Jobs in Japan
Explore hand-picked jobs in Japan for English speakers across tech, education, marketing, and more.
Vetted companies only. Apply from overseas.
Explore hand-picked jobs in Japan for English speakers across tech, education, marketing, and more.
Vetted companies only. Apply from overseas.
RakutenRakuten Mart, Rakuten's warehouse-based online supermarket business, is a new business model that boasts a market reach comparable to major retail chains while enabling agile merchandising (MD) akin to independent local stores. By leveraging the unique characteristics of this business model to develop an innovative product lineup, we aim to revolutionize the domestic food distribution market and realize a more value-added society for both users and producers. The Merchandising team aims to improve sales and customer satisfaction by enhancing product assortment and quality, and by setting appropriate prices. We sell online a wide range of products typically found in supermarkets, such as fresh produce, daily essentials, frozen foods, beverages, alcoholic drinks, and non-food items. Additionally, we offer unique products not commonly found in other supermarkets, including items from Rakuten Ichiba stores and local specialty goods. Unlike physical stores, there are no limitations on selling space, allowing us to pursue highly flexible strategies unique to an online supermarket. We are responsible for product assortment and procurement, including developing new suppliers; inventory and waste loss control; and sales/gross profit management. We are recruiting personnel to strengthen our product assortment and procurement across all product categories. The food distribution market is a sector where e-commerce and digitalization have been particularly slow. Rakuten aims to promote the e-commerce and digitalization of food distribution by advancing its online supermarket business, thereby empowering society through food distribution reform. This position offers the opportunity to participate in business expansion with the goal of establishing a leading position in Japan. We cover 12 million target households in the Tokyo metropolitan area and ship from two automated warehouses. By establishing an efficient delivery network using a Hub & Spoke model, we achieve same-day delivery and precise temperature control for products. Furthermore, our state-of-the-art automated warehouses significantly reduce walking time during product retrieval and product verification tasks, enabling highly efficient operations. You will be responsible for the duties of a merchandiser and buyer, including confirming and improving product sales and profit performance; conducting market research to understand user needs; developing and executing assortment strategies for your assigned department; gathering information on raw materials, products, and production lines; negotiating with manufacturers, production regions, and producers; product pricing (purchase price and selling price); analyzing customer data and managing inventory levels; planning promotions, verifying results, and improving effectiveness; and designing the store layout within the website of the online supermarket. Teams are divided based on the products handled, such as chilled goods, groceries, daily necessities, and fresh foods: foods such as vegetables, meat, and seafood; foods other than fresh produce and prepared dishes (deli items); and products from Rakuten Ichiba stores and local specialty goods. Our division comprises approximately 90 members in total, including indirect employment. The MD department includes the Mart MD Excellence Section, Mart Fresh Food Section, Mart Daily Foods Section, Mart Grocery & Nonfood Section, Mart Product Development Section, and Mart MD Cross Functional Section. Mid-career hires have backgrounds as retail buyers and food wholesaler buyers.
- Merchandising (MD) and buying experience. - A person with negotiation skills and communication skills with internal and external parties.
- Experience in merchandising (MD) and buying for fresh foods. - Management experience - Buyer experience in retail, particularly in supermarkets
