On-line shopping and
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| The Internet is a great tool to support global businesses. The Internet allows us to communicate with and sell directly to our target market. If you are planning to sell your products to Japanese customers on the net, this information will help you to develop your web marketing strategies.
The number of host computers in Japan is about 1.17 million, and Internet
users number about 10 million, according to a research by Network Wizards
(InfoCom NL). IBC Report explains a similarity of online shopping and
catalogue shopping, which has boomed in Japan. The main target market
for catalogue shopping is house wives, and the percentage of house wife
Internet users is increasing, which indicates future opportunities for
online shopping. JETRO also discuss a new trend of foreign mail order
shopping and personal mporting(Chapter 1). The online shopping market
in Japan is expected to be US$7.2 million(750 million yen) in 1998, and
especially travel industry will increase it's business sales on the Internet,
such as the reservation of hotel rooms and airplane seats(IBC Report).
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| Internet Service (mail magazine and/ or home pages) | 24.9% |
| Online software (to download) | 20.8% |
| Food | 20.8% |
| Packaged software (to be mailed) | 20.5% |
| Other PC equipment | 20.1% |
| Book, Magazines | 18.8% |
| Clothes | 14.0% |
| Child Clothes and toys | 11.9% |
| Daily necessities (Sundries) | 8.5% |
| Gift | 8.2% |
Popular products for males and female are different. According to "WWW Research (6)", the top five popular products among Japanese females are:
- Sundries, flowers, stationery
- Ticket, gift card
- Cosmetics, flagrances
- Fashion, Accessories
- Book, CD, Video
- Book, CD, Video
- Computer software, games
- Computer hardware
- Sundries, flowers, stationery
- Ticket, gift card
Conditions to become
a popular Website among Japanse Internet users
According to "Dai 2 kai Monitor Annke-to", Japanese users' home page priorities
are:
| Home Page gets updated often | 78.8% |
| There is useful information | 70.6% |
| There is interesting information | 53.8% |
| The site offers sweepstakes or prizes | 36.4% |
| It does not take long time to download | 32.6% |
| It has clear design so that the users can find information quickly | 31.0% |
| The site responds quickly by email | 12.3% |
"Tukaiyasui Online Shopping no joukenn" teaches us how we should conduct online shopping business to Japanese market. The following are the characteristics of good online shops:
- The site can be downloaded quickly.
- There are many products.
- There are several ways to make payment.
- Products are cheaper than those at off line shops in the "real world".
- The site does not contain information which is not related to the site.
- There are less 'Not Found' links and pages under construction.
- There is contact information on the site.
- It offers a good security system for payment.
- Instructions on how to order products is easy to follow and understand.
- It has a system by which customers can keep a record of what they order.
- There is a quick response after ordering products.
- It offers a simpler order form for returning customers.
- It delivers products quickly.
- It offers a page where customers can see thumbnail image of all products and a page which shows a magnified image of each item.
- There is detailed product information such as size, color, and materials.
Online Marketing
Strategies
One marketing strategy in the Japanese market is to offer sweepstakes.
'Toku Toku Page' which introduces numbers of sweepstakes and prizes held
by many web sites in the world is one of the most heavily accessed Websites
in Japan. . 'Toku Toku Page' was more popular than Yahoo! JAPAN in the
survey. Offering a sweepstakes can lead Japanese people to visit your
site. Giving out gift is a common marketing strategy in the "real world"
and it also works on the Internet world. Another good marketing strategy to promote home page is to promote one's URL to magazines. Many Japanese magazines contain a section which introduces good URLs, and the readers are potential customers. If the product we want to sell is clothes for women, we can concentrate on the magazines for women and fashion. Focusing on one's specific market saves time and money and gets greater returns. There are also magazines whose sole focus is listing home page URLs. "Internet Home Page Best Book Mark 2000", published by Nikkei Net Navi, allows us to reach people who really like to surf the Internet and want to find something interesting and useful. For example, there is a section of traveling to Hawaii in the book, introducing nine Websites, such as Aloha Air, Wiki Wiki Com, and Kokeo HAWAI'I. The Japanese readers visit those sites before they travel to Hawaii, and through these sites, they can reserve various tour activities or airplane tickets to the other islands. They also choose products they buy in Hawaii on line. Since the vacation period is very short for Japanese people, they often decide where they go and what they buy before they land in Hawaii. There are many great products in Hawaii Japanese people love. They not only buy the products for themselves but they also ask their friends and/or relatives who go to Hawaii to buy those items for them. If you have an on-line shop, you can reach those royal customers.
Last comments for
you to target Japanese online shoppers
Japanese people have difficulty in communicating in English, thus it is
very important that you communicate with them in Japanese. Even if you
have the great products, Japanese people flip past your English website,
and go to another Japanese language Website. Having Japanese Website is
probably the most important marketing strategy to target Japanese Online
shoppers. References
Chapter
1: Attitude Changes of Japanese Consumers."
Closer
to the Big Bang
Dai 2 kai Moniro
Anke-to to Kakushu Kekka 1.
"Dai 2 kai Monita-
Annket-to-Kakushu Kekka
"Dai11
kai Annke-to Kekka (Internet Riyou Joukyou).
"IBC Report
: Nihonn no Internet Shopping Sijou."
"InfoCom
NL - Trend Jouhou - Data"
Internet Home Page Best Book Mark 2000. 1997 Tokyo: Nikkei BP
Introduction
Kaiteki Doru Kurashi." Josei Jishin 1997: 229-232 Japan
Nikkei Multimedia
Nikkei Multimedia
"Tukaiyasui
Online Shopping no Jouken."
WWW Research
"Yahoo!
JAPAN Dai 4 kai Annke-to Kekka Happyou."
"Yahoo!
JAPAN Dai 4 kai Annke-to Kekka Happyou."
"Yahoo!
JAPAN Dai 4 kai Annke-to Kekka Happyou."
http://www.nikkeibp.co.jp/NMM/NEWS/9804/9804061.html
