Lê Thị Hương Thảo is the first foreigner winning the contest on customer service of 7-Eleven Japan. Photo courtesy of Yahoo! Japan

TOKYO – A Vietnamese employee has won a national contest on customer service of 7-Eleven Japan – the biggest chain of convenience stores in Japan.

Lê Thị Hương Thảo, who works at the Kobe Sannomiya Station Minami store in the city of Kobe, is the first foreigner who has won the contest.

This year, the contest attracted nearly 2,500 employees of 7-Eleven stores in 47 prefectures across Japan.

Thảo received high marks for her thoughtful attitude. In assisting customers at the counter, she explained how to use vouchers for free goods printed on receipts and highlighted attractive features of services and products, while sharing personal stories about her family from her homeland.

Thảo started learning Japanese eight years ago and also her job at 7-Eleven after being introduced by a language school.

7-Eleven has greatly focused on training foreign workers. In 2018, it initiated "omotenashi (hospitality) training". In a three-hour session, workers are educated on Japanese-style customer service, familiarise themselves with store items and learn how to bow and generally improve their store operation abilities.

Foreign nationals currently comprise 11 per cent of the workers at 7-Elevens, with the proportion growing annually.

According to the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the number of foreign workers in Japan at the end of last October was 2.049 million, up 12 per cent from a year earlier.

A survey in fiscal 2023 by the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) shows that about 20 per cent of Japanese retailers planned to expand their foreign workforce over the next two to three years. VNA