Fast Retailing Japan aims for overnight delivery

Clothing group Fast Retailing Japan is streamlining its logistics with the aim of providing overnight delivery within the next few months.

Fast Retailing, which runs the Uniqlo casual clothing chain, has developed a new system with US consultancy Accenture that pinpoints the location of an item as soon as an order is placed.

At the moment, deliveries of online orders take two to five days, with a lag for finding some items.
Fast Retailing will work with couriers to increase the frequency of delivery to both stores and consumers. The new setup does not entail higher product prices or bigger inventories, and the company will keep its policy of free shipping on orders of 5000 yen (US$47) or more before tax.

By introducing the new system to logistics centres not only in Tokyo but also in such key cities as Nagoya, Sapporo and Sendai, the company aims to offer overnight delivery throughout Japan, with the exception of remote islands and outlying areas.

To speed up delivery overseas, Fast Retailing plans new logistics centres in China, Europe and North America.

It will overhaul its online shopping sites in an effort to have online orders account for more than 30 per cent of all sales in three to five years, up from around 5 per cent currently.

Japan’s eRetailing market reached 12.8 trillion yen in 2014 and has been expanding by more than 10 per cent a year, according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

As more consumers shop online in Japan, Amazon.com and Rakuten are also improving delivery services, as well as prices and quality.

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