AEON and DoCoMo Open Marketing Co.
As first announced on March 31, the JV between DoCoMo and leading department store chain AEON group launched on 24 July. The new entity, AEON Marketing, will combine RFID point of sale details from purchasing preferences along with targeted marketing via mobile phones in order to increase efficiencies, leading to higher purchase ratios at stores, as well as improve customer loyalty. The new company was founded on 800 million yen (approx. $8M usd) and is mainly owned by AEON group with 71% of the share, with DoCoMo holding the 29% balance of stock.
As for DoCoMo, the tie-up secures a high profile retail showcase client for their i-Concier platform, and of course value for their customers. According to the original announcement: The two companies advocate and will achieve “Ideal way of a new shopping” through this new company in the future.