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- Sustainability
- Social Contribution Activities
Seven & i Group fulfills its responsibilities as a member of many local communities by fostering coordination and cooperation with each community. At the same time, the Group supports society overall by contributing to community development and the creation of prosperous living environments through its businesses, in conjunction with making appropriate donations in consideration of the benefits to society and the general public.
In social contribution activities, the Sustainability Development Department promotes activities in coordination with relevant departments in each Group company under the leadership of the Director and Managing Executive Officer Head of Corporate Development Division of Seven & i Holdings.
Seven & i Holdings seeks to mitigate the environmental impact associated with its business activities and to contribute to making a better society through those activities. When selecting external partners for activities, we always ensure that they have a philosophy that is compatible with our own, and that they have sufficient specialist expertise.
We measure the effect of our social contribution activities based on four perspectives. Moreover, we plan to revise our measurement methods in the future to enable an even more accurate measurement of the inputs for an activity, the respective outputs for the Company and society after the activity, and the final impacts on the Company and society, respectively.
Effect Measurement Method | Detail |
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1. Verification of the Social Contribution Activity Cost Over One Year | The activity cost is verified by type and format of activity. |
2. Verification with KPIs | The effect of the initiatives is measured numerically by using our established key performance indicators (KPIs). For example, we conduct "shopping support" services to assist seniors (Online convenience store / supermarket, mobile store service, etc.) and the effect of these activities is verified by using the number of stores involved, the number of operational vehicles, the amount of sales, and other metrics as KPIs. In addition to these numbers, we also reflect feedback from service users in our planning for the following fiscal year. |
3. Dialogue with Organizations We Support | We confirm the results of activities reported by NPOs and other organizations to which we give financial assistance. We verify the effects of activities based on reported information such as the number of beneficiaries and the positive impact on them, as well as direct feedback obtained through dialogue with the assisted organizations. We also refer to these reports and feedback when deciding on the next round of recipients and projects that we will assist. |
4. Survey of Employees Who Participate in Activities | We conduct questionnaire surveys of employees who participated as volunteers in activities we have planned, asking them about their level of satisfaction with the activity and points for improvement. The results are used to measure the effect of the activity and in planning our next activities. |
5. Survey of Employees Overall |
Every year we conduct an Employee Engagement Survey of a sample of employees from 34 Group companies. (Certain companies conduct sampling surveys.) Through the results of the survey, we confirm employees' awareness of their own companies. The results are used in our verification of the activities, and we formulate plans for the next year.
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Seven & i Holdings believes that employee participation in social contribution activities is also crucial. Based on this belief, we plan and implement activities such as opportunities to experience nature and disaster reconstruction support programs. Moreover, to encourage employee participation in volunteer activities, Seven-Eleven Japan, Ito-Yokado, York, Seven & i Food Systems, and Seven Bank have instituted a volunteer leave system under which employees can take five days off per year for volunteer work. At Ito-Yokado, part-time workers may also take volunteer leave. In the fiscal year ended February 28, 2022, 10 employees in the Group took volunteer leave.
In March 2016, Ito-Yokado commenced activities to encourage customers and employees to donate funds throughout the year by placing collection boxes next to almost all of its POS registers nationwide. This fund collection drive is the first of its kind to be held at a superstore chain throughout the year and is being undertaken to help solve various social issues on a revolving basis every three months. In addition, since June 2020 we have been collecting donations over the internet through the Seven & i Group’s Seven Mile Program. Through these fund collection drives, we raised ¥21,685,277 in donations from our customers and employees in the fiscal year ended February 28, 2022.
Furthermore, the “Thanks Blooming” initiative—launched in the fiscal year ended February 28, 2022 as part of our efforts to improve employee engagement—for collecting donations from employees by allowing them to exchange “Thanks Blooming” points as a way of saying “thank you” to their colleagues raised a total of ¥298,564. Ever since we began collecting donations at our stores in 2016, these three initiatives have raised a total of ¥207,404,982.
