The e-commerce partner chosen by a long-established confectionery shop celebrating its 70th anniversary
Founded in 1954 in front of Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine in Kamakura, Kamakura Beniya is a long-established confectionery shop with many fans nationwide for its baked goods, including its signature product "Kurumi-ko." Celebrating its 70th anniversary in 2024, the company has implemented Shopify as the platform to support its online store, which has accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic, and selected Commerce Media as its maintenance and operation partner.
In this article, we spoke to a key member of the Direct Marketing Department, which is responsible for running Kamakura Beniya's online shop, about the brand's history, communication with fans, and the reasons for switching partners, summarizing the behind-the-scenes details of the project and future prospects.
Direct Marketing Department Director Nagano (right), Manager Takanashi (left), and Supervisor Kai (center)
1. Brand History
──Kurumi -ko is already a popular product nationwide, but could you please tell us more about your company?
Founded in 1954 in front of Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine in Kamakura, the company celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2024. It manufactures and sells sweets with a strict focus on deliciousness, including its signature confectionery, "Kurumi-ko."
Kamakura Beniya is a confectionery shop that values the feelings that go beyond "delicious." We strive to deliver not only deliciousness, but also excitement and thrills, and contribute to creating "smiles" and "happiness."
──Regarding the online shop, please tell us about the role of the Direct Marketing Department to which you belong.
We started by launching an online shop around 2001. Initially, it mainly served as a point of contact for phone orders, but when the store was temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we reaffirmed the importance of an online shop and decided to focus on it in earnest.
Originally, it was a division that included the sales department, which also included people working in the stores, but it was separated into the Direct Marketing Department. In order to provide an environment where customers can easily shop, we have renovated the website several times, leading to the current operational structure.
Background of the fan meeting
──You've been holding fan meetings recently. How did this come about?
Scenes from the first fan meeting hosted by Takanashi
I have long wanted to create an opportunity to interact directly with my fans, but it has been difficult to find a real opportunity.
Once the COVID-19 situation had calmed down, we held our 70th Anniversary Party in April 2024, where we publicly solicited and invited fans to attend. Encouraged by requests to hold a fan meeting, we held our first fan meeting in November 2024.
──Was the public recruitment system based on a lottery system?
Yes. As a project exclusively for Kamakura Beniya's official online shop members, we held a lottery to solicit entries through the official online shop. Despite it being the first time we held the event, we received about six times as many applications as we had available, and we are truly happy and grateful.
On the day, some people made the effort to come from far away, such as Chubu and Kinki, and it was a moment when we really felt the presence of fans who were looking for a real ``venue.''
2. Background of the request to Commerce Media
──First of all, please tell us why you decided to switch from your previous partner.
Nagano-san, Director of Direct Marketing at Kamakura Beniya
Nagano-san: We are grateful to our previous partner for their generous support, from launching the site to maintenance and operation. However, once full-scale operation began, we came to the conclusion that we wanted to move on to the next step by asking a partner company with more development and operation experience to help us.
So that's when you started looking for a new partner.
Nagano-san: Yes. We decided to compare three companies, one of which was Commerce Media.
We were looking for a partner company at the time when we were considering an in-store pickup service, and Commerce Media responded well to our inquiries and communication was smooth, so we asked them to implement an in-store pickup service on a temporary basis.
Seki (Commerce Media) : You started the in-store pickup service as a trial. It was like a trial period (laughs).
Nagano : When we started the in-store pickup service, we thought we would ask for maintenance as well if things went as we envisioned and communication was smooth, but the response we received was even better than we expected.
Kamakura Beniya Direct Marketing Department Manager Takanashi (left)
Takanashi : They quickly understood our system and smoothly coordinated with all the relevant parties. Also, their extensive experience in the food e-commerce business with companies like Orion Beer and GoGo Curry gave us great confidence, which was a deciding factor in our decision to work with them.
Komatsubara (Commerce Media) : I already knew about Kurumicco and was such a big fan that I even went to the Kurumicco Factory privately, so I wanted to support them in some way.
Takanashi : That's great. When we released our in-store pickup service, a typical partner company would have just tested it on the system, but instead they actually purchased the product and came to our main store in front of Hachimangu Shrine to provide feedback on their purchasing experience from a customer's perspective. We were very pleased to see such a client-oriented attitude and sentiment.
Kai : It's great to know that engineers are thinking about things that much.
Seki (Commerce Media) : From an engineer's perspective, it would be fine if the system flow worked smoothly, but I wanted to actually try out how to receive the items after the data has been sent.
──Have you received any feedback from customers about the in-store pickup service?
Kai : We receive kind words from customers saying that they are happy to be able to make a purchase when they visit our store.
3. Maintenance support handover
──It took about one to two months for maintenance to be handed over from the previous partner to Commerce Media.
Takanashi : Since the handover took place while we were still running the online shop, I was initially prepared for a certain workload. However, in reality, they identified the tasks and created a handover schedule, which allowed us to proceed smoothly by following that plan.
During the handover, the three companies had many meetings, but it was helpful that your company and the previous partner handled the technical aspects of the system directly.
──After taking over, have you noticed any benefits in the operational phase ?
Nagano-san : It's great that they can respond quickly when a problem occurs. Sometimes they can solve the problem on the same day we ask for help. Behind their speed is their technical ability, and knowing that we can rely on them immediately gives us peace of mind.
Takanashi-san : It's great that they understand our sales methods for popular products and can make suggestions based on that. They don't just say "this is how it's generally done," but make suggestions that are tailored to us.
Nagano-san : That's true. They anticipate things that we don't even realize. Also, they don't have a "no" mentality, so they think about how to make things happen, which is great for us as a business.
What I like about Shopify
── Having actually used Shopify, what are the advantages of using it compared to your previous cart system?
Takanashi : First of all, the stability of the server. Previously, when there was a lot of traffic, the page would slow down, which was a real inconvenience to our customers. Since we switched to Shopify, that hasn't happened once.
Another big factor is that the hurdles to adding new features have been lowered. For example, while it was difficult to implement a lottery sales system with the previous cart system, it was possible to do so smoothly with Shopify.
──Please give us some specific examples of how you use the app.
Takanashi: We use Matrixify for uploading inventory. The app we were using previously had a lot of issues and we were struggling, but at a regular meeting, Commerce Media suggested we use Matrixify to solve the problem, which helped us improve our work efficiency. Now it's one of our indispensable apps.
We also use Shopify Flow to improve business efficiency and the AI assistant Sidekick to analyze data.
lastly
──Kamakura Beniya, what would you like to work on in the future?
Takanashi: We have physical stores, so we want to strengthen our services so that customers can enjoy the same level of service both in-store and online .
──We appreciate your kind words so far, but please let us know if you have any suggestions for improvements or additions.
Nagano: I have no complaints, but if I were to make a request, I would like you to suggest further improvements to our website, share best practices based on examples from other companies, and come up with ideas that we might not have thought of on our own by asking, "What do you think about this initiative?"
Thank you for your valuable feedback. We will continue to support you so that customers who visit your online store can have a satisfying shopping experience.
Commerce Media: Komatsubara, Seki, Toyoda, Takahashi
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