Pixmania, the French e-commerce site acquired by Rakuten in 2015, has accused its parent company of orchestrating the closure of its marketplace to benefit Rakuten’s own platform. The dispute centers on Rakuten France’s decision in early 2023 to shutter Pixmania’s marketplace operations, which had been launched as a separate channel for third-party sellers.
Rakuten France informed Pixmania marketplace sellers in March 2023 that the platform would cease activity by the end of June. The move affected hundreds of merchants who had joined Pixmania under commercial agreements, often at the encouragement of Rakuten’s sales teams. Pixmania’s leadership and many sellers now allege that Rakuten used Pixmania as a testing ground and a recruitment pool for its main Rakuten Place marketplace, only to discard the brand once the migration of top sellers was complete.
“On s’est servi de nous pour fermer la marketplace,” a Pixmania spokesperson stated, claiming the company was exploited to gradually transfer seller activity to Rakuten’s platform while draining Pixmania of its commercial viability. Internal sources point to a pattern: Rakuten actively recruited sellers for Pixmania’s marketplace with promises of dedicated support and audience, then later pushed them aggressively toward the larger Rakuten Place, offering incentives and downgrading Pixmania’s visibility.
Background to the closure: Pixmania, once a leading online electronics retailer in France, struggled after the acquisition, facing stiff competition and a declining brand image. Rakuten initially invested in revamping the site and added a marketplace in 2018 to expand assortment. However, by 2022, Pixmania’s marketplace accounted for only a small fraction of Rakuten France’s overall GMV, while maintenance costs and brand overlap diluted focus. Rakuten France announced a “simplification” strategy, promising affected sellers automatic migration tools and continued order fulfillment until June 30, 2023.
Sellers contest the narrative of a natural consolidation. Many reported receiving phone calls from Rakuten’s key account managers urging them to list on Rakuten Place well before the official closure notice, sometimes with warnings that Pixmania was being phased out. Some smaller merchants who had invested in API integrations and inventory specific to Pixmania felt trapped. A collective of sellers estimated collective losses in the hundreds of thousands of euros, citing abandoned warehousing arrangements and lost Pixmania-branded packaging.
A Pixmania insider added that Rakuten withheld marketing investments from the Pixmania marketplace for over a year, gradually starving it of traffic, while redirecting SEO efforts to Rakuten Place. “They turned off the tap and then claimed the faucet was broken,” the source said. By late 2022, monthly active buyers on Pixmania had dropped by over 40% year-on-year, according to third-party traffic estimates.
Rakuten France has defended the decision as a necessary business realignment. In a statement, the company said: “We recognized that managing two separate marketplaces created confusion for consumers and diluted our ability to invest in a single, powerful ecosystem. We are fully committed to supporting sellers through this transition and have offered favorable terms on Rakuten Place.” Rakuten noted that fewer than 10% of Pixmania sellers were exclusive to that platform, emphasizing that the vast majority already sold on Rakuten Place as well.
Nevertheless, the controversy raises questions about how large platforms treat acquired brands. Pixmania’s staff has been reduced to a skeleton team, and the domain now redirects to Rakuten’s main site. The brand, once valued at hundreds of millions of euros, will effectively disappear. “Pixmania was a pawn,” said a former executive. “Rakuten wanted our seller base and our traffic, and once they got it, they shut us down.”
For the broader French e-commerce sector, the episode illustrates the risks for small merchants when platform owners consolidate. Many sellers now demand stronger contractual protections, while others reconsider dependence on single marketplace ecosystems.