June 15, 2015

Accenture and Fast Retailing Join Forces to Develop Digitally Enabled Consumer Services



Joint initiative aims to improve the personalized multi-channel experience for Fast Retailing’s customers


TOKYO; June 15, 2015 – Fast Retailing Co., Ltd. and Accenture (NYSE: ACN) are forming a joint initiative to accelerate the digital innovation of consumer services for Fast Retailing’s customers globally.

Expanding on a long-standing relationship, the two companies have agreed that they will explore ways to expand their collaboration to deliver personalized customer experiences across all of Fast Retailing’s retail channels. The collaboration may be formalized in a joint venture, subject to internal and regulatory approvals.

Fast Retailing – which has operations across Asia, Europe and the United States – owns seven major brands: UNIQLO, GU, Theory, Comptoir des Cotonniers, Helmut Lang, Princesse tam.tam and J Brand. To improve the personalized multi-channel experience for Fast Retailing’s customers, Accenture will help the retailer develop new digital business models that embed customer innovation, data analytics and digitized operations in product development, merchandising, production, logistics, marketing, sales and customer service. This should enable consumers to select, try, purchase and receive products and services anytime and anywhere, which is a key objective of Fast Retailing’s operating model.

As part of the initiative, Accenture will help Fast Retailing build a cloud-based technology platform, including supply chain and customer relationship management systems, to collect actionable customer insights that will enable the personalization of the customer experience. The technology, including supply chain and customer relationship management systems, will be fully transformed as a cloud based infrastructure. Accenture Digital will provide the digital commerce, mobility and analytics capabilities needed to transform the customer experience.

Under the joint initiative, Accenture will also help Fast Retailing train and recruit the talent necessary to build an enhanced customer experience team, seeking candidates with skills in digital technologies including mobility, analytics and cloud. In addition, the two companies will establish an advisory panel that includes leading academics, opinion leaders and start-up companies to help shape Fast Retailing’s future digital services for its customers.

“We are pursuing a coherent strategy to establish an innovative business scheme that seamlessly combines real and virtual markets and to take the lead in the changing retail industry,” said Tadashi Yanai, Chairman, President and CEO, Fast Retailing “Through this collaborative framework with Accenture, Fast Retailing will globally present and introduce the possibility of an innovative business model beyond the retail industry and accelerate developing the world’s leading direct business model. Fast Retailing, partnering with Accenture, will enhance store strategy, create a state-of-the-art supply chain network and develop innovative talent to meet the consumer demands in the era of digitalization.”

Gianfranco Casati, group chief executive - Growth Markets at Accenture, said, “Today’s retail customers are a formidable force with shifting expectations, demanding a seamless experience – whether in stores or online – that is on their terms. Leading retailers know that digital is the key to creating the seamless experience customers want, and we will work with Fast Retailing to ensure they are making smart investment choices to create new value while ensuring efficient and effective operations across their entire organization.”

About UNIQLO and Fast Retailing
UNIQLO is a brand of Fast Retailing Co., Ltd., a leading global Japanese retail holding company that designs, manufactures and sells clothing under seven main brands: Comptoir des Cotonniers, GU, Helmut Lang, J Brand, Princesse tam.tam, Theory, and UNIQLO. With global sales of approximately 1.38 trillion yen for the 2014 fiscal year ending August 31, 2014 (US $13.3 billion, calculated in yen using the end of August 2014 rate of $1 = 103.74 yen), Fast Retailing is one of the world’s largest apparel retail companies, and UNIQLO is Japan’s leading specialty retailer.

UNIQLO continues to open large-scale stores in some of the world’s most important cities and locations, as part of its ongoing efforts to solidify its status as a truly global brand. Today the company has a total of more than 1,500 stores in 16 markets worldwide including Japan, Australia, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, U.K. and the U.S. In addition, Grameen UNIQLO, a social business established in Bangladesh in September 2010, currently operates several Grameen UNIQLO stores in Dhaka. UNIQLO manages an integrated business model under which it designs, manufactures, markets and sells high-quality, casual apparel. The company believes that truly great clothes should be supremely comfortable, feature universal designs, are of high quality and offer a superb fit to everyone who wears them.

With a corporate statement committed to changing clothes, changing conventional wisdom and change the world, Fast Retailing is dedicated to creating great clothing with new and unique value to enrich the lives of people everywhere. For more information about UNIQLO and Fast Retailing, please visit www.uniqlo.com and www.fastretailing.com.

About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more than 323,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. The company generated net revenues of US$30.0 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2014. Its home page is www.accenture.com

Accenture Digital, comprised of Accenture Analytics, Accenture Interactive and Accenture Mobility, offers a comprehensive portfolio of business and technology services across digital marketing, mobility and analytics. From developing digital strategies to implementing digital technologies and running digital processes on their behalf, Accenture Digital helps clients leverage connected and mobile devices; extract insights from data using analytics; and enrich end-customer experiences and interactions, delivering tangible results from the virtual world and driving growth. Learn more about Accenture Digital at www.accenture.com/digital.

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Contact:

Aleks Vujanic
Accenture
+ 44 7500 974814
aleks.vujanic@accenture.com

Yosuke Shiroshita
Accenture
+ 81 80 8423 8430
yosuke.shiroshita@accenture.com