Ajinomoto Group
Food and Beverage EC
transcosmos helped Ajinomoto Group launch AJI MALL, its shopping mall-style D2C e-commerce site powered by Shopify. Also offered e-commerce site operations services from front- to back-office, and contact centers to logistics at one-stop.
Linking customer information stored on AJINOMOTO ID, the Group’s common ID platform to Shopify, transcosmos enabled Ajinomoto Group to maximize the value of customer data. Assisted the Group from every aspect in making a successful D2C business.
Challenge
- Build and operate AJI MALL, a common e-commerce site for the entire Ajinomoto Group that will disseminate the worldview of the Group’s diverse D2C brands.
- Link AJINOMOTO ID, a common ID platform for the entire Ajinomoto Group to Shopify, and make the most of customer data.
Service
- Launched AJI MALL, a mall-style D2C e-commerce site powered by Shopify. Helped the Group link various systems including its common ID platform, ERP, CRM, etc.
- Offered an end-to-end e-commerce operations service from front- to back-office, and contact centers to logistics at one-stop.
Benefits
- Launched AJI MALL in March 2023. In August 2023, evolved the website into a shopping-mall style, disseminating unique worldviews of the Group’s diverse brands.
- Centralized customer information management by linking AJINOMOTO ID, a common ID platform to Shopify via a transcosmos custom app.
- Offered an environment for visualizing reports as well as for advertising and marketing campaigns by deploying “b→dash,” a CRM tool by dataX Inc.
We have been planning to launch our Group’s own e-commerce site with a shopping mall format. One of the options was to build the website from scratch like we did for our other e-commerce sites, however, to keep up with the fast-evolving e-commerce market, we were looking for a partner with an ability to build the site using Shopify, an e-commerce platform which enables us to deploy features we need by installing the right app for each. Among many other players, we chose transcosmos for running this project together, not only because transcosmos is a Shopify Plus Partner, but also because it offers one-stop e-commerce services that range from contact centers to logistic services including warehousing. Building on its expertise in e-commerce marketing, we want transcosmos to assist us in offering new digital marketing services in this evolving field going forward.
Mr. Kiyohito Takahashi
Associate General Manager
Direct Marketing Dept.
AminoScience Division
* The comment, position and other information above are at the time of interview conducted in May 2023.
Launched AJI MALL, a D2C e-commerce website powered by Shopify.
Linked Shopify to AJINOMOTO ID, Ajinomoto Group’s common ID platform
More than 100 years since its foundation, Ajinomoto Group has continued to grow with AminoScience® at its core. Today, Ajinomoto Group operates a wide range of businesses both in Japan and abroad. In December 2022, Ajinomoto Group began using AJINOMOTO ID, a common user ID that ensures secure and comfortable access to all of its services. Next, Ajinomoto Group turned to transcosmos, a Shopify Plus Partner, to build AJI MALL, the Group’s D2C (direct-to-consumer) e-commerce platform. To assist Ajinomoto Group in achieving its vision, transcosmos developed and deployed a custom app which links the platform with AJINOMOTO ID, enabling users to access AJI MALL with the same user account they use for other Ajinomoto Group services.
CRM tool “b→dash” helped visualize sales by brand and execute MA strategies
Moreover, transcosmos also deployed a CRM tool “b→dash,” enabling Ajinomoto Group to check AJI MALL’s sales performance as well as breakdowns by brand on reports and dashboard. With the CRM tool, Ajinomoto Group can also measure advertising and marketing ROIs. Today, the Group also delivers post-purchase emails to encourage repeat purchases, and abandoned cart recovery emails using the tool’s MA (marketing automation) feature.
Offered an extensive range of e-commerce mall operations services at one-stop,
and prepared an AJI MALL guideline/rulebook
transcosmos built a one-stop operations service covering all required features for running and managing e-commerce mall. More specifically, the service ranges from front-office operations such as site updates and product master data management, to contact center services, to back-office operations, to logistics, to system linkage between ERP (enterprise resource planning) and OMS (order management system). Customer inquiries are served by non-voice channels - emails and chats. With hybrid chat services that combine chat agents and chatbots, transcosmos increases the self-service rate and operational efficiency at the same time.
transcosmos didn’t stop there. Not only developing the website, systems and operational processes, transcosmos also created an AJI MALL guideline/rulebook summarizing all specifications of AJI MALL to help Ajinomoto Group smoothly roll out new brands on the site.
The shopping mall style site helps Ajinomoto Group nature its D2C brand fans
In March 2023, Ajinomoto Group launched its own D2C e-commerce website AJI MALL, releasing Dashi-Cha® as its first brand line. In August, the company redesigned the website to a shopping mall style, and began selling Kayu Kayu Kou Jitsu, a cup congee product series.
As a strategy to make more Ajinomoto brand fans on the online mall, Ajinomoto Group plans to add more new brands going forward. transcosmos will continue to help Ajinomoto Group achieve the goal.
Making AJI MALL a channel for Ajinomoto Group to deliver the Group’s attractive brands and products to all, transcosmos will execute initiatives to grow sales while raising the quality of services to the next level.
Services for Ajinomoto Group
