Helping small- and medium-size companies to computerize their systems
In Japan, downtown areas that have formed around railway stations perform a variety of community and economic functions. In particular, downtown shopping areas have been recently drawing attention not only for their commercial functions but also as a means to revitalize communities plagued with the recent hollowing-out of downtown areas.
The backbone of such shopping areas is the medium- and small-size businesses that account for about 70% of the nation's 1.2 million retailers, and they are apparently behind in terms of information system usage compared with midsize and large retailers. To enable such small and tiny companies to function as community leaders, their computerization must be promoted.
GS1 Japan has paid attention to the needs for IT utilization from early on and has studied system sharing by small- and medium-size companies and supported system installations since the 90s. GS1 Japan puts particular emphasis on a "point card system" which can be handled cooperatively by membership stores within a given shopping area. This system provides customers with a service in which points are added corresponding to the frequency or amount of their purchases, or a parking fee is discounted to promote future visits and purchases by the customers. Recently, new applications are emerging in shopping areas, which once operated independently, working together to enhance their services or combine their systems with a Basic Resident Register Card (IC card) or an IC card issued by public transportation companies. The addition of more attractive services is expected to win greater support among consumers, while service providers in the shopping areas can obtain a greater amount of useful customer information. These services are expected to increase in the future.
But there is also a dark side to this trend: an increasing number of crimes targeting customer information. Also the Personal Information Protection Law affects information utilization by shopping areas because the law controls the handling of personal information, including customer information which is an important element of the card system.
In 2006, GS1 Japan compiled a report on the utilization of customer information by shopping areas and the security issues related to the information usage. The report discusses security and risk management in point service business, credit service business, shopping area card business, and shopping area Internet sales business. It also presents examples of advanced practices and case studies of some shopping areas regarding information security.
In addition, GS1 Japan holds a "Shopping Area Computerization Forum" every year. This forum provides computerization information, such as trends in governmental support for shopping areas and advanced practices in shopping areas. The forum also provides a venue for participants to communicate with each other.