Sustainability Initiatives
Addressing Diversified Delivery Needs
At present, the Japanese transportation and logistics industry is urgently seeking solutions to the so-called “2024 logistics problem” due to the restrictions on overtime work for truck drivers, etc., in accordance with the Work Style Reform Laws that came into effect in April 2024.
In tandem with the “Redeliveries Reduction Month”*1 implemented in April 2023 by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (“MLIT”) and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan, Yahoo! JAPAN Shopping has worked to reduce redeliveries by encouraging users to place orders with a specified delivery date, checking the delivery status, and utilizing various delivery methods such as convenience store pickup, home delivery lockers, and package-drop service, as well as designing an ordering flow that makes it easy to use these methods.*2
“Otoku Designated Delivery” (Value-Added Designated Delivery Services) enables users to receive PayPay Points by selecting this shipping method when ordering items that do not need to be received immediately, thereby decentralizing and equalizing shipping and delivery operations. Users can choose the most reasonable delivery method according to their needs while stores and delivery companies can expect to see a reduction and dispersion of shipping and delivery workloads during sales periods, etc. Through this, we aim to benefit all three parties concerned. To promote the effective “package-drop service” for deliveries that are not received when the recipient is out, which are the cause of redeliveries, we also launched a campaign where users can earn PayPay Points just by specifying the package-drop service as a delivery method, in the hope that this would encourage users to recognize and use this delivery option and serve as a catalyst for future behavioral change.
For ZOZOTOWN, ZOZO changed the default setting for the delivery method selected by users when ordering products to the package-drop service. Compared to deliveries before the change in the default setting, the number of orders for the package-drop service more than doubled, and of the orders that can use this option, about 70% are now delivered unattended.*3 In the past, ZOZO has worked to improve loading efficiency during deliveries by reducing the volume of goods through measures such as selecting appropriate packaging materials for each product, increasing the number of orders that can be combined into a single delivery (Order Consolidation), and improving the efficiency of trunk line transportation by utilizing Yamato Transport Co., Ltd. Relation Center.*4
ZOZO is working to improve user experience by recommending the use of the package-drop service by introducing Yamato Transport’s EAZY service and expanding the range of orders that can specify the package-drop service as a delivery option. ZOZO is also working to reduce the burden on delivery drivers and CO2 emissions by reducing the number of re-deliveries. ZOZO expects further benefits from the introduction of these measures.
By responding to diversifying delivery needs and holding campaigns to reduce the number of redeliveries, we aim to reduce the burden on delivery drivers and contribute to solving environmental issues by reducing CO2 emissions.
- *1 MLIT (external website) (Japanese only)
- *2 Yahoo! JAPAN Shopping, Notice to users (Japanese only)
- *3 The percentage of orders delivered using the package drop service was calculated based on all orders received during September 1-27 and October 1-13, 2023, that offered this delivery option. For details on eligible orders and other information, please refer to “What is Package-Drop?” (Japanese only)
- *4 For details, please refer to the following.
ESG/CSR News dated February 1, 2021 “Packaging Materials Changed to Environmentally-Friendly Materials“ (Japanese only) 」
ESG/CSR News dated April 1, 2023 “Streamlined Deliveries by Expanding Eligible Items for Order Consolidation“
ESG/CSR News dated June 7, 2023 “Streamlined ZOZOTOWN’s Deliveries in Hokkaido and Kyushu Using Yamato Transport’s Relation Center“ - *5 “A First in Japan! Non-Face to Face Pickup Available from June 24 for Purchases in ZOZOTOWN Using “EAZY,” a Service by Yamato Transport” (Japanese only) (Press release, June 16, 2020)
Initiatives to Realize a Recycling-Oriented Society
LY Corporation contributes to the building of a circular economy through its reuse-based e-commerce businesses, Yahoo! JAPAN Auction and Yahoo! JAPAN Flea Market. We are actively working to help create a recycling-oriented society by promoting “reuse,” in which unused items are given to those who need them and reused. The reuse of items reduces the consumption of new resources, as well as CO2 emissions from the production of goods and disposal of waste. Each platform also focuses on charity projects and social contributions.
- Yahoo! JAPAN Auction (Japanese only)
- Yahoo! JAPAN Flea Market (Japanese only)
To utilize limited resources effectively, reduce CO2, and fulfill its responsibility as a supplier, ASKUL works on the resource recycling of clear plastic folders, which ASKUL has one of the highest sales volumes in Japan. Used clear plastic folders collected from nationwide participants are sorted, recycled, and reused as raw materials for new products. LOHACO, ASKUL’s BtoC service, also cooperates with brands and companies to reduce waste to zero by selling good products at outlet prices that would otherwise have been discarded without reaching customers for a variety of reasons.
To solve the problems of mass production and mass disposal in the fashion industry in recent years, ZOZO provides ZOZOUSED, a reuse business that buys used clothes from users and sells them, and “Replacement-Discount,” a trade-in service that promotes the recycling of used and new clothes.
“Replacement-Discount” service, offered on ZOZOTOWN, creates a system that circulates clothing, helping to reduce the disposal of fashion items.
Most items that cannot be resold on ZOZOUSED are purchased by multiple clothing buyers that ensure appropriate processing. These items are generally sold on domestic e-commerce platforms and in stores. In addition, when collecting trade-in items from customers through the Replacement-Discount service, ZOZO encourages the use of ZOZOTOWN’s original non-woven fabric reusable bags, which can be used repeatedly.
By utilizing AI to set buying and selling prices, ZOZO strives to offer the most beneficial evaluations to its customers, thus promoting the circulation of fashion.
Over the past approximately 10 years since its inception, ZOZOUSED has made improvements to provide better services to its customers, which has also contributed to reducing environmental impact. By redistributing items collected from customers through ZOZOUSED, ZOZO has been able to prevent CO2 emissions that occur from the production to disposal and incineration of newly manufactured items. Assuming this, since the start of the service, ZOZO has cumulatively reduced CO2 emissions by about 140,000 tons.*2 Additionally, the CO2 emission reduction achieved in FY2022, when converted to the absorption capacity of Japanese cedar trees, is equivalent to approximately 1.3 million trees.*3
- ZOZOUSED’s Sustainable Framework
- *1 Replacement-Discount : A service in which customers trading in items previously purchased on ZOZOTOWN receive an immediate discount equivalent to the trade-in value.
- *2 From November 2012 to March 2022. Assumes mitigation of CO2 emissions from the production process to disposal and incineration of newly produced items. The number of collected items was converted to weight (Source: Ministry of the Environment, “Sustainable Fashion – Fashion for the Future” (Japanese only) ) and multiplied by the CO2 emissions per kilogram of item (Source: Ministry of the Environment, “Method of Calculation for 3R Unit Value” (Japanese only) （3.9MB）).
- *3 Assuming that one Japanese cedar tree absorbs about 14 kg of CO2 emissions (Source: Kanto Regional Forest Office, “Carbon Dioxide Absorption Capacity of Forests”).
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