By making purchase payments cashless, we have succeeded in leveling out store operations and reducing labor.

BOOKOFF CORPORATION LIMITED, Ltd. conducts over-the-counter purchases that turn unnecessary items into money in a matter of seconds by simply bringing products to Book Off stores 365 days a year. At some Book Off stores, we offer a "smartphone pick-up course" where customers pay the purchase price cashlessly when they sell unnecessary items. If you accept at the store and deposit what you want to sell, you can use it for shopping or hobbies without waiting for the purchase price to be calculated in the store. When the assessment at the store is completed, the customer's smartphone will be notified of the completion of the calculation, and the purchase price can be received by the specified method.

Background to the introduction of POBO Service (Payment be half of)

One of our challenges is that when the store is crowded with customers, customers inevitably have to wait a long time. Previously, we could only pay the purchase price in cash, so customers had no choice but to wait in the store, and we often received feedback that the wait time was long. If we could pay the purchase price in a way other than cash, we thought that customers would be able to sell their unwanted items more easily and use their time more effectively. We therefore considered a new way to pay for purchases by using Yamato System Development Co., Ltd.'s "Multi-Value Charge Service," which is linked to SB Payment Service's "POBO Service (Payment be half of)," which allows customers to make cashless payments.

Benefits of Introducing POBO Service (Payment be half of)

From November 2019, we started the service of "Receive with smartphone". Although the awareness of the service is still low, the biggest merit for customers is that they do not have to wait in the store, and the number of people who use it repeatedly is increasing. As a happy voice, we have received specific voices such as "It is convenient if you can receive it with services provided by telecommunications companies such as prepaid cards." On the other hand, at stores, it also helps to level and save labor in the work that we usually do. In the future, we believe that further effects can be expected if more customers can use the "pick-up course on smartphones".

Image of using "Receive course on smartphone"

Future service development

At the beginning of November 2019, 120 of all Book Off stores started the "Receive with smartphone" service, but from the spring of 2020, 650 nationwide so that more customers can use it. We plan to expand the service beyond the stores. In addition, we will aggressively expand the payment methods for purchase prices to create a system that can be used by a wide range of generations. Taking the opportunity of the "pick-up course on smartphones", we will continue to strive to improve the service that allows customers to easily sell unnecessary items.