Learning from the hard off, DX× omnichannel The secret to success

In the reuse industry, where the market continues to expand, the digitization of inventory management and personal appraisal operations, which are unique to each other, is a top priority. How did Hardoff Corporation (hereinafter referred to as "Hardoff"), which has more than 1,000 stores nationwide, fuse "on-site" and "digital"?

In this article, we archive the webinar we held with Toshiyuki Endo of the company. From Hardoff's unique "Link Channel Concept" to the launch of the successful model "Offer Purchase" and the automation of the rapidly increasing number of remittance operations, GMO Payment Gateway (hereinafter referred to as "GMO-PG") heard behind the scenes of practical DX.

*This article is an archive of the webinar held in February 2026. The information is current as of February 2026.

The scene is the main character. The DX idea of "field-based" that hard-off runs through

While the reuse market is expected to grow to 4 trillion yen by 2030 (Source: Reuse Keizai Shimbun "Used Market Data Book 2025", Hardoff Corporation Co., Ltd.'s financial results for the fiscal year ending March 2025), its business structure is complex. This is because all inventory is "one-of-a-kind" and the purchase (purchase) price depends on the condition of the product and connoisseurship, making it an extremely difficult business model to standardize.

Hard-off has overcome these challenges and continues to make breakthroughs in the reuse industry. Toshiyuki Endo, General Manager of the Information Systems Department, says, "DX does not begin with the introduction of technology, but with sorting out issues in the field." The company has a saying that "the field is the main role, and the headquarters is the supporting role", and all solutions have been derived from the real problems of the store.

In the past, the challenge was "individualization" with different rules for each store. The company also faced the risk of "cash depletion," where cash expenditures from over-the-counter purchases continued while cash income from sales decreased due to the spread of cashless payment. In response to these issues, the company implemented solutions through repeated dialogue with the site using the in-house production of the system (over 80% in-house production ratio).

"Link channel concept" and "offer purchase" to win real stores

At the core of the company's digital strategic breakthrough is the "Link Channel Concept". While general e-commerce strategies start with "smooth online purchases," the company starts with "how to connect digital to more than 1,000 physical stores nationwide."

1. "Off-mall" that opens store inventory nationwide

On the company's e-commerce site "Off Mall", each store will be listed as a "store". Since sales are recorded at the store where they are listed, there is a strong incentive for store sites to deliver products that are difficult to sell at their own stores nationwide. This prevents conflicts between physical stores and e-commerce, and has built a system for on-site companies to voluntarily and actively utilize digital technology.

2. "Offer purchase" that connects both the seller and the buyer's store with passion

A notable example is the "offer purchase" app. When a user who wants to purchase a product uploads a photo to the app, store staff nationwide will present a "purchase offer (appraisal amount)" for the product. This app has the following benefits for both the user and the store.

• Customer experience:Enthusiastic comments from multiple stores provide a "sense of excitement" that goes beyond the price.
• Store advantages: Because you can purchase the products you want with pinpoint accuracy, you may buy them at a high unit price.

Solving the bottleneck of growth "remittance operations" with APIs

As digital purchases expanded, a new barrier was the burden of "deposit management". In the past, the accounting staff at the headquarters would compile a large number of payment requests from each store and manually Bank transfer them every day, resulting in a huge amount of man-hours and workloads.

In response to this issue, the company introduced GMO-PG "GMO-PG Remittance Service".

By linking the purchase system with the API, we have built a system that completes the remittance process in real time when the store issues a remittance instruction. As a result, hard-off reduces transfer fees and significantly reduces man-hours.

"The number of purchases continues to increase year by year, but we are able to run the operation almost alone without increasing the number of accounting personnel," says Mr. Endo, who talks about the effect.

In the future, while looking ahead to the further use of data and cashless purchases at stores, we will continue to pursue digital utilization with "people's thoughts". GMO-PG will continue to support you with smooth remittances.

Solution Proposal

As a solution to support the DX of the backyard introduced in this case, we propose the following services.

GMO-PG Remittance Servicea service that streamlines remittance operations such as purchase price, refund, and reward payment. In addition to Bank transfer, we support various methods such as receiving money at Seven Bank ATMs, and realize automatic remittances from your system through API integration. This makes it possible to pay for purchases at the store with electronic money or points instead of cash. We reduce the cash management risk of the store, increase customer convenience, and at the same time help reuse companies optimize their cash flow.

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