Convenience store chain operator Lawson Inc. has announced it will launch an online shopping site with Yahoo Japan Corp. in mid-January. Lawson intends to boost the number of items available on the "Smart Kitchen" site to about 23,000, equivalent to the lineups of large supermarkets, by late March.
Among items to be sold on the site are food and daily necessities, which are sold at Lawson outlets, as well as pans and other kitchen products.
Smart Kitchen Inc., the joint venture operating the site, is capitalized at 490 million yen, of which 51 percent is invested by Lawson and 49 percent by Yahoo Japan.
In online shopping services offered by convenience stores and supermarkets, products are usually shipped from outlets in the neighborhoods where customers live. But under the Smart Kitchen service, ordered items will be shipped from a Lawson logistics center in Kanagawa Prefectue to facilitate inventory control.
Smart Kitchen Inc., the joint venture operating the site, is capitalized at 490 million yen, of which 51 percent is invested by Lawson and 49 percent by Yahoo Japan.
In online shopping services offered by convenience stores and supermarkets, products are usually shipped from outlets in the neighborhoods where customers live. But under the Smart Kitchen service, ordered items will be shipped from a Lawson logistics center in Kanagawa Prefectue to facilitate inventory control.
Customers across the nation can receive deliveries once a week. Shipping fees will be free for residents of the Tokyo metropolitan area, including Chiba, Saitama and Kanagawa prefectures. By enabling customers to place orders from computers and smartphones, the companies aim to tap demand, especially from working women.
(The Yomiuri Shimbun)
(The Yomiuri Shimbun)