Implementation Period | Days | Fund Detail | Amount |
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March 1 to May 31 | 92 | Fund to Support Children's Futures | 4,848,182 |
June 1 to August 15 | 76 | Donation for the National Federation of All Japan Guide Dog Training Institutions | 6,158,660 |
July 7 to August 1, August 16 to August 31 |
42 | Donation for disaster relief due to heavy rain | 1,960,266 |
September 1 to November 30 | 91 | Support for children in foreign countries | 5,193,679 |
December 1 to February 28 | 90 | The Nippon Foundation | 6,073,720 |
Seven & i Group companies support the training of guide dogs for the visually-impaired and collect donations for this purpose at Ito- Yokado, Sogo & Seibu, and York stores.
Sogo & Seibu has placed dog-shaped donation boxes at all stores permanently to encourage customers to support guide dog training activities. In addition to in-store donations collected from customers, Sogo & Seibu makes donations collected through the "Woof! Coin Club," which accepts monthly voluntary donations by employees, and the Sogo & Seibu Fund set up by the company and its labor union (cumulative donations from March 2003 to the end of February 2022 were ¥699,289,594). Besides fund collection activities, Sogo & Seibu also conducts awareness-raising activities for customers. Each Sogo & Seibu store conducts events to improve public understanding toward people with visual impairments and their guide dogs.
Ito-Yokado began making donations to the National Federation of All Japan Guide Dog Training Institutions in 1991 to support the training of guide dogs, and celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2021. From 1991 to 2021, a cumulative total of ¥93,281,965 has been donated.
Since August 2017, Seven-Eleven Japan has been donating a portion from product inventories-except fresh foods and products requiring permits such as alcohol, cigarettes, and stamps-that arise during store renovations to Second Harvest Japan, a foodbank organization.
In addition, Seven-Eleven Japan signed a three-party agreement with Yokohama City and the Yokohama City Council of Social Welfare in April 2018 and began a similar initiative. The donated products are distributed to organization and facilities that support people such as seniors, persons with disabilities, children, and the needy, leading to the promotion of social welfare and reduction of food waste.
Social contribution through donation of food
Sogo & Seibu works with the Japanese Organization for International Cooperation in Family Planning (JOICFP)※ on a project for sending pairs of shoes to children in Zambia. The company has established areas to accept children’s shoes donations in all of its stores. The shoes they receive from customers help to prevent tetanus and parasitic infections resulting from foot injuries to children with bare feet. They are sent through JOICFP to children in Zambia. As of the end of February 2022, Sogo & Seibu had sent about 1,070,702 pairs of shoes since 2009.
Akachan Honpo and Sogo & Seibu have been providing sponsorship for the White Ribbon Campaign launched by JOICFP to protect the lives and health of pregnant women and babies throughout the world. These companies have been working on the Community Safe Motherhood Project (which involves the donation of funds to establish Maternity Waiting Houses in Zambia). Besides accepting donations on behalf of JOICFP through its stores and online, the two companies have also installed 45 White Ribbon Campaign Vending Machines at inside and outside of stores (Akachan Honpo 35 machines, Sogo & Seibu 10 machines) as of the end of February 2022. For every beverage purchased from one of these machines, the companies donate ¥2 to JOICFP (¥1 from the beverage manufacturer and ¥1 from the store where the machine is installed). In addition, Sogo & Seibu has created a White Ribbon pin badge for sale, from which all proceeds are donated to the White Ribbon Campaign.
The social contribution activities provided by Seven & i Group in the fiscal year ended February 28, 2022, including the provision of financial assistance or the donation of goods, and the personnel costs of employees involved in these activities, amounted to a total of ¥1.5929 billion when converted into monetary terms. Of this total, cash donations were approximately ¥0.33 billion.
Category | Amount |
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Administration cost | 983,751 |
Cash donations | 333,428 |
Donation of goods | 251,408 |
Costs for using the Group company's facilities | 21,600 |
Personnel costs of employees participating in activities during work hours | 2,721 |
Total | 1,592,907 |