Four of Japan's leading department store chains will jointly launch in April a unified goods home-delivery system in Tokyo and end their separate services, Mitsukoshi Ltd. said Friday.
Whether the companies -- Takashimaya Co., Daimaru Inc., Matsuzakaya Co. and Mitsukoshi -- will expand the four-way cooperative arrangement into other areas in Japan has not yet been determined, said Kazuo Aoki, a Mitsukoshi spokesman.
The joint distribution system is chiefly designed to cut costs.
In the Kinki region, Mitsukoshi and Daimaru have already been operating a similar joint home-delivery system, he said.
In Tokyo, the four will initially deliver merchandise to Mitsukoshi's distribution center in Shinonome in Tokyo's Koto Ward. From there the goods will be transported to households by commonly operated delivery vehicles, Aoki said.
The goods will be classified according to their delivery destinations, before the common delivery vehicles transport them, he said.
Mitsukoshi runs 19 distribution centers in Tokyo at present, Takashimaya 13, Matsuzakaya seven and Daimaru two. The joint operation will allow the companies to shut down or consolidate several of their distribution centers that have overlapping delivery areas, he said.
The four will adopt common forms to keep transportation records. The delivery system will also cover the transportation of traditional summer and yearend gifts, he added.