7-Elevens to use mini-cars for Japan home deliveries

About time rest of Japan caught up with Chi Chi Jima. My dad use to call BITC store, ordered, and had it delivered to home. This was what, five years ago. I wonder if the store is still making delivery to old people home. Hey, Rance, check this out.

every home in Japan has a microwave oven

Many elderly can't use microwave due to interference with pace-maker. 1/3 of my mention are very old (over 90). They all get weekly grocery delivery, like most families. But in addition, when they don't feel well, they get hot meals delivered. Clearly if they don't go out, they are sick, too sick to cook too. It's easy here as we have 70+ shokudos in the street, the waiters walk here with a covered tray, they pick up the empty bowls later. Further in the suburbs, there is less choice and distance to kombinis longer. They'll use those golf cars. .

I think this is great, particularly outside the big cities. Surely even non-elderly people have experienced injuries and sicknesses that prevent them from walking to the nearest convenience store and will love the chance to have food delivered.

My supermarket also provides this service; they make one run per day (late afternoon or evening IIRC) and I think it's free if you spend more than Y5000. How can you not like this? It's a lot better than a typical supermarket in my home country, which orients itself entirely around customers driving their automobiles to the store (and spewing out pollution in doing so). Clearly the delivery style, which is open to anyone (not just someone with a car) is the superior option, both social-equality-wise and environment-wise. If 7-11 does what my supermarket does, delivery will be free if you buy a ton of stuff, and something like Y300 plus tax if your order is smaller. One delivery will probably serve several dozen customers, so everybody comes out ahead.

Bluebris,

Shouldn't supermarkets be doing this, rather than conbinis?

Yes, indeed. There's a supermarket near me whose customers average about 70 years old. The store is surrounded by older apartments with lots of retired people. And it's about half a kilometer from a major hospital. I'm sure if they delivered they'd have more customers, especially if the price was the same as in the store.

I fear the convenience stores will gouge shut-in consumers by adding a delivery charge on top of the already overpriced goods they sell in-store. A coke, for example, being about 100 yen in a supermarket and 130 yen at a convenience store. With delivery? 150?

Shouldn't supermarkets be doing this, rather than conbinis?

The picture looks like a scene from a Japanese version of Reservoir Dogs.

Anyways, 7-11 is my favorite convenient store in Japan. The quality of their bento boxes are much higher than other convenience stores.

The international transfer fund system is also a really good way to send money back.

Now delivery service with electric cars? Wicked awesome.

Good on you 7-11!

Great stuff, tried and tested then. Maybe family mart will catch on too

Ady.

Seiyu and quiet a few other supermarkets here have done deliveries for years, order online and pay COD at delivery-time.

Good idea IMO, worth giving it a go. Supermarkets in England have been doing it for a while and it's popular.

I do wish people would put an 's' on the end of 'math' though, completely incorrect use of the word, it implies your attempting to calculate a single thing.

Less old people on the street is always a good thing.

now people are going to get even lazier. the only walking they got was to combini

I think using bicycles where possible is a good idea. Cheaper to buy, to use, take up less space, etc.

But not always practical. I'd hate to ride one all day in the rain or up hills.

As for the cars, I think the keyword here is "begin". Nobody said that's the number of cars they will ever buy. I'm sure a lot of the stores can share a car, no need for each store to have one if they are close together.

Emi, of course you are right about home delivery being an old idea (surely from before the Edo era?) but wisely used these cars might help. Even helping a small percent of the total population means a lot of people can benefit.

Toyota Auto Body, a subsidiary of the Japanese giant, whose acronym means “short, smooth rides into town”.

TAB ....that's an acronym meaning a cigarette, where I'm from.

Actually, they are talking about COMS which is "Chotto Odekake Machimade Suisui".

globalwatcher,

I meant there is no need for 7-eleven to be delivering hot food in a rush.

Pretty much every home in Japan has a microwave oven so there is no need to deliver any hot foods like the pizza and ramen delivery places,

If you are a price sensitive consumer, this is just fine.

