@
This excerpt from the February, 2000 issue of Trendy
EC and Financial Services Open the Way for New Convenience Store Services
In late November, 1999, a new sign could be seen hanging in
8000 Seven-Eleven stores
nationwide. How else to announce that Seven-Eleven Japan, with the cooperation
of Softbank, Tohan,
and Yahoo, joined forces
to establish e-Shopping
Books, an online bookstore? "For us to launch a new service, it's
the first time we've had to team up with other companies," as Seven-Eleven
entered the Electronic Commerce realm with its' first salvo.
With this, over the internet, a user can order books and have them
delivered to a specified convenience store, where the order can be picked
up and paid for. The delivery of products will be handled in the same
way as that of storefront magazines, via Tohan's distribution system.
And, along with the start of e-Shopping
Books service, purchases from other internet sites can also be paid
for at the store with the Internet Payment Service.
The major convenience stores are all jumping into EC together. At about
the same time as Seven-Eleven, Lawson
launched their virtual store, @LAWSON.
For the time being, only music CDs and DVD software will be sold, but
additional products will be introduced, aimed at broadening the scope
of the service. Family
Mart also will be joining the game with the scheduled launch of
their internet shopping site, Famima.com,
in the Autumn of 2000. Their goal also is to be the pick-up and payment
spot for online purchases. "Whoever controls the convenience stores,
controls E-Commerce." As spoken by a well-known economist, and also
from the viewpoint of EC businesses, convenience stores are becoming
the center of attention. Behind all this is the streamlining of Japan's
distribution systems that make up the convenience stores' networks,
bringing about the expansion of EC business in a way different from
that seen in the U.S. Of course, with the introduction of the new EC
services, it's expected that differentiation between each convenience
store chain, and the customers that use them, will widen.
And, with each convenience store embracing the net, the current services
also will be subject to revision. For example, with the MultiMedia Stations
(MMS) in some convenience store chains, the product and service lines,
as well as the procedures that they require, will have to be improved
upon to face the harsh competition. Outside of EC, "Convenience Banking"
is also booming, and ATM-like machines are increasingly found in convenience
stores.
E-Net is a company that operates ATM machines mainly installed in 5
convenience store chains, including Family Mart, as well as banking
institutions. In Autumn of 1999, a portion of the ATMs were installed,
and at present, despite the current hours-of-use limitations, the goal
is 24 hour service. During the year, some 5000 ATM units are scheduled
to be installed. On the other hand, for Seven-Eleven, there's no intention
to set up a new company to provide banking services. There are already
plans in the works for the Yokado Group (** note: Seven-Eleven's parent
company **) to establish their own bank to settle accounts.
The evolution of "convenience banking" is the goal in creating a new
market from the already familiar "gathering spot." According to Mr.
Kamioka, President of E-Net, "a number of the younger generation use
convenience stores as a second refrigerator. And, it's highly likely
that in-store ATMs will become their banks." Even within the convenience
store industry, if one compared the latent needs with EC, there are
high-demand services waiting to be introduced, according to Seven-Eleven.
And indeed, EC business and banking services are setting the convenience
stores into action. Even though these are relatively new services, there
are already differences in posturing, as well as with the benefits in
each partnering. We can already see how each company is responding.
The URL's in this article are:
Seven-Eleven
Japan
e-Shopping Books
Softbank
Tohan
Yahoo
Lawson
@LAWSON
Family Mart
Famima.com
Convenience Stores Complete the Net Circle With Product Pick-up and
Payment.
The one thing missing in internet shopping has been how to receive
your purchases. Even with parcel delivery at a specified hour, many people
feel this is too troublesome. As a result, it seems that the perfect solution
has come into sight - the always open convenience store.
In the case of e-Shopping
Books, an online bookstore where books purchased can be picked up
at Seven-Eleven, usage
is done on a membership basis. "In our first week, we got 12,000 members,"
according to Mr. Suzuki, the President of E-Information, the company
that handles customer relations. Purchases can either be picked up at
a convenience store, or delivered to the customer, but, "two-thirds
opt to pick-up (their purchases) at Seven-Eleven."
To test this, we went shopping on e-Shopping Books.
After deciding which books to purchase, when the "pick-up at a convenience
store" method is selected, a map showing the convenience store locations
near the customer's home is displayed. If you'd like to change stores,
it's possible to re-search and re-select as well. After deciding on
which store to pick-up the purchases at, the bar-coded payment form
is displayed. This is printed out, and set aside.
Two days after ordering, mail will arrive to notify that the purchased
books have arrived at the specified store. All that's left is to take
the payment form to the store. The store we selected had commenced service
1 week prior. When we handed over the payment form, the clerk was a
bit surprised - it seems we were the first such customers. But, the
payment form is like all the other common utility forms (** note: phone,
electric, etc. are payable at convenience stores **) where all that
has to be done is to scan the bar codes in, making the store's operations
go smoothly. If the printed form is lost or forgotten, you can also
just tell the clerk the 13 digit invoice number. If the customer hasn't
gone to pick-up the products, reminder mails are sent. Then, if 1 week
passes, the products are to be returned.
From this Spring, there are plans to introduce music CDs and videos
into the route employed by Tohan, but, for the moment, the development
of product genre is proceeding slowly. "Because of the limits of the
back room, the size of the products is going to play an important role,"
according to Seven-Eleven.
The competition is also looking hard at internet-related sales as well.
Lawson will also
be starting a new service to utilize stores as a payment and pick-up
location for net-sales. First, they expect to begin a new service as
a payment site for their virtual storefront, using their Loppi MultiMedia
Station. By entering the number given at the time of application, the
payment form is printed out. This will enable the pick-up service to
be performed, and bit by bit, new products will be added. Mr. Inoue,
the Chief Officer of New Operations Development says with a smile, "we've
stores in 47 prefectures, and we're the only ones utilizing a distribution
route for regular products (those not needing heating or refrigerating)
on a daily basis."
Sunkus and Associates will be joining into EC business with GoodWill
Communications to be the pick-up and payment site in a trial launch
across 500-600 stores in the Tokyo and Kanagawa area, where payment
can also be made at other convenience stores. But, where other companies
are looking to start with easily held items such as music CDs, Sunkus
is also planning to include products such as computer peripherals. Because
they don't have a distribution network in place, however, as compared
to Seven-Eleven, the costs of holding products for pick-up are a little
bit higher.
Family Mart will begin product pick-up and payment services at some
of their stores, and in Autumn, will begin full operation of their virtual
storefront and delivery service, Famima Com. "We see a membership-based
sytem, similar to a cooperative, being developed with the internet,"
says Mr. Tanaka, E-Retail's Operations Division Manager, looking beyond
storefront-only operations, into the collection and utilization of customer
data.
MiniStop will be joining up with Mitsubishi Shoji. In October, 1999,
they established a site selling computer software. "We expect convenience
stores to play a role in the pick-up and payment of products," says
Mr. Akibara, group representative of Mitsubishi Shoji's Information
Industry Task Force on Online Commerce, adding "the need for convenience
stores to be the delivery point for net sales is very real."
And aside from the large chains getting into the pick-up service, a
number of other operations also are getting into the act. From December,
1999, Sanseido bookstores and JR East Japan Group have joined forces
and started pick-up services at certain convenience stores inside JR
stations, with plans to gradually increase the number of participating
stores. Any way you look at it, it seems that "pick-up at a convenience
store" is going to become the industry standard when it comes to net
sales.
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