CEO Message
Since ASKUL launched its B-to-B business in 1993, we have marked a significant milestone by celebrating our 30th anniversary last year. Today, our services have grown into a platform where customers can purchase over 14 million products essential for various workplaces, ranging from office supplies to specialized products for the medical, nursing care, manufacturing, and construction industries. In addition, LOHACO, a B-to-C business that launched in 2012, serves 10.1 million cumulative customer accounts (as of May 20, 2024), and continues to evolve into an infrastructure that supports all workplaces and lifestyles.
Currently, ASKUL is implementing a four-year Medium-Term Management Plan under the theme of “Transformation from an Office Supplies Mail-Order Company.” We are now in the final year of this plan, which will end in the fiscal year ending May 2025. Despite a challenging business environment characterized by inflation, soaring prices, and labor shortages, we have made significant progress. During the fiscal year ended May 2024, we accomplished our most important mission of “changing the trajectory of the profit growth curve” while continuing to “change the trajectory of the sales growth curve” achieved in the previous fiscal year in the B-to-B business. Furthermore, our B-to-C business achieved profitability for the second consecutive year, resulting in record-high sales and profits.
In addition, as part of our aim to achieve “Ethical E-commerce,” we are promoting co-creation with our stakeholders to realize a trade-on with social and economic value through initiatives that includes expanding Matakul, an original product brand launched through the ASKUL Resource-Recycling Platform, and the conclusion of a Forest Maintenance Agreement with Tsumagoi Village in Gunma Prefecture and our Group company, TSUMAGOI MEISUI CORPORATION. We are taking a proactive approach toward providing solutions for social and environmental issues through our business activities and will continue to expand the scope of these efforts.
Looking ahead to the fiscal year ending May 2025, we will focus on creating new value by fully leveraging technologies such as AI, in combination with our vast big data resources. We are committed to enhancing corporate value by not only utilizing data and digital tools, but also by transforming every process within our extensive value chain through a data-driven approach, thereby advancing our digital transformation.
As a company that solves the challenges faced by our customers, society, and the planet, we will continue to strive.
We thank you for your continued understanding and support.
August 2024
Akira Yoshioka
Representative Director, President and CEO