Maruto Supermarkets

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Maruto Supermarkets -Fukushima, Japan-

"By focusing on every customer, our supermarkets have boosted their already close local presence." - Yuji Ajima, General Director of Maruto Supermarkets, Fukushima Japan -

Home to some 360,000 people, Iwaki City in Fukushima Prefecture was created in 1965 through the incorporation of 14 cities and towns. Its land area measures roughly twice the size of Singapore, making it Japan's most far-flung municipality. Formerly a coal-mining town, Iwaki has flourished as a center of manufacturing, fishing and as an international seaport.

One unique business with strong local ties to the region that has attracted notice for its rapid growth is the Maruto Group supermarket chain. Founded in 1964, Maruto - whose corporate slogan is "Enjoyable shopping for quality products at reasonable prices" - supports the community through sales of groceries and other daily necessities, pharmaceuticals, liquor, apparel, and sundry goods, through 57 retail outlets in the city.

Maruto owes its success not only to the business acumen of its founder, Director Yuji Ajima, simple hard work, the early introduction of computers and other measures that showed great foresight.

"We first adopted a computer system in 1975 for merchandise control," Mr. Ajima recalls. "In those days, only big companies used computers. The system enabled us to quickly review how procurement and sales were going, and to assess managerial ability and performance at each store. In my view, computers serve as a tool for training people and improving the business."

Driven by this principle, Mr. Ajima continued to systematize operations. Maruto's ties with Fujitsu have progressed from introduction of its first computers to a POS system upgrade in 1985, and finally to their current system. The partnership between Maruto's and Fujitsu has spans more a quarter century.

To build upon the supermarket chain's firm grounding in the community while looking beyond to the new century, Mr. Ajima devised a plan to return as many benefits to the customer as possible.

This was where the introduction of the "Maruto Card", utilizing CoremaEXPRESS, became affective.

"It is Maruto's own card that no other supermarket has," says Mr. Ajima. "Our aim was to create a card that people would want to use all the time. To achieve that, it was essential to collect accurate data that would help us identify customers' purchasing habits."

CoremaEXPRESS, the heart of Maruto Group's strategy for the future, was jointly developed by Fujitsu and its Fujitsu's UK affiliate ICL to compile and analyze purchase data, with the aim of providing benefits to customers. For a software that can implement a Frequent Shoppers Program (FSP), the system package has achieved a strong performance record in Europe and North America.

Seamless integration with Maruto's existing POS system, data terminals and other data systems were all important criteria in choosing the right software for Maruto.

In April 2000, Maruto made its final decision to adopt CoremaEXPRESS. By the end of June, the system had been installed in all of its 57 stores, and staff training completed. In July, the system went into operation simultaneously with the introduction of the Maruto Card.

"First, the system manages the points each customer receives, then it compiles purchasing data of all customers - who, what, when, where and size of their purchase - a treasure trove of data in terms of Maruto's future," explains Mr. Ajima.

"The introductory campaign was a success, boosting our existing service of passing on benefits to customers. In about six months we had signed up 150,000 cardholders - an astonishing figure if you consider it includes nearly all of the households in Iwaki. And what's more, their usage rate is extremely high. We achieved this because customers see their Maruto Card as one no other company can match."

Mr. Ajima points out that a key issue from now will be how to effectively use the customer data obtained from CoremaEXPRESS. He believes that marketing geared towards the individual and the development of a personalized approach to each shopper will pave the way to promotional activities that keep Maruto ahead of the competition. He cited such examples as assistance in planning sales based on purchasing habits, household size and the establishment of alliances with manufacturers to focus on products that are frequently purchased by regular customers. Maruto also plans to enable customers to view their information on an in-store machine display or have the info printed on their receipt every time they make a purchase.

"Satisfying customers works to our advantage," Mr. Ajima asserts. "A customer who can shop with satisfaction, and take advantage of additional services, will come back on a regular basis. Right now, the important thing is having a system that shows clearly what customers want."

"We have great expectations for CoremaEXPRESS," he concludes.

Mr. Ajima also expressed his enthusiasm about his company's close relationship with Fujitsu. "We consider ourselves a business partner walking side-by-side with Fujitsu,". "We study the market carefully in order to sell successfully. We believe Fujitsu staff are working to create total solutions that take full advantage of CoremaEXPRESS's potential. Developing a good system requires both expertise of software engineers and hands-on experience by people on the retail end, working together over a long period of time."

Fujitsu provides a wide range of solutions based on business strategies through a worldwide network. As Maruto's solid business partner, it continues to provide cutting-edge technologies and attentive service. Fujitsu stands beside them, working together with Maruto, as they begin to realize its ambitions and build for the future in Iwaki and beyond.