DX Strategy
Top Management Message
The mission of the and ST HD Group is "Play fashion!"
With a global network of over 1,600 stores and a loyal community of more than 20 million "and ST" members, our strength lies in our deep connection with our customers. Under our Medium-Term Management Plan 2030, we are committed to evolving into a "Play fashion! Platformer."
Our DX (Digital Transformation) Strategy is the cornerstone of this evolution.
Across our Platform, Brand Retail, and Global business segments, we are transforming our entire value chain into a data-driven, highly sophisticated ecosystem. By bridging our expansive customer base with our physical touchpoints, we will harness AI for precise demand forecasting and inventory optimization, ensuring an even more seamless and elevated customer experience.
However, we believe the ultimate driver of transformation is always "people." By fusing the creative sensibilities cultivated by our staff on the front lines with advanced data insights, we will sublimate our operations into a unique form of value creation that only we can provide.
By placing DX at the very core of our management, we will accelerate our sustainable growth and realize our vision of becoming ”a company needed. " to our customers and society at large.
Representative Director and President
Taiki Fukuda
Accelerating and ST HD Growth, Supported by an Aggressive DX Strategy
1. Transforming the Customer Experience
We use digital technologies to maximize customer lifetime value (LTV), delivering excitement in abundance to our customers.
(1) By accelerating the integration of brick-and-mortar with e-commerce and offering greater experiential value, we will transform our physical stores into even more exciting, convenient, and attractive spaces.
Our Dot-ST store OMO model offers a new customer service experience through the use of digital signage. This technique creates more personalized styling suggestions while providing information related to purchase history, personal favorites, etc.
Starting from October 2023, we have launched two types of in-store pickup services to further enhance customer experience and convenience.
・Multi Pick:
A service that allows customers to pick up multiple brands' products at once at one store, in coordination with our online inventory.
・Quick Pick:
A pickup service that allows customers to receive their purchases made on our online store for a single brand the next day at our brick-and-mortar store.
We will continue to expand our services to make online shopping more convenient and enjoyable.
(2) We plan to evolve our own Dot-ST online shop into a more enjoyable Good Community through enhanced functions for convenient shopping, content such as the STAFF BOARD, and products from other companies.
STAFF BOARD consists of more than 4,300 shop staff members who post their styling tips every day. This is one way in which we foster communication with customers both offline and online.
And the Dot-ST platform is now open to corporate partners as well. We seek to deal in products from other companies that have an affinity to our concept.
We also open our STAFF BOARD to other companies' staff and encourage them to post, in order to send customers to each other.
(3) Bringing greater change to the customer experience overseas. In conjunction with our business strategy, we provide glocal customers new experiences tailored to local areas and tastes.
Our Shanghai flagship store links to wechat app, offering points benefits, the latest fashion news, etc. Due to improvements to the system in Mainland China, sells merchandise to customers in all regions of mainland China through the opening of stores on many e-commerce, such as T-Mall and VIP.
We have also working with our logistics subsidiary established in mainland China to create a system for delivery from mainland China without stock in Hong Kong and progressing trial of stockless e-commerce.
2. Transforming Work-Styles
We use digital technologies to improve the work efficiencies for and ST HD employees, striving to create environments in which employees work with happiness and excitement.
(1) We intend to connect each business process in our value chain seamless with data to optimize internal processes, reducing time spent on unnecessary input and confirmations.
Link people (including external parties), operations, and data involved in the value chain seamlessly.
(2) Introducing digital technologies to streamline operations top-to-bottom, fostering environments in which employees focus on their core tasks.
Stores now focus on service customers, while headquarters has improved accuracy and speed of operations, improving productivity throughout the company.
・Stores: Expanded availability of self-checkout systems, improved store app, and simplified the store closing process.
・Headquarters: Adopted RPA* and other digital technologies to handle purchase returns, confirmation process functions in the human resources department, etc.
*RPA refers to the automation of business processes using software robots.
(3) We intend to upgrade business decision-making processes by using advanced technologies that incorporate data and artificial intelligence.
We leverage advanced digital technologies to integrate each operation and achieve centralized data management. In this way, we have increased productivity and improved operations. In addition, the implementation of demand forecasting AI has optimised inventory and improved operational accuracy, resulting in reduced missed sales.
DX Strategy and Organizational Structure
To foster DX throughout the and ST HD Group, we created the DX Strategy Division, which reports to our directors. We augment and develop human resources with the IT knowledge and data utilization expertise necessary for digital transformation to support corporate growth.
We intend to work with DX human resources outside the company, and to strengthen our organization through collaboration with business partners and startup companies in Japan and overseas. We will also use side work as a means to pursue DX.
Our company aims to secure 70-90 domestic digital transformation personnel and 50-100 overseas engineers in the fiscal year ending February 2026 to advance EC expansion and business digitalization.
Certified Business Operator
In January 2022, and ST HD became a DX Certified Operator by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
