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Mitsui to Establish Operating Company to Promote Full-scale Expansion of "Shopimo" Shopping Cart-mounted Tablet

Apr. 11, 2017


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Mitsui & Co., Ltd. ("Mitsui", Head Office: Tokyo, President and CEO: Tatsuo Yasunaga) has decided to launch a full-scale expansion of its Shopimo business, which offers a shopping cart with a mounted tablet as a new service to support shopping promotions and marketing activities at supermarkets and other stores. With the aim of expanding the above business, Mitsui established Marketing Gravity Co., Ltd. ("Marketing Gravity") as a wholly-owned subsidiary.

The retail market has various demanding needs. Retailers, including supermarkets in Japan, want to improve store profitability by strengthening consumer loyalty and increasing the frequency of visits and number of items purchased, and manufacturers desire to create new sales promotion techniques in locations close to where purchasing decisions are made. Mitsui has developed marketing support service Shopimo to meet these needs. A variety of content is distributed to consumers during shopping via a tablet mounted on the shopping cart. This includes special offers, information recommended by the store, in-store maps, and questionnaires to be filled in while waiting to check out. Shopimo offers a convenient, enjoyable, money-saving, and completely new unique shopping experience.

This service has been independently developed by Mitsui, and an initial introduction has already been carried out at some Ito Yokado and Co-op Kobe stores since November of last year. More than 40 leading food product and household goods manufacturers have taken part in the initial introduction, with the aim of sales promotions. Operational results have shown a strong sales promotion effect.

Mitsui & Co. regards Marketing Gravity Co., Ltd. as a key strategic company in its data marketing business, which includes the retail domain. We will combine our human resources, knowhow, capital, and information in order to accelerate the development of Shopimo. As a specific target, we aim to expand the introduction of Shopimo to 1,500 supermarkets in Japan within the next four years.

Marketing Gravity will also start a variety of new service, such as personalized personalized marketing using AI, omni-channel support in the retail domain, including smart-phone collaboration, payment settlements, and other services. Through the overseas development of services in the future, Marketing Gravity will also contribute to the revitalization of the retail industry, both in Japan and overseas.

This project was developed under the new Business Innovation Project framework which was established by Mitsui in October 2012. The Business Innovation Project framework is designed to support new business endeavors that fit with Mitsui's new regional strategies and new business focus areas, and that have the potential to generate excellent investor returns over the longer term, without being subject to some of the strict criteria for investment and certain exit benchmarks stipulated in Mitsui's regulations.

Profile of New Company

Name of Company Marketing Gravity Co., Ltd.
Head Office 2-6-2, Nishi-Shinbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Establishment April 3, 2017
Representative Yoichi Asai, President
Equity 495 million yen
Shareholders Mitsui & Co., Ltd. 100%
Business Activities Data processing services, advertising, and sales promotions
Official website

http://marketing-gravity.com

Description of Shopimo

Image of using ShopimoImage of using Shopimo
Image of using ShopimoImage of using Shopimo
Image of ShopimoImage of Shopimo

A variety of content is distributed to consumers visiting stores, such as supermarkets, via a tablet mounted on a shopping cart. This includes special offers, information recommended by the store, in-store maps, and questionnaires to be filled out while waiting in to check out. Shopimo offers a more convenient, enjoyable, money-saving, and completely new and unique shopping experience. Consumers can log in using existing membership cards provided by retailers, and points collected through Shopimo coupons are passed on to consumers as part of retailers' existing point schemes. The installation of in-store beacons makes it possible to show consumers information they might be interested in at the perfect location and timing. What's more, it is possible to make use of big data by analyzing consumer behavior and using the data acquired, for example in product displays that promote greater sales.

Notice:
This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on Mitsui's current assumptions, expectations and beliefs in light of the information currently possessed by it and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. Such risks, uncertainties and other factors may cause Mitsui's actual results, financial position or cash flows to be materially different from any future results, financial position or cash flows expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and other factors referred to above include, but are not limited to, those contained in Mitsui's latest Annual Securities Report and Quarterly Securities Report, and Mitsui undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements.
This announcement is published in order to publicly announce specific facts stated above, and does not constitute a solicitation of investments or any similar act inside or outside of Japan, regarding the shares, bonds or other securities issued by us.

Information

For inquiries on this matter, please contact

Mitsui & Co., Ltd.
Corporate Communications Division
Telephone: +81-80-5912-0321
Facsimile: +81-3-3285-9819
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