Japanese eCommerce giant Rakuten has announced this past week that it will be closing its marketplaces in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia by the end of March 2016 as part of what it dubs a Vision 2020 transformation, in favor of a C2C venture similar to Carousell, to be christened as Rakuma.

As a result of the shutdown of their B2B2C venture, the company will lay off a number of workers estimated to be under 150.

Rakuten said it will provide redundancy compensation above and beyond legal requirements and work to find those affected alternative jobs.

Citing changes in the e-commerce model, Rakuten is also in the process of selling off its Thailand-based platform Tarad.

Despite closing the marketplace, the company will still maintain its regional Asian headquarters in Singapore.

According to the official Rakuten Vision 2020 announcement, the strategy is a move inwards, pushing resources into its strong markets of Japan and Taiwan as well as bolstering major investments.

Rakuten is an investor into Singapore C2C marketplace Carousell, so moving forward it will be worth watching how Rakuten integrates Rakuma into the region.