Japan Post gaining partners for parcel delivery service
Ministop Co. announced on March 1 that it will begin handling Japan Post's Yu-Pack parcel delivery service at its 1,684 convenience stores, becoming the second convenience-store operator to do so following Lawson Inc.
By signing up Ministop to handle the Yu-Pack drop-off service at all locations, Japan Post has succeeded in converting another convenience store operator that had been doing business with parcel delivery pioneer Yamato Transport Co.
Ministop currently conducts a similar service for Yamato, but it is expected to switch to Yu-Pack because the leading door-to-door parcel delivery firm does not allow Ministop and other business partners to offer rival services.
Ministop on Feb. 28 notified Yamato of its intention to terminate their parcel service contract. It has asked the company to sign a new contract on the condition that it be allowed to handle both Yu-Pack and Yamato's service.
Yamato, for its part, denies that it has received such a request from Ministop, and there is little likelihood that it would accept such an offer by the end of May.
Last November, Japan Post formed a similar parcel delivery partnership with Lawson, the No. 2 convenience-store chain operator with 8,006 outlets nationwide. Lawson started handling Yu-Pack after canceling a contract with Yamato.
Daily Yamazaki Co. and am/pm Japan Co., which have handled Yu-Pack on a trial basis since last year, plan to offer the parcel service at all of their stores around June.
The number of convenience stores offering Yu-Pack is thus expected to reach about 13,000, accounting for more than 30% of the total for the industry.
The growing presence of Japan Post in the parcel delivery market may draw criticism that it is squeezing out private-sector competitors.
(The Nikkei Weekly 03/07/2005 Edition)
Copyright (c) 2005 Nikkei (Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Inc.) All Rights Reserved
