a new name one year after it became part of the Rakuten, Inc.

Rakuten Ready empowers stores and restaurants to deliver rewarding online-to-offline experiences that give time back to their customers. The company’s predictive arrival technology streamlines order fulfillment and enables merchants to scale their order-ahead programs and deliver products to customers at the exact moment they’re ready for them.

The new name reflects the brand’s promise to reward consumers with the speed and convenience of online shopping, and the instant gratification of getting what they want right now.

“We know that now more than ever, minutes matter to consumers in their everyday lives,” said Rakuten Ready CEO Jaron Waldman, Curbside co-founder. “As Rakuten Ready, we’ll be enabling great mobile experiences on an even bigger scale.”

Rakuten, a global leader in innovation headquartered in Tokyo, acquired Curbside in June 2018. Rakuten Ready’s proprietary location technology is a holistic answer to how brick-and-mortar commerce competes in today’s on-demand economy – improving sales, increasing margins, and rewarding customers with a more seamless experience.

“Rakuten Ready is the customer experience leader for brick and mortar merchants, empowering them to reach customers in surprising and delightful new ways,” says Mickey Mikitani, CEO of Rakuten. “It has been exciting to watch Jaron and his team at Rakuten Ready as they work to reward merchants with the ability to reward their customers with time back.”

About Rakuten

Rakuten, Inc. (TYO: 4755) is a global leader in internet services that empower individuals, communities, businesses and society. Founded in Tokyo in 1997 as an online marketplace, Rakuten has expanded to offer services in e-commerce, fintech, digital content and communications to more than 1.2 billion members around the world. The Rakuten Group has over 17,000 employees, and operations in 30 countries and regions.

For more information visit https://global.rakuten.com/corp/.

About Rakuten Ready

Rakuten Ready is a location-centric mobile commerce platform that connects stores and restaurants with mobile customers. The solution makes ordering ahead and picking up merchandise or food easy and efficient. Founded in 2013 as Curbside by former Apple experts in location services, the company works with leading retailers such as Kroger, CVS and Nordstrom, and leading restaurant chains such as Pizza Hut, Chick-Fil-A and Chipotle to scale their order ahead programs. The company is enabling the rapid growth of store pickup and fulfillment programs globally. A public SDK for ARRIVE, its predictive arrival technology already downloaded onto millions of consumer smartphones, enables global app developers to take their customer experiences to new levels.