Articles
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Jun 04 2022
Selling On Online Stores in Japan – How to Build Trust
Ecommerce sellers operating in Japan rarely succeed without finding ways to build trust quickly with their customers. We explore some great ways to do this, from creating targeted FAQ pages to launching a loyalty program. Building a Japanese Ecommerce Strategy? Let Us Help! Collect As Many Trust Building Points As Possible An instinctive distrust of brands and websites that seem unfamiliar is something that occurs globally. However, in a market with a very high aversion to risk and uncertainty as well as a widespread preference for domestic products over foreign ones, the need to prioritize trust-building activities when selling on an online store in Japan is even more crucial. Uncertainty Avoidance 92 Power Distance 54 Individualism 46 Masculinity 95 Long Term Orientation 88 Indulgence 42 Source: Hofstede Insights Country Comparisons If your business isn’t a household name, on
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Jun 03 2022
Online Sales in Japan - 3 Trends You Need to Know
Japanese ecommerce growth has been staggering over the last decade, even before the pandemic forced more people to choose online shopping over brick-and-mortar—something many people thought unlikely for older demographics given the nation’s love affair with local shops and cash payments. We discuss three key online shopping trends from the world’s fourth biggest ecommerce market! Building a Japanese Ecommerce Strategy? Let Us Help! Older Demographics Flock to Ecommerce to Fulfill their Needs Japan has a high density of small local stores and markets located throughout any urban city – a partial consequence of the lack of space in the average Japanese household, preventing many families from stocking up on products in large amounts and forcing them to regularly visit close-by shops for essentials on an almost daily basis. Traditionally, ecommerce has lacked the same level of trust and reliability as these bric
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Jun 03 2022
Japanese Market Entry in 2022 - A Crash Course for Inbound Businesses
The task of bringing your brand and products to Japanese consumers may not be as simple as expanding to a neighbouring country, yet the nation presents incredible opportunities for those bold enough to make this move. Are You Planning to Bring Your Brand to Japan? Contact Us! Japanese Market Overview for 2022 After the United States and China, Japan has the third-largest economy There is strong consumer demand here for foreign products and significant purchasing power among the population Japan has the third-largest (and one of the fastest-growing) ecommerce sectors, connecting brands with millions of digitally savvy Japanese consumers The nation offers an ideal foothold in the APAC region from which to expand to the wider Asian market, due to the nation’s position as a trend-setter across multiple retail categories Japan has the second-highest R&D spend in the world at 3.4% of world GDP Consumers have
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Apr 29 2022
Japanese Brand Design - 3 CRO Tips for Foreign Brands
If you’re focused on turning your hard-earned traffic into sales or qualified leads, there’s no doubt Japanese cultural differences make it necessary for you to adapt your brand strategy. One way you can do this is to make strategic design choices for colour, style, layout and more, based on audience preferences and expectations. In this post, we explore our top 3 CRO and UX tips for foreign brands hoping to improve the performance of their websites in Japan. TABLE OF CONTENTS Make Design Choices Based On Your Audience Make Considerations for Age Balance Informational with Aspirational Need Help With Your CRO Strategy? Contact Us! Make Design Choices Based On Your Audience The biggest mistake foreign brands make when designing or adapting their websites for Japan is not understanding how local preferences and motivations should inform decisions when it comes to branding and visuals. If you’re s
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Apr 28 2022
Yahoo! Ads Japan - Top 3 FAQs
Yahoo! Japan’s search audience market share is roughly a third of Google’s, but don't make the mistake of counting it out! Given its still significant user numbers, lower competition for advertisers and, importantly, the fact that many older Japanese individuals with higher disposable income prefer Yahoo! over Google, it’s still worth considering for your Japanese search ads. We explore some top questions and answers relating to the use of Yahoo! Ads in Japan—drawing from on-the-ground experience from our Tokyo office! Building a Japanese PPC Campaign? Let Us Help! Should I Approach Yahoo Ads Differently? Google and Yahoo! use a similar algorithm to review and summarize web content into ranked search results, making a logical calculation about the meaning of a user's search and delivering results and content it thinks are the most appropriate. Both platforms also index and let you search the exact same Japa
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Apr 28 2022
