Japanese conglomerate Softbank is bringing AI and digital technologies to 20,000 7-Eleven stores across the country.

Working with Sumitomo Mitsui Card, Paypal and LY, Softbank plans to combine physical and digital capabilities to shape customer experience and infrastructure for everyday convenience stores.

The aim is for AI-driven transformation to power store services, making everyday shopping more seamless, personal and rewarding.

As consumer behaviour and lifestyles become increasingly diverse, and digital services play an increasingly central role in everyday life, consumer expectations for greater convenience continue to rise. For convenience stores, seamlessly connecting physical stores and digital touchpoints to make everyday shopping easier, more engaging and more rewarding for each customer has become essential for creating customer value, strengthening store performance and driving growth.

In Japan, 7-Eleven operates more than 20,000 stores with approximately 20 million daily customer visits. By combining this foundation with the partners’ digital technologies, data capabilities and broad customer touchpoints, it wants to transform the customer experience and create new forms of convenience.

The partners will bring together 7-Eleven’s store network and customer relationships; SoftBank’s capabilities in AI, robotics, data use and IT; PayPay and LY’s user network; Sumitomo Mitsui Card’s customer base; and PayPay and Sumitomo Mitsui Card’s expertise in cashless payments and loyalty points.

PayPay operates one of Japan’s largest payment and loyalty platforms, serving approximately 75 million users and reaching a broad range of consumers. By connecting everyday shopping with payments, loyalty points and financial services, PayPay is enhancing the value of its digital financial platform. As part of this partnership, PayPay (www.paypal.com) will bring its user base and payments platform closer to consumers’ daily shopping at 7-Eleven, leveraging its payment data to deliver more convenient, rewarding experiences and deepen customer engagement.

A shared customer base will integrate 7-Eleven’s common membership platform, 7iD, into PayPay user accounts.

Sumitomo Mitsui Card (www.smfg.co.jp) has expertise in cashless payments and financial services, as well as a broad customer base, including V Point members. Through the partnership, Sumitomo will make V Points easier to earn and use, enhance cashless payment convenience, and explore ways to leverage the partners’ customer touchpoints to deliver greater convenience and grow its customer base.

“By combining our nationwide network of more than 20,000 stores with our partners’ large customer bases and digital touchpoints, we will move decisively to integrate user accounts and points and deliver promotions at an unprecedented scale,” said Tomohiro Akutsu, president of 7-Eleven in Japan (www.sej.co.jp). “We will also harness AI and robotics to simplify and streamline store operations, while better supporting our franchise owners and store teams.”

Junichi Miyakawa, CEO of Softbank (www.softbank.jp), added: “We will bring together 7-Eleven’s nationwide store network and customer touchpoints with SoftBank’s advanced technologies and expertise in AI, robotics and digital marketing to create new customer experiences where people live, work and shop every day.”