FamilyMart to Install Key Boxes for “Minpaku” Room Users

May 21, 2018

Tokyo- Major Japanese convenience store operator FamilyMart Co. said Monday that it will fully start a service to allow "minpaku" guests to receive and deposit room keys at its outlets.

The company plans to launch the new business at its 150 stores in central Tokyo by February 2019, in a tie-up with Airbnb Inc., the operator of a website to connect minpaku private lodging services to users, mostly foreign visitors, it said.

Dedicated key boxes will be installed at the FamilyMart stores for Airbnb customers so they can pick up and return keys around the clock.

The convenience store chain aims to boost sales by encouraging the key service users to make purchases at the stores.

"As minpaku users tend to stay long, we hope to provide laundry and other new services in the future," Akinori Wada, head of FamilyMart's the new business department, told a press conference.

FamilyMart is not alone in the industry in expanding into the minpaku market.

Anticipating a sharp demand growth after a minpaku law takes effect in June, Seven-Eleven Japan Co. will in the same month launch an automatic check-in and key-providing service at some of its outlets in Tokyo.

Lawson Inc. has already installed dedicated key lockers at nine stores in the capital. Jiji Press