How to Sell on Amazon Japan in 2022
Using Amazon in Japan is more straightforward than using some of the country's other popular ecommerce platforms like Rakuten or Yahoo! Shopping. However, even with the platform's fulfilment support and features to accommodate foreign brands, there’s still so much you need to know to make sure you are using Amazon to its fullest potential. Whether it's tailoring your product pages for a Japanese audience, using proper SEO marketing for Amazon, or taking advantage of Amazon programs to increase your product's appeal such as Amazon Points or Vine, success on Amazon Japan requires preparation and consistent optimization. Let's dive into what you need to do to make sure you can find that success and not accidently leave revenue on the table. Building a Japanese Ecommerce Strategy? Let Us Help! The Japanese Ecommerce Landscape in 2022 If you’re reading this post, you probably have some understanding of what makes the Japan
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Mar 02 2022
How to Sell on Rakuten in Japan - 3 Insider Tips
It wouldn’t be a mistake to consider using Rakuten to sell your products in Japan, especially given its popularity in the country and its share of the total ecommerce market. However, it would be a mistake to do this without knowing what you’re getting into. For anyone wondering how to sell on Rakuten Japan (a platform that is different to Amazon in many fundamental ways), we’ve pulled together our top 3 most important insider tips which should also serve as a glimpse into the platforms’ major strengths and weaknesses. Building a Japanese Ecommerce Strategy? Let Us Help! Don’t Do It Alone Under the ‘requirements’ section of Rakuten’s seller information page, it states merchants must be highly proficient in Japanese in order to handle the following tasks: Customer support Page maintenance Order and return management Marketing campaigns Operating the shop interface So, unless you have
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Mar 02 2022
Top 3 Japanese PPC Best Practices
Japan’s middle class is not as homogenous as many Western brands believe. Drilling down into audience segments so you can fully optimise your ads and landing pages is crucial if you want to succeed with Japanese PPC and paid advertising. We explore our top 3 best practices for PPC in Japan, whether you’re trying to drive immediate sales in a competitive product segment through Google or make sure you always appear alongside your competitors in searches. Building a Japanese PPC Campaign? Let Us Help! Work with Up-to-Date Japanese Customer Personas It was once assumed (and hoped) by Western brands that the middle class was largely homogeneous, responding well to the advertising that promoted quality and luxury. However, while there is still a strong appetite for premium Western products, we’ve seen the attitudes and behaviors of Japanese consumers change significantly in recent years. The reality today is tha
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Feb 01 2022
How to Sell On Amazon Japan Successfully - 3 Golden Rules
One of the most important things when selling on Amazon in Japan is generating enough early-stage sales velocity—impacting how you rank in product search results among other things. We explore this concept as part of our 3 golden rules for Amazon ecommerce, drawing from our Tokyo office’s experience helping US and European brands gain traction on this platform. Table of Contents Prioritize sales velocity Get legitimate reviews Leverage Amazon's advertising options Building a Japanese Ecommerce Strategy? Let Us Help! 1. Prioritize Sales Velocity Amazon defines sales velocity as the number of transactions made (and revenue generated) during any given month by an individual seller. The more sales you make, the higher the Amazon algorithm will rank you, meaning you’ll appear higher in search results for terms that relate to your brand and products. The risk of dropping down to in position can be devasta
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Feb 01 2022
The Virtual Shopping Mall Experience - What Makes Ecommerce Websites in Japan So Different?
The "virtual shopping mall experience" is typically associated with the approach used by several Japanese ecommerce websites like Rakuten. These channels go beyond the traditional ecommerce model offered by Amazon by offering a digital experience that somewhat replicates that of navigating a physical shop or mall. Digital storefronts, immersive design and branding all play a role. Read on to learn what makes this such a popular concept in the Japanese ecommerce landscape! Building a Japanese Ecommerce Strategy? Let Us Help! What Is the Virtual Shopping Mall Experience? Many ecommerce marketplaces, like Amazon Japan, allow customers to browse hundreds (if not thousands) of related products when they enter a search term such as ‘headphones’, or a brand name like ‘Bose’. This process will populate all relevant product options to the search, displayed in columns and rows that can be sorted by criteria such as
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