[Important] AI Contact Center "KAMUY" for Newspaper Retailers Selected for Sapporo Industrial Promotion Foundation's "FY2024 Digital Innovation Creation Subsidy"; Results Announced

Alternative Inc. (Headquarters: Sapporo, Hokkaido; Representative Director: Ryoko Tanifuji; hereinafter "the Company") is pleased to announce that its application has been selected for the "FY2024 Digital Innovation Creation Subsidy (*1)" (hereinafter "this Project") conducted by the Sapporo Industrial Promotion Foundation (hereinafter "the Foundation"). The development and demonstration experiments for the "AI Contact Center KAMUY for Newspaper Retailers" have been completed as a supported project.

Following this selection, the Company reported the business results of "KAMUY," a SaaS platform that redesigns the back-office operations of newspaper retailers, at the results presentation meeting held on March 12, 2026.

Through this project, we will promote initiatives to reduce the burden on the field, support significant cost reductions, and enhance the sustainability of regional infrastructure.

Background

The newspaper industry faces significant challenges due to declining circulation and advertising revenue, as well as a severe labor shortage.

In particular, newspaper retailers have had to maintain staff around the clock to handle issues like missed deliveries in the early morning and various inquiries, and this operational burden has been a factor pressuring the management of retail stores.

This project was implemented with the aim of creating digital innovation utilizing generative AI to address these challenges in regional industries, thereby promoting operational efficiency and the development of new businesses.

About the Selected Project "KAMUY"

"KAMUY" is an industry-specific SaaS (Vertical SaaS) platform that redesigns the back offices of newspaper retailers and newspaper companies. By supporting phone reception and inquiry management 24/7 with AI, it aims to achieve unmanned operation of retail stores and resolve labor shortages.

The demonstration experiments conducted across seven stores nationwide through this project confirmed the following results:

・Significant Cost Reduction: An estimated annual cost reduction of approximately 1.04 million yen per store by enabling unmanned operations during early mornings and holidays.

・Advanced AI Call Handling: AI summarizes call content and analyzes customer emotions (negative, positive, etc.) for immediate notification, reducing risks such as missed responses.

・Scalable Deployment Foundation: Developed a function to automatically map customer data from different retail store systems nationwide using AI, enabling rapid implementation.

・"KAMUY" Official Website: https://kamuy.works

Future Initiatives

Moving forward, the Company will contribute to the construction of regional DX infrastructure, starting with its introduction to Hokkaido Shimbun's directly managed retail stores from May 2026, and expanding to newspaper retailers nationwide, and further to other industries such as meal delivery and milk delivery.

Overview of This Project

FAQ What is "KAMUY"? "KAMUY" is an industry-specific SaaS (Vertical SaaS) platform developed by Alternative Inc. to redesign the back-office operations of newspaper retailers and newspaper companies. It utilizes AI to provide 24/7 support for phone reception and inquiry management, aiming to achieve unmanned operations and resolve labor shortages. What challenges does the newspaper industry face that led to the development of KAMUY? The newspaper industry is facing declining circulation and advertising revenue, along with a severe labor shortage. Newspaper retailers, in particular, struggle with the burden of maintaining staff for early morning tasks like handling missed deliveries and responding to inquiries, which impacts their management. What were the key results from the demonstration experiments of KAMUY? The demonstration experiments conducted at seven stores nationwide showed significant cost reductions (estimated at approximately 1.04 million yen per store annually due to unmanned operations during off-peak hours), advanced AI call handling with summarization and sentiment analysis, and a scalable deployment foundation that allows for rapid implementation across different retail systems. What are the future plans for KAMUY? Alternative Inc. plans to introduce KAMUY to Hokkaido Shimbun's directly managed retail stores starting in May 2026. The company also aims to expand its services to newspaper retailers nationwide and subsequently to other industries such as meal delivery and milk delivery, contributing to the development of regional digital transformation (DX) infrastructure. What is the "FY2024 Digital Innovation Creation Subsidy"? It is a subsidy program conducted by the Sapporo Industrial Promotion Foundation aimed at fostering digital innovation within regional industries. KAMUY was selected as a supported project under this initiative. Back to Newsroom (12)