Co-Creation
Co-Creation
Approach Toward Co-Creation
MARUI GROUP’s approach toward co-creation is shaped by the belief of the Company’s founder that “creditability should be built together with customers.” This belief gave rise to our founding spirit, which inspires us in our business activities, whether they be retailing or finance, to build ongoing, trust-based relationships with customers, rather than allowing relationships to end with a single transaction. This spirit is the underlying principle that informs our core value of the co-creation of creditability, which continues to be embraced at MARUI GROUP even today.
Co-creation is often practiced among companies in what is known as open innovation. MARUI GROUP’s approach toward co-creation, on the other hand, is unique in that we seek to engage in co-creation together with customers and our various other stakeholders. We thereby involve stakeholders in the resolution of the issues they specifically want to address to help us discover ways of resolving said issues via co-creation. Whether it be the development of stores, products, and services, the resolution of social issues, the construction of ecosystems, or even the transformation of MARUI GROUP’s management, there is no limit to the scope of our co-creative initiatives. Accordingly, we at MARUI GROUP view all stakeholders as potential partners for helping us co-create the future. Together with these partners, we search for where the different forms of happiness experienced by each stakeholder intersect so that we can work to achieve harmony and grow the intersection between these countless forms of happiness.
Co-Creative Investments for Generating Desired Impact
To facilitate the accomplishment of its three impact targets, MARUI GROUP conducts co-creative investments, which are prefaced on the assumption of collaboration, in start-up companies that share its ideals. Rather than targeting standard returns on investments, the primary goal of co-creative investments is to generate desirable impacts through collaboration. For this reason, when selecting investments, discussions are held to examine the prospects from a variety of angles, including the compatibility of the values and directives of an investment candidate with those of the Company as well as the potential for synergies to be produced by combining the assets and strengths of both parties. Co-creative investments are one way in which we engage in co-creation with partners that share our ideals with the goal of resolving social issues while generating earnings.
Co-Creative Teams Accelerating Collaboration
Co-creative investments are not mere investments. Rather, they are a means of supporting collaboration aimed at generating desirable impacts. To facilitate this process, co-creative teams are organized in relation to each co-creative investment project, with members recruited on a voluntary basis from among MARUI GROUP employees. Doing so results in teams being membered by individuals suited to a given project who feel a sense of responsibility and commitment to producing results, regardless of their rank based on their age or experience, and this membership contributes to incredibly swift decision-making. In this manner, co-creation at MARUI GROUP is not merely a side project; it is a fundamental part of our main business.
Venues for Co-Creation and Discovering New Partners
MARUI GROUP provides venues for co-creation such as pitch events with the goal of discovering new partners for co-creation. These events include the Marui Co-Creation Pitch program, which is aimed at creating new value through open innovation with start-up companies, and Future Accelerator Gateway, a program through which individuals aged 25 and under can submit ideas for new businesses. In recent years, we have been accelerating co-creation with members of younger generations through various events, examples of which include one of Japan’s largest service and app development contests for junior high school and high school students and the Marui Future School program designed as a forum for forming action plans to address social issues together with junior high school students.
Co-Creation of Desirable Impacts through Collaboration
MARUI GROUP has defined the three impact targets of “creating a future for future generations together,” “creating happiness for individuals together,” and “creating an ecosystem for co-creation.” By combining our assets and services with those of colleagues and co-creative partners who share our aspirations, we strive to create unprecedented new businesses and generate new impacts. Primary examples of MARUI GROUP’s assets include Marui and Modi stores, EPOS cards, its wide-ranging operations merging finance and retailing, and our team of approximately 4,500 employees sharing our ideals. By effectively utilizing these assets, we aim to grow the Company and its market share while also contributing to the resolution of social issues and generating our desired impact. The combination of MARUI GROUP’s assets and support services with the assets and services of co-creative partners allows for the co-creation of new and desirable impacts that are only possible through such collaboration.
Support Provided by MARUI GROUP
Support for Opening and Operating Physical Locations
Centered in the Tokyo metropolitan area, MARUI GROUP has developed a network of 22 physical Marui and Modi stores that are visited by around 200 million customers each year. It is possible to set up a physical location in one of our stores in a variety of formats to match the needs of partners. These can be event spaces that are only in place for just one week or on a permanent basis. Moreover, comprehensive support is offered on a contract basis ranging from crafting the desired atmosphere to stocking shelves and even having seasoned MARUI GROUP employees provide customer service.
Customer Big Data Analyses and Proposals
MARUI GROUP boasts a base of more than 7.5 million EPOS cardholders, around half of whom are 40 years old or younger. Beyond allowing us to provide touchpoints with customers, this cardholder base enables us to issue collaboration cards, offer financing to individuals and companies, and perform analyses and make proposals based on customer big data. Moreover, MARUI GROUP utilizes its unique credit expertise to maintain a ratio of delinquent debt that is particularly low in comparison with its peers.
Logistics Planning, Design, and Operational Support
MARUI GROUP has developed distribution centers fine-tuned for e-commerce and physical store operations and for the distribution of fashion and miscellaneous products through both venues. We have also accumulated extensive expertise with regard to logistics. These assets enable us to perform logistics planning, design, and operation activities as a proxy for partners. The Company has also developed frameworks that allow products, no matter the size or volume, to be stored in its warehouses and which make it possible for customers to pick up or return deliverable products offered through e-commerce venues at a physical Marui store.
Human Resources and Network
Almost all of MARUI GROUP’s approximately 4,500 employees have experience serving customers at its stores. This collective experience means that our employees are adept at understanding the needs of customers and society and at promoting co-creation based on proposals tailored to said needs. We have also developed a network of investments prefaced on collaboration and start-up companies that we can introduce to potential business partners. Moreover, our human resources are dispatched to partners to perform a wide variety of processes, ranging from business activities to administrative tasks.