Lots of people I know who work at 7-eleven don't have a driver's licence. Will they become absolete?

Pretty much every home in Japan has a microwave oven so there is no need to deliver any hot foods like the pizza and ramen delivery places, Thus, there is also no need also to rush. Bicycles will do fine.

Why? There are so many of them, anyone can walk to one of them. Another waste of energy, but it is a decrease in the unemployment rate.

@Emi,

I am posting weblink of Starbucks in social responsibility. This is a BIG business concept that has been new to Japanese. This is a BUSINESS #401 "BUSINESS AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY" targeting price insensitive consumers. Thanks for asking many questions.

http://www.starbucks.com/responsibility/learn-more/goals-and-progress/coffee-purchasing

Recharge? How about NOT using any electricity??

Why not use bicycles? With that many outlets the people who order are likely to live nearby.

I really appreciate Kuroneko Yamato's green concept, using their bicycles to deliver packages to their clients.

Starbucks ???? That is absolutely unreal. I suggest researching on something other than their web site because I can tell you from personal experience both the financial reality for employees working at Starbucks as well as throughout the supply chain to their coffee farmers in Africa is significantly different than what is portrayed by the company.

A new business concept? I disagree. It's as old as those elderly people mentioned in the article. Home delivery dates back to the Edo era. This concept is based on how to make money off the 40% of the population asap.

Successful? The math doesn't add up so I doubt it will be successful. There will be lots of people complaining that "their" 7-eleven doesn't deliver. Where do they plan to park all those vehicles and what about added traffic congestion? Lots of people other than the elderly such as lazy people who can affort the luxury will take advantage of this service as well.

I thought we were going to SAVE electricity, not waste it!

You can recharge at night when the demand is low.

@Emi, I appreciate your math.

Sometime profit is not the only business objectives when the organization has such a big fun in the market. That is a social responsibility.. This is a new successful business concept; doing the right thing for the society, among Starbucks, Ajinomoto, Apple and Procter & Gamble and many others in global economy. Because what Starbucks does for their employees and the environment, I stop at local starbucks for coffee even though I have coffee at home.It makes me feel good knowing I am doing something right with them.

I thought we were going to SAVE electricity, not waste it!

More than 13,500 7-eleven outlets. Only 200 single-seater COMS electric cars @ 668,000 yen. Six-hour charge with range of only 50 km. 30 million elderly people.

Who did the math??

This plan must be the dumbest I have ever heard of!

Will these electric cars be dueling those take-out motor scooters that I have to dodge when I'm in Tokyo?

@gaijinfo: AMPM delivers

Hopefully they'll make it easy on folks to order. Hopefully this thing will take off. Imagine if every 7-11 did this. Interactive website, fill up your virtual shopping cart with whatever you need, and five minutes later some dude's ringing your bell.

Awesome!

Those hikikomori's are also a huge, untapped market. I'm sure there are plenty of people that are on the verge of heading out to pick up some snacks, but decide against making the trip. But with delivery an option, more people will buy stuff.

This could be the spark that saves Japan's economy!

A mini car is a 50cc engine with a blue number plate (not to be confused with an embassy plate)

Toyota Auto Body, a subsidiary of the Japanese giant, whose acronym means “short, smooth rides into town”.

TAB ....that's an acronym meaning a cigarette, where I'm from.

Seven Eleven and Family Mart both currently offer boxed meal plus other home deliveries so if this model expands much further, distribution networks different from those used for shops will be needed, which will place new investment cost burdens on the retail industry and prices are going up for us all. :(

Wow, this is a way to go! It is always fun to pick up different Bento whenever I visit Japan. My favorite is a bento box with grilled salmon (Sake?) and tamagoyaki (egg?). and a box of sushi bento.

This is what I have been Preaching! Now someone get's it! Two thumb's up!! Now America learn a lesson and watch Japan ...