Maruichi is one of the offline supermarket chains owned by Rakuten, the number one e-Commerce market in Japan. It has 9 locations throughout Japan and RAINUS InforTab has been installed at two of its locations recently.

Challenge

Rakuten had been looking for a solution for dynamic pricing where the price is flexible based on ever-changing market conditions and demand levels. To implement the dynamic pricing, the key was to reduce pricing errors as well as the time spent on replacing paper labels. ESLs were considered to be a perfect solution as it helps rapid and effective pricing information change.

Solution

The RF technology of RAINUS was highly touted as the best in the market. Its fast and accurate price information update without channel interferences was an important factor in the decision-making process. The fast Roaming technology, connecting Gateway to ESL tags when other Gateways has unexpected down-time, was the best in the industry. With the Central Server, Maruichi could monitor and control ESLs at all stores, which led to fast system integration without face-to-face communication. RAINUS also quickly offered customized accessories for 7.5″ tags to satisfy the needs of Maruichi.

Result

The automated price management significantly reduced the time spent on replacing existing price labels. The reduction in labor costs and printing costs contributed to the improved ROI. In addition, Maruichi could increase offline and online sales by taking advantage of InforTabs’ NFC technology.