KDDI, Japan’s second-largest mobile carrier, invested 497.1 billion yen in Lawson
At Lawson Toshikagawa 4-chome, a convenience store located in Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo, Japan, a pharmacy is installed next to the general product sales corner. In addition to over-the-counter medicines such as painkillers and band-aids, you can also dispense prescription medicines.
Lawson described it as “a convenience store that has evolved into a ‘health station’ that even provides health services.” In some convenience stores, caregivers also provide elderly care consultations. Lawson operates these stores specializing in health services by designating them as ‘Care Lawson’.
In Japan, a super-aging country with 29.1% of the population aged 65 or older, convenience stores are emerging as ‘aging society infrastructure.’ The Financial Times said that KDDI, Japan’s second-largest mobile carrier, invested 497.1 billion yen (approximately 4.44 trillion won) in Lawson, one of Japan’s three largest convenience store chains, saying, “The social phenomenon of aging and labor shortage is fundamentally changing shopping styles.” He pointed out, “KDDI bet on Japan’s elderly consumers, confident that it would bring about .”
According to Japanese media on the 8th, KDDI will carry out a stock tender offer (TOB) in April to increase its stake in Lawson from 2.1% to 50%. It is jointly managed with Lawson’s parent company, Mitsubishi Corporation, each holding a 50% stake. Because minority shareholders disappear, they are delisted from the stock market.
KDDI predicted, “As the low birth rate and aging trend accelerates, convenience stores with offline stores across the country will play an increasingly larger role as infrastructure.” It is believed that the elderly will have a greater desire to receive ‘one-stop service’ at a nearby convenience store, as their travel radius is relatively small and it is difficult to find specialized stores specialized in each service.
At a press conference held on the 6th when Lawson announced the stake purchase, it announced, “We will provide additional various services targeting the elderly in the future.” We are also setting up a counter for guidance on how to use smartphones, medication guidance, and financial counseling, and are also preparing a remote delivery service using drones.
In this way, aging is seen as a new opportunity in the Japanese convenience store industry, but it is also seen as a ‘double-edged sword’ as it also creates other problems. This is because it is becoming increasingly difficult to find people to work at convenience stores due to the low birth rate and aging population.
Family Mart, the second largest convenience store in Japan, recently began introducing ‘robot employees’ equipped with artificial intelligence (AI). It is said that in addition to cleaning, the AI camera can identify insufficient products and place orders. Family Mart explained the background for its introduction, saying, “Labor shortage is an unavoidable reality,” and “In the future, people will not be able to perform all tasks.”
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Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.