Askul

What Askul does

ASKUL Corporation (アスクル株式会社) is a Japanese e-commerce company founded in 1963 and headquartered in Toyosu, Koto Ward, Tokyo, operating one of Japan's largest B2B office, worksite, and medical/nursing care supply platforms. Its core offering is the askul.co.jp marketplace, which carries 15,852,828 SKUs and supports same-day to next-day delivery on 358,880 items, with free shipping on corporate orders above JPY 2,000 and consolidated monthly billing. The company runs complementary sub-brands including LOHACO for B2C consumers, Papuri (パプリ) for custom printing and stamps, Shigotoba.net for worksite procurement, Soloel Arena for enterprise procurement, and the ASKUL ORIGINAL private-brand line. ASKUL's distribution model is reinforced by an extensive logistics network and ISO 27001 certification, though it is currently operating under the material impact of an October 2025 RansomHouse ransomware attack that exfiltrated ~740,000 customer records and 1.1TB of data, prompting six-week service disruption and ~JPY 74B in revenue impact at the parent level.

Revenue is generated through three primary streams: B2B e-commerce of office and workplace supplies to corporate clients on monthly billing cycles with next-day delivery; B2C e-commerce of similar categories via LOHACO on a transactional basis; and print-on-demand services through Papuri covering business cards, rubber stamps, official seals, permeable stamps, envelopes, and medical cards, priced per unit (e.g., business cards from JPY 500, premium cards from JPY 1,891, wood cards from JPY 3,743). ASKUL migrated its core SAP S/4HANA ERP to AWS in August 2025, compressing 20TB of data to 5TB and enabling future AI/data initiatives. The company is a consolidated subsidiary of LY Corporation (formerly Z Holdings), and reported revenue declined from a 2021 peak to approximately JPY 333B in 2025, with 2025 net income compressed to roughly half of 2024 levels as the cyberattack weighed on results. Recent strategic priorities include vertical expansion into medical/nursing care consumables (Oral Care Wet Sheets co-developed with Oosaki Medical Corporation, launched March 2026), private-brand product development under ASKUL ORIGINAL, and domain consolidation of Soloel Arena onto the main askul.co.jp platform in mid-2026.

Name

Askul

Legal name

アスクル株式会社 (ASKUL Corporation)

Website

https://askul.co.jp

Company type

Private

Founded year

1963

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

ASKUL is a Japanese B2B/B2C e-commerce platform, founded in 1963, selling office supplies, worksite supplies, and medical/nursing care products to corporate clients and consumers across Japan, with same-day/next-day delivery on a 15.85M-SKU catalog.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Office Supplies E-commerce

NAICS

Office Equipment Merchant Wholesalers (42342), Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Retailers (45942), Health and Personal Care Retailers (456), Furniture, Home Furnishings, Electronics, and Appliance Retailers (449)

SIC

Wholesale-Professional & Commercial Equipment & Supplies (5040), Wholesale-Paper & Paper Products (5110), Wholesale-Medical, Dental & Hospital Equipment & Supplies (5047), Retail-Catalog & Mail-Order Houses (5961), Wholesale-Miscellaneous Nondurable Goods (5190)

akta.pro primary industry

Office, School & Business Supplies Marketplaces (CRAFABAM)

akta.pro secondary industry

Medical, Dental & Lab Supply Marketplaces (CRAFAHAG)

Keywords

• Office supplies ecommerce
• B2B office procurement
• Workplace supplies Japan
• Medical nursing care supplies
• Custom printing services

Headquarters

HQ city

Toyosu

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. B2B E-commerce Sales: E-commerce sales of office supplies, workplace supplies, and medical/nursing care products to corporate clients with next-day delivery service.
2. B2C E-commerce Sales: Consumer e-commerce platform through LOHACO subsidiary offering similar product categories to individual consumers.
3. Printing Services: Custom printing services through Papuri platform including business cards, stamps, seals, envelopes, and promotional materials.

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Askul operates an e-commerce platform that sells office supplies, workplace supplies, and medical/nursing care products to corporate clients and individual consumers in Japan. The company offers same-day to next-day delivery across a catalog of approximately 15.85 million items, complemented by custom printing and stamp services through its Papuri sub-brand and a consumer-facing storefront called LOHACO.

Product overview

ASKUL operates as a multi-channel B2B and B2C e-commerce platform offering a comprehensive portfolio of office supplies, workplace supplies, medical/nursing care products, and printing services. The core offering consists of the main ASKUL e-commerce platform (www.askul.co.jp) for corporate and consumer customers, complemented by the consumer-focused LOHACO platform and the specialized printing sub-brand パプリ (Papsi). The Papsi service provides print-on-demand products including rubber stamps, permeable stamps (Shachihata), official seals, business cards, envelopes, and medical cards. Recent additions include original products like Oral Care Wet Sheets developed for Japan's growing medical and nursing care sector.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ASKUL ORIGINAL: Company's original private brand products for workplace supplies

Products and services

• ASKUL Main E-commerce Platform B2B and B2C e-commerce platform selling office supplies, workplace supplies, and medical/nursing care products with same-day to next-day delivery and a 2,000 JPY minimum order threshold for free shipping.
• LOHACO

Quantifiable outcome

• 21 hours downtime during SAP S/4HANA migration, within 24-hour target
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Oosaki Medical CorporationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 March 2026Joint development partnership for original medical products. ASKUL collaborated with Oosaki Medical Corporation to develop and launch 'Oral Care Wet Sheets' product for medical and nursing care settings in Japan, addressing oral care challenges in healthcare facilities.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Rakuten Business (Rakuten Group): Operates Rakuten Ichiba and B2B commerce services in Japan overlapping with Askul's office and worksite supply catalog and SMB/enterprise customer base.
• MISUMI Group: Japanese B2B e-commerce platform for factory automation, MRO, and office/worksite supplies, serving the same enterprise manufacturing and office customer base as Askul with global operations.
• MonotaRO: Japan's leading B2B e-commerce platform for indirect materials (MRO), serving manufacturing and office/worksite customers with a next-day delivery model. Closest direct competitor to Askul in Japanese online B2B procurement.
• Amazon Business: Global B2B procurement marketplace operating in Japan, directly competing for corporate office and worksite supply spend and offering next-day delivery in major Japanese cities.
• Staples Japan (and Staples Inc.): Major global office supplies retailer with operations in Japan, competing directly for the same corporate office-supply procurement wallet share as Askul.

Broad incumbents

• Kokuyo Co., Ltd. Japanese office furniture, stationery, and supply manufacturer/distributor with both catalog/online ordering and indirect competition with Askul in workplace supplies.
• Office Depot Japan (ODP/Office Depot Corp.): Global office supplies retailer whose catalogs and B2B offerings compete with Askul in multinational Japanese accounts and represent a comparable procurement-services business model.

Emerging players

• Bunbogu-no-Mori (Office-eibun): Japanese office and stationery specialist retailer with growing online channel, increasingly overlapping with Askul's small-business and SMB catalog customers.

Regional players

• ZOZO, Inc. Major Japanese e-commerce operator under LY Corporation's parent group, providing a regional benchmark for logistics and marketplace scale relevant to Askul's B2C LOHACO business.

Others

• ZOZO (Yahoo Shopping/Yahoo Auction): Sister LY Corporation property that competes for consumer/SMB procurement in Japan and is an ecosystem peer relevant to Askul's B2C LOHACO strategy and parent-group dynamics.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/askul_cr
• Facebookfacebook.com/askulshop

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments5 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Askul