90% of Japanese people use the internet. The e-commerce (EC) market in Japan has grown to be the 4th biggest in the world, behind China, the US and the UK. When one takes into account that Japan has a smaller population than China and that the Japanese EC is mostly domestic only and in the Japanese language, you can see how attractive a market of this size is to foreign companies.
Whilst Google, Amazon and Facebook - amongst other Western platforms - exist in Japan, there are many homegrown marketplaces which cannot be ignored to ensure success in the country. The three main EC platforms in Japan are Rakuten, Amazon and Yahoo Shopping. Both Amazon and Rakuten have over 50 million monthly active users each, whilst Yahoo Shopping has 29 million. The markets for all three are big. Both Rakuten and Amazon turnover around 3.5 Trillion Yen each year, whilst Yahoo has transactions around 850 Million Yen.
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Brand loyalty is extremely common with Japanese people. This is clear to see with Rakuten. People buy into Rakuten as an entire ecosystem for their lives, due to the amount of services that they provide. Not only are they a shopping portal, but also a bank, credit card company, mobile carrier and even an insurance provider. Rakuten offers reward points for customers using all of these different ventures, which results in users buying on Rakuten more often to spend their points.
Amazon has also developed their own ecosystem, thanks to their Alexa line of products. However, their Prime service is the biggest success with over 14 million subscribers in Japan to the service. There are some key differences with Prime when compared to its American counterpart. For one, it is much cheaper. In America, Prime costs $139. However, in Japan it is just ¥4900 ($39). This affordable price - combined with next day shipping and customers being able to choose specific time zones for delivery - attracts a lot of customers to Amazon. By being part of the Prime program, you can grab the attention of a large customer base who prioritize speedy deliveries.
At WASABIZ, we are available to help your company enter the Japanese market with years of proven success. Take the guess work out of entering the Japanese market and talk with us about your needs!