Japan’s Lawson Stores Link Up with Amazon

NACS Online
November 6, 2014
Convenience chain will allow customers to order and pick up Amazon items in-store.
​TOKYO – Lawson Inc. customers in Japan will be able to order items from Amazon Japan in-store for later pick-up at the same location, under an enhanced partnership announced yesterday. The service begins today at 199 Lawson convenience stores in Shizuoka Prefecture and will continue expanding nationwide through 2015.
For Amazon, the partnership is an opportunity to reach new customers: those who do not shop online. In turn, Lawson hopes that the lure of Amazon’s vast inventory will draw more people to its stores.
“This is a big step, to provide a more convenient shopping experience for customers. Convenience stores are becoming a kind of infrastructure that supports people’s daily lives, and they are important bases for Amazon’s customers, too,” Jasper Cheung, who heads Amazon in Japan, said at a news conference on Tuesday, as reported by Japan Times.
Prior to this announcement, Lawson, along with other Japanese convenience store chains, has been using a model similar to the Amazon Locker used in the United States. Now, the new service will enable people who do not use computers or smartphones to shop with Amazon. Customers will access Amazon items through Lawson’s Loppi in-store purchase terminals, which currently offer touchscreen access to items such as concert and sports tickets, and CDs and DVDs.
Because using a Loppi terminal requires a certain amount of technological savvy, Lawson wants to make the process as simple as possible by providing cards bearing digital QR codes that link to certain product categories. Customers will scan the appropriate QR pattern to see a list of items. Once customers have chosen their purchases, they will need to call a telephone operator to finalize the order, which will then be delivered to the same Lawson’s location for pick-up in two to five days. While Amazon won’t offer its entire range of products, at least tens of millions will be available.