The Umeda branch of Daimaru Matsuzakaya Department Stores Co. said Wednesday it will test a service providing information about discounts and other special offers to foreigners via their smartphone and tablet devices.
The service will be tested from Sept. 24 through Oct. 28, coinciding with the expansion from October of duty free status to foods and cosmetics purchased by foreigners visiting Japan.
The department store in Osaka, a unit of J. Front Retailing Co., will place a device on the first floor that will dispense information in Chinese or English about discounts to nearby tablets and smartphones.
Sales of duty free products over the five months through July surged about 60 percent from a year earlier, the department store said, adding that many of the shoppers were from China and Taiwan.