Case study

2021.08.26.

Leveraging negotiating skills to convey our sincerity along with our global network to sell rare alcoholic beverages from Japan and overseas exclusively in department stores.

#Liquor Retail #Retail Business

#Liquor Retail #Retail Business

Leveraging negotiating skills to convey our sincerity along with our global network to sell rare alcoholic beverages from Japan and overseas exclusively in department stores.

Yoshinori Fukuda, Western Japan Area Manager, Liquor Retail Team, Retail Business Department

Continuing to visit breweries that you have truly fallen in love with.

Around a decade ago, Daimaru Kogyo took over the operation of the sales floors for Japanese and Western liquor in Daimaru Matsuzakaya Department Stores across Japan. Yoshinori Fukuda, currently a member of the Liquor Retail Team, was seconded from the department store at that time. He is one of the key members who have supported the sales floors for Japanese and Western liquor, which continue to perform well. Daimaru Kogyo currently operates ten sales floors. For these sales floors, product lineup is everything. The kinds of alcoholic beverages available on the shop floor depends on the skills of Fukuda and his team. “There was a sake brewery that was famous for not wholesaling to department stores. We visited the brewery and were rejected many times, but we were so in love with the taste of their sake that we kept coming back.” Through various negotiations, we were able to convey our stance on sales through tasting and sales at the Shinsaibashi Store, which offers highly specialized products. Our sincerity won over the brewery.

Yoshinori Fukuda, Western Japan Area Manager, Liquor Retail Team, Retail Business Department

Yoshinori Fukuda, Western Japan Area Manager, Liquor Retail Team, Retail Business Department

“The people who actually sell the products go to the brewery for training and experience the sake making process, so they can convey the brewer’s thoughts to the customers.” Sincere thoughts lead to trust. Fukuda has also successfully negotiated a number of other deals, including the purchase of relatively rare whisky in barrels.

Cultivating a lineup of over 800 wines from around the world.

Sales floors for Japanese and Western liquor in Daimaru Department Stores stock many exclusive alcoholic beverages available nowhere else. In particular, one of the company’s strengths is in direct imports of wine, made possible by its own overseas network, which imports more than 800 kinds of wine directly from overseas, ranging from reasonably priced (under 1,000 yen) to vintage wines. Fukuda has had many successful business negotiations, but in this industry, trust is everything when it comes to new business development. It is not enough to have money or sales channels. “For producers, their wine is akin to their own children. When selling, they demand to know how much the buyer loves and understands wine, whether they keep it stored under correct conditions to maintain quality, and whether they can put their heart and soul into selling wine.” Fukuda sometimes visits wineries in France with import staff. He talks with the producers and tells them about Daimaru Kogyo’s strength of being able to handle the entire process from purchasing to sales and its thorough quality control. His promise to purchase wine from producers on an ongoing basis helps clinch the deal. Daimaru Matsuzakaya offers a wide range of alcoholic beverages that can be purchased nowhere else, a fact that has earned the respect of many customers.

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Each product is thoroughly inspected visually.

In the case of products sold in department stores, taste is of course important, but quality is also of the utmost importance. “If the wine is sold in a restaurant, the sommelier can check the condition of the wine before the customer drinks it. At retail stores, the wine is given to the customer unopened, so we do not compromise on quality inspections at all, including for overseas wines.” The processes at the manufacturing site are checked and products are visually inspected one by one. Only products that have passed our own strict inspections make it into stores and on to customers’ tables. “We can’t afford to be lax, because each bottle is a challenge. After all, people drink the beverages we offer, so it is our mission and responsibility to deliver safe and secure products.” Although it is not easy for him to go abroad now, he continues to search for new wines by utilizing his extensive overseas network. The world is still full of delicious products. Today, Fukuda continues to search for alcoholic beverages from all over the world so that people can enjoy a happy moment of contentment at the dining table.

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