Expansion of an e-commerce business for pre-owned branded goods

「Online sales, meaning e-commerce sales, declined year on year as the Company also focused on its stores.」

「Online-store product sales reached ¥962 million, down ¥301 million, or 23.9%, year on year, despite ongoing efforts to strengthen e-commerce sales, including improving advertising efficiency, due to lower inventory levels.」

「Online-store product sales also declined significantly to ¥561 million, down ¥248 million, or 30.7%, year on year, due to lower inventory levels,」

「Online-store product sales reached ¥1,335 million, down ¥517 million, or 27.9%, year on year, despite ongoing efforts to strengthen e-commerce sales, including improving advertising efficiency, due to lower inventory levels.」

「Online-store product sales reached ¥1,082 million, down ¥431 million, or 28.5%, year on year, despite ongoing efforts to strengthen e-commerce sales, including improving advertising efficiency, due to lower inventory levels.」

「Online-store product sales reached ¥808 million, down ¥267 million, or 24.9%, year on year, despite ongoing efforts to strengthen e-commerce sales, including improving advertising efficiency, due to lower inventory levels.」

「Sales from cross-border e-commerce, live shopping and related businesses declined to ¥112 million, down ¥191 million year on year. Chrono24, which was launched in July two years ago, continued to perform steadily, generating sales of ¥65 million.」

「Online-store product sales also reached ¥1,514 million, down ¥104 million, or 6.4%, year on year, as ongoing efforts to strengthen e-commerce sales, including improving advertising efficiency, were offset by headwinds from China's COVID-19 measures.」

「Online-store product sales, meaning in-store sales conducted via the internet and referred to below as "online sales," reached ¥1,075 million, down ¥8 million, or 0.7%, year on year, despite the tailwind from requests to refrain from going out and remote working, in addition to ongoing efforts to strengthen e-commerce sales, including improving advertising efficiency.」

「Online-store product sales, meaning in-store sales conducted via the internet and referred to below as "online sales," reached ¥594 million, up ¥53 million, or 9.8%, year on year, helped by the effects of requests to refrain from going out and remote working, in addition to ongoing efforts to strengthen e-commerce sales, including improving advertising efficiency.」

「Under its policy of expanding the online business, the Group's e-commerce business, which it has been strengthening, generated online-store product sales of ¥2,203 million in the fiscal year, up 28.8% year on year.」

「Under its policy of expanding the online business, the Group's e-commerce business, which it has been strengthening, generated online-store product sales of ¥1,618 million during the cumulative consolidated period, up ¥385 million, or 31.2%, year on year. In addition, the Shinjuku Live Hall was soft-opened in late November last year to establish a new online channel, and officially launched on 7 February after the Lunar New Year.」

「In addition, chrone24 was launched in July this year as a cross-border e-commerce platform serving customers worldwide. Sales from the newly launched cross-border e-commerce and live shopping businesses reached ¥291 million, while chrone24 sales also grew steadily to ¥110 million.」

「During the consolidated cumulative period, the Group’s online-store product sales decreased by ¥199 million, or 23.1% year on year. While demand for e-commerce has expanded amid the COVID-19 pandemic due to calls to refrain from going out and the spread of remote work, we will further advance the Group-wide initiatives we have continued to pursue proactively: (a) developing an e-commerce site that is easy for customers to understand, (b) increasing the number of products listed on the site and (c) improving the efficiency of e-commerce advertising.」

「During the consolidated cumulative period, the Group’s online-store product sales increased by ¥61 million, or 18.3% year on year. In addition to demand for e-commerce expanding amid the COVID-19 pandemic due to calls to refrain from going out and the spread of remote work, we believe this resulted from the Group’s continued and proactive efforts to (a) develop an e-commerce site that is easy for customers to understand, (b) increase the number of products listed on the site and (c) improve the efficiency of e-commerce advertising.」

「As a result, during the consolidated fiscal year, the Group’s online-store product sales increased by ¥528 million, or 44.7% year on year. In addition to demand for e-commerce expanding amid the COVID-19 pandemic due to calls to refrain from going out and the spread of remote work, we believe this resulted from the Group’s continued and proactive efforts to (a) develop an e-commerce site that is easy for customers to understand, (b) increase the number of products listed on the site and (c) improve the efficiency of e-commerce advertising.」

