Press Releases

TOKYO, JAPAN, July 14, 2015 --- NTT DOCOMO, INC. and Laox Co., Ltd., a Japan-based tax-free retailer, announced today that they have reached a basic agreement to jointly offer benefits tailored to overseas visitors shopping at Laox stores throughout Japan.

The first initiative, scheduled to launch in October, will be discounts offered at Laox stores to customers of China Mobile Communications Corporation and KT Corporation of South Korea who use DOCOMO's international roaming services while travelling in Japan.

Customers who roam on the DOCOMO mobile network in Japan will be validated for the discounts when they shop at any Laox shop nationwide.

DOCOMO, China Mobile and KT concluded their Strategic Cooperation Framework Agreement in January 2011, aiming initially to expand usage of their respective international roaming services. The partnership with Laox is based on a joint decision to target overlapping customers, in this case overseas mobile users who visit tax-free shops in Japan. This is the first time for the three mobile companies to collaborate with a third-party company.

Going forward, DOCOMO and Laox will continue to strengthen their support for foreign shoppers through possible tie-ups with additional partners, such as foreign mobile carriers and companies offering products or services to foreign visitors in Japan. Also, both companies will offer specialized information useful to foreigners during their stays in Japan, language support by leveraging mobile-translation technologies, marketing initiatives supported with big data, and more.