Chapters is a subscription-based online bookstore that carries a rotating selection of four paperback books each month, carefully selected by active bookstore staff, based on a unique theme that is set each month based on seasonality and trends.
Each month, customers will choose one book to read from a selection of four paperbacks with hidden author and title information, relying on recommendations and other information to guide them through their own intuition. After finishing a book, you can join a video chat (Apero) where people who read the same book at the same time can connect and share their thoughts about the book. While retaining the joy of reading alone, we offer our customers the new option of enjoying a book with someone else.
This year marks the first anniversary of the service's launch, with the average age of users being 29, and the service is currently being run with support primarily from single men and women in their 20s and 30s.
According to a user survey, the reasons for continuing to use Chapters were that half of the users were afraid of or tired of dating apps and wanted to "meet people," and half were looking to "meet books" because they wanted to read interesting books but couldn't choose them themselves or wanted to take up reading as a new hobby. By combining our book selection service with a matching function, we are creating a new market intersection for those seeking to encounter books and people.

Chapters offers two types of encounters.
① "Apero": The management automatically matches the books you select each month.
② "Request Apero" is a feature where users can invite each other to meet potential partners based on their book purchase data, place of residence, age, etc.

The AI Match introduction test this time was conducted in ② "Request Apero". Chapters customers who are single and have provided their gender*1 can try out a free trial of up to two compatible people based on the results of AI matching as part of their monthly regular plan*2.
The number of people that the management can introduce through Request Apero each month is limited to a maximum of 8 people. In order to better recommend these limited introductions in the future, we have decided to test the introduction of AI matching.

Going forward, we will consider introducing AI matching after taking into consideration the overall response to this test, the rate at which aperitifs are held, the rate at which contact information is exchanged, and other factors. We hope this will be an opportunity for you to enjoy request aperitifs even more.

To commemorate this initiative, we will be setting up a corner at three Tsutaya Bookstores where you can experience Chapters' services. Currently, Tsutaya Bookstores are offering a selection of Chapters for the month, and are also offering a 1 yen coupon that allows you to experience video chat with the book you purchased. In addition, selected back issues from December 2020, when the beta version of Chapters began, to the present will be on display exclusively at Tsutaya Bookstores (the number of items on display will vary by store). This is the first time we have made public a list of past book selections that are normally sold on paid note. Each month, the books selected from dozens of candidates are carefully selected with the cooperation of booksellers and publishers. These are works that we can confidently recommend not only to book lovers, but also to men and women in their 20s and 30s who are resuming their reading routine after a long time, and are the main users of Chapters. We hope you will take this opportunity to visit Tsutaya Bookstore and enjoy discovering new books.

The four books selected for this month's Chapters were done in collaboration with the concierge at Ebetsu Tsutaya Bookstore. The two of us have carefully selected four works that beautifully depict cherry blossoms and make you look forward to spring. The four works in the lineup do not have cherry blossoms in the title, so you may come across a masterpiece perfect for spring that you would not have come across on your own.
In March, we will also be offering limited edition spring-themed Chapters book covers and bookmarks. Kao Corporation is our gifting partner, and we have included a cherry blossom scented "Megurhythm Steam Hot Eye Mask."We hope you will feel the arrival of spring together with the Chapters. (The four selected works for March's "Haruichiban" are also available for purchase at Ebetsu Tsutaya Bookstore. The limited edition book covers and gifts will only be available at the online Chapters bookstore.)
We look forward to your visit.

Inspired by the movie "Whisper of the Heart," the company was founded in 2019 with the aim of bringing to life the moment when hands meet on a bookshelf. In today's society where efficiency and rationalization are accelerating, the company's mission is to believe in chance, fate, and feelings, and to be particular about how to encounter things and people.After its predecessor service, MISSION ROMANTIC book, the beta version of Chapters bookstore was launched on December 1, 2020, with its grand opening on June 7, 2021. We currently have over 2,500 customers, primarily single men and women in their 20s and 30s, and are supported by them. The long-term goal of Chapters Bookstore is to increase the reading population in Japan.
website:https://chapters.jp
Twitter:https://twitter.com/MissionRomantic
instagram:https://www.instagram.com/mission_romantic/
▷ Check out customer reactions and real comments on Twitter at #chaptersbookstore.