East Japan Railway Co. announced Tuesday that it will launch a full-scale Web site to sell and deliver more than 10,000 items in cooperation with major convenience store chain operator Lawson Inc.

On April 8, consumers will be able to place orders online with Eki-net (http://www.eki-net.com) to have goods delivered to convenience stores owned by JR East or Lawson in the Tokyo metropolitan area, said Masatake Matsuda, president and chief executive officer of JR East. JR East owns 179 stores, based in train stations.

The railroad company is also negotiating with Hankyu Department Stores Co. and drug store chain Matsumotokiyoshi Co. to market their goods on the site.

The lineup will be expanded to cover a wide variety of goods ranging from golf clubs, digital music, compact discs and books, JR East officials said.

"We want to proceed with this in an open style. If any (company) wants to participate, we want to accept," Matsuda told a press conference in Tokyo.

Eki-net will initially deal in goods that are already being sold by station kiosks and Mitsubishi Corp., a major trading company.

JR East is also planning to take its own field, transportation, into cyberspace by launching reservation services on its official Web site (http://www.jreast.co.jp) for seats on bullet trains and express trains throughout the country.

The Web site will also allow visitors to find the shortest way to their destinations and calculate the time and money required to get there. The new services begin on April 22.

Matsuda boasted that stations have vast potential as key marketing bases, given the huge number of commuters, and that large amounts of space are due to be vacated as new IC-based cards replace apparatus for paper-based tickets.

In a few years, IC-cards will begin to drastically reduce the number of ticket windows and machines, enabling JR East to start new business on a full-scale at the stations themselves, Matsuda said.

"I expect that the function of a station will greatly change from now."

Sumitomo joins NEC

Sumitomo Bank, NEC Corp. and three other Sumitomo group firms and said Tuesday that they will set up a joint Web site to assist small and midsize companies that want to get involved in in electronic commerce.

The three others are Sumitomo Marine & Fire Insurance Co., Sumitomo Trust & Banking Co. and Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.

A number of nonfinancial firms, such as NTT Communications Corp. and Kinki Nippon Tourist Co., will participate in the portal site.

Sakura Bank is also considering joining the tieup, Sumitomo officials said.

The joint site will offer a wide variety of services to small and midsize clients, give them support in conducting business over the Internet, provide them with business information and advise them on fund and asset management.

The companies will give basic advice at the site, and clients looking to do business with a certain company will be able to access that company's home page through the portal.