Customer Service Contest 'STAFF OF THE YEAR 2026' to Determine Japan's No. 1 'Charismatic Store Staff' Announced! Qualifiers Start in June, Finals on Thursday, November 12 at Shibuya Hikarie

Vanish Standard Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, CEO: Noriaki Onozato), which provides the staff DX application service 'STAFF START', will hold 'STAFF OF THE YEAR 2026', a customer service contest to determine the 'Charismatic Store Staff of the Reiwa Era'.

'STAFF OF THE YEAR 2026' Event Overview

'STAFF OF THE YEAR' is a customer service contest that discovers charismatic store staff of the Reiwa era who are active both in real life and online, possessing customer service skills, human charm, and influence. Throughout the tournament, participants will compete in various customer service skills, including online sales, customer service skills in physical stores, and SNS utilization.

Since its first event in 2021, winners have been featured in many media outlets such as television, magazines, and radio, and have also achieved career advancement within their companies, becoming active as 'charismatic store staff' in both name and reality.

See last year's event here: Customer Service Contest 'STAFF OF THE YEAR 2025' to Determine the 'Charismatic Store Staff of the Reiwa Era' Held! Apparel category winner is Nito from TOMORROWLAND, the first Product Sales category Grand Prix is Mari from JINS.

The qualifying stage will begin in June 2026, and the Grand Prix will be decided at the final stage to be held on Thursday, November 12, at Shibuya Hikarie Hikarie Hall, Hall A.

For this 6th edition, judging will be conducted in two categories, the [Apparel Category] and the [Product Sales Category], just like last year, and a system has been prepared to make it easier for even more store staff to participate than ever before. We are also considering other new projects, so please look forward to it.

[Judging Schedule]

Qualifying Stage: June to August 2026

Based on our unique judging criteria* + WEB voting, those who will advance to the semi-final stage will be selected from among the participating staff.

*Judging Criteria = Unique judging criteria that take into account various points referencing online customer service track records, SNS activity records, etc.

Semi-Final Stage: September 2026

In addition to the qualifying stage judging, points will be added for multiple items such as real-life customer service, and those who will advance to the finals will be selected.

Final Stage: November 12, 2026

'STAFF OF THE YEAR 2026' will be determined by adding the points given by special judges and the points from WEB voting.

*The judging details are subject to change.

[Information on Seeking Sponsoring Companies]

For 'STAFF OF THE YEAR 2026', we are constantly looking for sponsoring companies that support and endorse the activities of store staff. We will provide information preferentially to companies that contact us. We sincerely look forward to hearing from you.

[Inquiries Regarding the Tournament]

STAFF OF THE YEAR 2026 Executive Committee

mail: soty@v-standard.com

About the Staff DX Application Service 'STAFF START'

'STAFF START' is a staff DX service that supports customer service at 'stores' and 'e-commerce' by store staff, maximizing sales.

In addition to online customer service functions where store staff can post product styling and reviews to their company's EC/SNS, offline (in-store), it realizes 'omnichannel customer service' where AI analyzes the purchasing and behavioral data of customers from both stores and EC, allowing store staff to serve customers while grasping that information, providing a rich experience tailored to each individual customer.

The number of brands using the service exceeds 3,000, spreading across various business types and industries such as apparel, cosmetics, furniture/home appliances, miscellaneous goods, food, and services, and sales via distribution (*) have reached 221.2 billion yen.

*Sales via distribution: Sales purchased via content posted on STAFF START on each company's EC site. If purchased via multiple contents, the total amount is calculated based only on the last viewed content.

Inquiries Regarding Service Implementation

In charge: Taniguchi, Oizumi

Vanish Standard Co., Ltd.

Headquarters Location: 1-8-14 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo

CEO: Noriaki Onozato

Business Description: Development and operation of 'STAFF START', 'LINE STAFF START', and 'FANBASSADOR'.

Planning, production, and operation of 'STAFF OF THE YEAR'.

URL: https://www.v-standard.com/
STAFF START: https://www.staff-start.com/
LINE STAFF START: https://www.staff-start.com/line-staffstart/
STAFF OF THE YEAR: htt