Participating in a joint project with LINE and Microsoft Azure partner companies aimed at supporting digital transformation in the retail industry
Press Release
Lazuli Inc., which provides the cloud product master “Lazuli PDP” for SaaS powered by AI technology (Head office: Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Seigen Hagiwara; hereinafter “Lazuli”), will join the project as one of the partner companies in the “joint project aimed at supporting DX in the retail industry,” which LINE Corporation (Head office: Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Takeshi Idezawa; hereinafter “LINE”) is carrying out together with Microsoft Japan Co., Ltd. (hereinafter “Microsoft Japan”) and “Microsoft Azure” partner companies, starting October 25.
As the spread of COVID-19 has made digitalization urgent in a wide range of fields, including the economy and daily life, government administration, work styles, healthcare, education, and disaster prevention, issues in Japan’s digitalization, such as problems with online procedures and system inconsistencies, have come to light*1. In the retail industry, where offline customer communication has been the norm, consumers have also been forced to curb active spending in stores in response to states of emergency and other measures. In this new way of life, building relationships between retailers and consumers—such as customer communication that combines online and offline channels—is now required.
The “joint project aimed at supporting DX in the retail industry” is a joint initiative by LINE, Microsoft Japan, and partner companies of “Microsoft Azure” to achieve frictionless, priceless, and borderless retail customer experiences. In this project, Lazuli plays the role of using Lazuli PDP (Product Data Platform) to unify and integrate product information in retail with AI, whether online or offline, and to generate and add the information needed to improve customer experience value. By participating in this project, Lazuli aims to combine Lazuli PDP with LINE APIs and Microsoft cloud services to create an experience that allows consumers to smoothly purchase the products they need.
*1 Digital Reform Ministers’ Meeting: Current Status and Challenges of Digitalization
https://www.mext.go.jp/kaigisiryo/content/20200925-mxt_kanseisk01-000010108_4.pdf
＜About Lazuli＞
Lazuli was established in July 2020. Leveraging advanced AI technology and the cloud, it is developing and providing SaaS that makes product information from around the world available to everyone involved in business as an AI product master. As products are manufactured, distributed, and sold, product-related data is not being smoothly synchronized between companies, or even within a company. We believe this is one of the major factors hindering DX. To solve this, Lazuli develops and provides NINJA DB, a SaaS-based cloud product master that makes it easy for business professionals to access product information.
https://corporate.lazuli.ninja/
＜What is Lazuli PDP?＞
The “Lazuli PDP” developed and provided by Lazuli is a PDP for centrally managing product information scattered across multiple external databases, and for organizing and expanding data into a form that is easy to use. Using AI, it performs entity matching and grouping on diverse product master data held by manufacturers, retailers, pharmaceutical companies, and others, and adds meta tags and links based on product efficacy and features. This information is stored in “NINJA DB” and provided to users as “Lazuli PDP.”
Microsoft and Azure are registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries.
The “Lazuli” name and logo, as well as the product and service names mentioned, are trademarks or registered trademarks of Lazuli. Unauthorized copying and reproduction are prohibited.
Note -
Overview of the “joint project aimed at supporting DX in the retail industry”
■ Launch date: November 4, 2021
■ Purpose of this project:
・Achieve frictionless, priceless, and borderless retail customer experiences
- Frictionless: Reduce the cost of introducing services and learning new services, as well as friction in the customer experience.
- Priceless: Realize a world in which customers can focus only on the experience without worrying about money, thanks to a highly value-added customer experience.
- Borderless: Create customer experiences not limited to retail alone, but through collaboration with other industries. (Example: Beyond MaaS* through retail × MaaS, etc.)
・Develop and roll out, in a one-stop manner, retail solutions that combine LINE APIs and Microsoft cloud services
・Create examples of new customer experiences in DX for the retail industry
* From Nikkei BP Publishing Co., Ltd.'s “Beyond MaaS”
■ Specific activities of this project:
・Planning and development of new solutions using LINE APIs and Microsoft cloud service offerings
Provide planning and development support for retail solutions through partner companies participating in this project
・Launching a partner program
Recruit participating partners for this project, provide technical support for solution development by participating partners, and support planning of joint solutions among participating partners
・Joint proposals and planning support for client companies
Provide proposals for retail solutions utilizing LINE APIs and Microsoft cloud service offerings, and hands-on support for clients
・Marketing support
Provide promotional support through participation in various events and dissemination of case studies at seminars hosted by each company
・Data analysis
Conduct collaborative data analysis by each platform provider and partner, based on the results of this project
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