「As a result, during the consolidated cumulative period, the Group’s domestic e-commerce sales in Japan increased by ¥409 million, or 47.8% year on year. In addition to demand for e-commerce expanding amid the COVID-19 pandemic due to calls to refrain from going out and the spread of remote work, we believe this resulted from the Group’s continued and proactive efforts to (a) develop an e-commerce site that is easy for customers to understand, (b) increase the number of products listed on the site and (c) improve the efficiency of e-commerce advertising. To further strengthen the e-commerce purchasing and resale business, the Group revamped its e-commerce site in November 2020 to rebuild systems that centrally manage store and e-commerce customers and provide products and services suited to customer needs while improving operating efficiency, using Salesforce’s system to centrally manage information. Going forward, as part of globalization based on that system, we will strengthen purchasing and resale in English and Chinese.」

「During the consolidated cumulative period, the Group’s domestic e-commerce sales in Japan increased by ¥316 million, or 54.5% year on year. In addition to demand for e-commerce expanding amid the COVID-19 pandemic due to calls to refrain from going out and the spread of remote work, we believe this reflected the effectiveness of the Group-wide initiatives it has continued to pursue: (a) developing an e-commerce site that is easy for customers to understand, (b) increasing the number of products listed on the site, and (c) improving the efficiency of e-commerce advertising. The Group will continue strengthening these activities and plans to build an e-commerce site using Salesforce’s system to centrally manage information and display content tailored to each customer’s preferences.」

「During the consolidated cumulative period, the Group’s domestic e-commerce sales in Japan increased by ¥13 million, or 16.4% year on year. In addition to demand for e-commerce expanding amid the COVID-19 pandemic due to calls to refrain from going out and the spread of remote work, we believe this reflected the effectiveness of the Group-wide initiatives it has continued to pursue: (a) developing an e-commerce site that is easy for customers to understand, (b) increasing the number of products listed on the site, and (c) improving the efficiency of e-commerce advertising.」

「Outside Japan, to expand the secondhand branded-goods business in China, the Group entered into a business partnership agreement with Glamour Sales China Limited, a group company of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (hereinafter, “Alibaba Group”), from the current consolidated fiscal year, and began listing and selling its products on the “Meilihui” app operated by Glamour Sales.」

「(c) Aim to increase sales through the e-commerce site」

「During the consolidated fiscal year, e-commerce sales, an area on which we had placed particular emphasis, increased 19.2% year on year and progressed steadily, helped by the higher product listing rate implemented in February and the effects of advertising, including television commercials, launched in mid-February.」

「Going forward, the Group will strengthen its e-commerce business in Japan and overseas, including in China, through a partnership with JD.com, a major Chinese internet retailer, referred to below as “JD.”」

「As previously disclosed, to strengthen its e-commerce business, the Group is pursuing the following initiatives based on overseas database analysis centered on AI: ① optimizing prices for secondhand branded goods globally, ② making it easier for consumers to list products on the Group’s website by automating product classification, and ③ strengthening authentication of genuine products. As part of these efforts, the Group continues to invest in system development through its subsidiary Luxwise Co., Ltd., which is scheduled to change its name to Beta Digital Co., Ltd. However, because it is preparing to launch a C2C app in the market, the associated upfront system development costs have been reflected as expenses in the consolidated results. We consider this a foundation for strengthening the future C2C market and global e-commerce market businesses and, ultimately, 大黒屋’s purchasing and resale business.」

「As previously disclosed, to strengthen its e-commerce business, the Group is pursuing the following initiatives based on overseas database analysis centered on AI: ① optimizing prices for secondhand branded goods globally, ② making it easier for consumers to list products on the Group’s website by automating product classification, and ③ strengthening authentication of genuine products. 」

「In Japan, Luxwise Co., Ltd. was established in September 2015 and launched a new business, but in December 2016 it integrated its e-commerce business with 大黒屋.」

「The launch of the company’s e-commerce business is scheduled for the beginning of the next fiscal year due to delays in system development and other factors.」

「We intend to improve earnings by promoting restructuring at our head office and stores and expanding the e-commerce business in Europe, including the UK. This is expected to contribute to consolidated performance.」

「Web-based trading in secondhand branded goods under the SIFQUE trademark by Luxwise Co., Ltd. is also scheduled to move into full-scale operation.」

「② Launching new services to accelerate sales: Luxwise Co., Ltd., launched in the fiscal year ended March 2016 under the brand name THE SIFQUE, will rapidly expand its branded-goods consignment e-commerce business in Japan, China, the United States and Europe.」