Social Contribution Through Business Activities
Donate Unused Items Easily Through BOOKOFF
As part of our social contribution efforts, the BOOKOFF Group offers an easy and accessible way to give back to society. By selling your unwanted books, CDs, DVDs, video games, and other items through BOOKOFF, the purchase amount is donated to support various social initiatives.
Donation from the Internet “Kimochi To.”
Kimochi To. is a donation program offered through the BOOKOFF Official Online Store's home pick-up trade-in service. By sending in unwanted items such as books you’ve finished reading, CDs you no longer listen to, and games you no longer play, you can donate the trade-in value to a variety of nonprofit organizations and causes.
This initiative allows you to transform your items into acts of support and kindness, and contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Goals 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) and 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).
Today, Kimochi To. supports around 80 donation programs, including medical aid, disaster relief, child welfare, sports, and cultural initiatives. Users simply choose a recipient organization, send their items to BOOKOFF, and once the items are appraised, the full amount is transferred to the chosen organization via BOOKOFF.
Total donation amount 476,000,000 yen
https://www.bookoffonline.co.jp/files/sellfund– Japanese only
Donate Your Buyback Value Instantly with the “Cashless Payout” Option
When you use our Cashless Payout service—which allows you to receive buyback payments via e-money services, or BOOKOFF buyback points—you also have the option to donate your payment directly to the Central Community Chest of Japan (Red Feather Community Fund).
Your donated amount is passed on to the community chest in the prefecture where the store is located, and is used to support various local welfare initiatives. These include assistance for the elderly and people with disabilities facing life challenges, as well as support for children in need.
Donation amount 924,000 yen (actual for fiscal year ending May 2021)
https://www.bookoff.co.jp/sell/spuketori.html– Japanese only
Sustainabook Project
Launched in 2023 and held for the second time in 2024, this project aims to promote reading opportunities for children and address regional disparities in access to books. The initiative was carried out at 145 BOOKOFF chain stores located in 16 prefectures where the percentage of libraries per municipality falls below the national average of 80.5%.
For every three items sold to BOOKOFF by a customer, one yen equivalent was allocated toward donations. Based on the total calculated amount, BOOKOFF donated books to facilities and organizations that support children's reading and work to eliminate regional disparities in access to books. Applications from potential recipient facilities were also accepted during the project period.
As a result, 197,918 customers participated by selling a total of 5,708,604 items, which led to the donation of 5,325 books to 50 facilities. These included:
・Kaze no Machi Kodomoen (Aomori Prefecture)
・Akita Children's Center (Akita Prefecture)
・Mogami Regional Exchange Center YUME-ARIA (Yamagata Prefecture)
and many others across Japan.
https://www.bookoff.co.jp/sbp– Japanese only
Support athletes
Sponsorship of sporting events
At BOOKOFF, we are committed to supporting athletes who pursue their dreams. As part of this effort, we are expanding our selection of high-quality, affordable reused (secondhand) sports equipment.
We also sponsor athletes such as professional snowboarders Hiroaki Kunitake and Kiara Morii, as well as Kana Nakashio, a designated training athlete on the Japan National Surfing Team “Naminori Japan.” In addition, we support sports events and initiatives to promote entry-level participation and encourage the broader growth of the sporting community.
Japan's national surfing team “Naminori Japan” designated athlete Kana Nakashio
Relationship with Franchisees
BOOKOFF’s Franchise System
The BOOKOFF Group has a network of roughly 800 stores, of which approximately 380 stores are operated by franchisees. The Franchising Division has concluded partnerships with roughly 60 franchisees, with the aim of enhancing brand value by providing superior service through store operations that are rooted in the lifestyles of each store’s customers.
Extensive preparations are made prior to the opening of a store, including basic training and the dispatching of instructors from the head office, and on-the-job training through sales department of Tokyo branch and 5 regional branches around Japan, to ensure that the opening goes smoothly.
In addition, after a store opens, head office supervisors maintain communication with owners and store managers through regular visits and training programs, and backup is provided with proposals for various sales campaigns and promotional plans that take advantage of the economy of scale.
Support Structure for Franchise Owners
We support the owners and store managers of franchise by assigning general managers and supervisors for franchise.
The head office and branch offices also hold regular meetings of owners and training sessions to exchange information.
Owners’ meetings
Biannually (held biannually by the head office)
*As of 2020, to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the National Owners' Meeting has been canceled and will be streamed online instead.
Scenes from the 2019 National Owners' Meeting
Various training
We support the owners and store managers of franchise by assigning general managers and supervisors for franchise at sales department of Tokyo branch and 5 regional branches.Annual branch manager training and various regular training is held to exchange information.
Training session for store managers
Information sharing system
We operate a dedicated website called "Yomuyomu Hiroba" that provides the latest information from headquarters, information sharing with directly managed stores, and sales data from our own stores.
Information sharing system "Yomuyomu Hiroba"
FC Awards
We are holding an internal awards program called the BOOKOFF Awards for all our franchisees.
The awards are based on sales performance, customer service, sales floor planning, and other factors, and the best and most outstanding stores are recognized.
Details of the results of the BOOKOFF Awards 2020 are available on the BOOKOFF service site and our official owned media, BOOKOFF wo Tachiyomi!
BOOKOFF service site– Japanese only
Official owned media, BOOKOFF wo Tachiyomi!– Japanese only
Dialogue with customers
At BOOKOFF Group, we carefully register and manage customer feedback in a database under a strict personal information protection framework. All feedback—excluding personally identifiable information—is then shared throughout the organization via an internal system to improve store operations, services, and overall business quality.
Insights gained from our daily interactions with customers are compiled as Voice of Customer (VoC) reports, which are submitted monthly to the President & CEO and relevant executive officers. These reports help ensure that management and store support divisions understand the customer’s point of view and can quickly formulate and implement improvement measures.
Dedicated Customer Support for Greater Satisfaction
We operate a dedicated Customer Support Desk to respond to inquiries and feedback via phone and email. To maintain and enhance our service quality, all feedback received is promptly shared with both stores and headquarters through our internal intranet. This open communication fosters company-wide awareness and leads to ongoing improvements in customer experience.
