Yamato Teams Up with Fashion e-Tailor to Deliver to Parcel Lockers

In a joint press release, Yamato Transport Co., Ltd. and Start Today Co., Ltd., the operator of Japan's largest fashion e-commerce platform, ZOZOTOWN, announced that commencing August 23, 2017, ZOZOTOWN has become the first e-commerce site in Japan to enable customers to designate PUDO station parcel lockers as their delivery destination at point of purchase. PUDO station lockers are made and operated by Packcity Japan Co., Ltd.

１．Background of Packcity Japan

Packcity Japan is a joint venture formed in May 2016 between Yamato and Neopost Shipping with Yamato owning 49%. The company aims to install approximately 3,000 PUDO locker stations in train stations and other public locations by March 2018, focusing on the Tokyo metropolitan area.

2. A Solution to Yamato's Ongoing Overflow Woes?

This announcement also comes in amidst Yamato's ongoing problems of having too much business to the point where their employees are overworked and even outsourcing is a challenge. With the announced price hikes of September just around the corner, Yamato has been holding negotiation meetings with their major clients including amazon and Rakuten. From what I have personally seen, the price increase Yamato is proposing of its most heavily discounted customers is an average of 20%.

In response to such requests, amazon has secured an alternative supplier for its same day deliveries, TMG, and I have been receiving a number of announcements from companies like 1101.com, makers of the popular "Hobonichi" diaries, that they have shifted their supplier from Yamato to Japan Post.

This email, that went out to all 1101.com members was particularly striking in that it specifically says that "Yamato has officially informed us that they would like to stop doing business with us as of end November 2017." The company has a turnover of approximately 3.8 billion yen ($34.75 million USD), of which 70% is its diaries. 60% of the 610,000 diaries it sold in fiscal 2016 (period ending August 2016) was sold online. The company listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on March 16, 2017. This is just a shift of 427,000 parcels, the majority of which is shipped from September through January each year, but it is proof that Yamato was not joking when it said it was going to reduce its volumes and trim back its large volume shippers customer base.

3. How the ZOZO- PUDO system will work

（１）When a customer makes a purchase, the customer can choose to change the delivery address to a location that is open 24/7.

Once, the icon is selected, the consumer is invited to type in the 7-digit postal code to locate the nearest convenience store or locker.

Once a delivery location is designated, a map pops up with all the suggested locations flagged. I also now see a parcel locker at the JR station showing up on my options. 

（２）Once the item is delivered, Yamato will send out a delivery confirmation email from mail@kuronekoyamato.co.jp. In the email will be details of how long the item will be held in the locker and which locker it is in.

（３）Service availability

This service is available to all ZOZOTOWN registered users (guests not included) and it is not limited to Kuroneko Members, who are registered with Yamato.

（４）Fees

There is no surcharge or any other fees levied to use this service.

In Summary

 Yamato and Rakuten tried a time-limited offer to reward Rakuten users who received their parcels on the first delivery attempt with extra Rakuten loyalty points. But since there was no major announcement and no repeat campaign, I am guessing it was not that well received and it was not enough to drastically remedy the woes of failed first-time delivery attempts.
Rakuten already has a My Calendar feature, where users can set their preferences to have deliveries to their homes automatically scheduled to the next "favoured day and time of the week." For example, if you want your deliveries to arrive on Saturday mornings regardless of when you place your order, you can set your preferences to this end and all Rakuten sellers will ship accordingly unless you specify otherwise. I sometimes forget I have set this option and get frustrated and restless when my purchases do not arrive on the next day, which is the norm. But overall, it is a win-win for me and the delivery people, and there are hardly any items that really need to reach me the following day.