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~ Rakuten ~

Customers’ expectations and behaviour in Japan shoppers buy from another EU country. 3
The largest portion of the Japanese economy is made up of
middle-class consumers that have a considerable amount In Japan, on the contrary, 45% of products can be
of disposable income, which is one of the primary reasons purchased for a lower price online than they can in
why it is such an attractive market for businesses with traditional brick-and-mortar stores in Japan.
global expansion plans. In short, Japanese society has a lot
of purchasing power as well as a thriving online shopping This difference is vital: any product you want to sell
culture. in Japan—if you want to sell it both in physical and
e-commerce formats—you will need to adapt to this
Customers expect higher quality customer expectation of buying cheaper when buying
Perhaps one of the main differences between the average online.
Japanese customer and the European one is their level of
distrust. And yes, this is due to the obvious fact—among other
things—that having a space to rent for your shop in Japan
The Japanese public is pretty relentless with brands that tends to be more expensive than in Europe, because well,
make mistakes. And they easily lose confidence in a new there is not much land to rent in Japan and cities are
brand that, during its first decade in the nation, makes densely packed. Still, this expectation of buying the same
multiple low-quality products or a product that becomes product cheaper online than offline, if not met, could
overpriced or notoriously defective a few years after its cause confusion and even disappointment in the Japanese
release. consumer.

Keep in mind that Japan has developed a Culture of Customers expect fast, flexible shipping
Quality—Ishikawa, Kaizen, or even the Juran Trilogy, so Again, just as we mentioned before, Japan is a very small
feverishly adopted by the Japanese Union of Scientists and country, geographically speaking. This means that most
Engineers—that permeates all industries, creating a market retailers can offer same-day and next-day deliveries.
that always expects the highest quality possible on any Something that pushes delivery time expectations to the
product. limit, in comparison with America or with Europe. Any
entrepreneur or brand wishing to sell in Japan must take
Add to this national pride and a “we can do it better this into consideration and offer a wide, fast, and flexible
attitude”, as reported by Vogue magazine in their Inside catalogue of shipping options for its e-commerce.
Japan’s cutting-edge luxury retailers report, and you can
easily rule out selling cars—except for extreme luxury Fortunately, providing a range of shipping options is easy
brands like Ferrari, Bugatti or Jaguar, for example— on a platform like Rakuten, which has a range of options
motorbikes or any kind of electronic device—except Apple built right in. This high rate of customizability is a perfect
who according to statistics from StatCounter holds over way to meet customer expectations and prove you are
60% of the smartphone market in Japan—because all of dedicated to providing your products at their convenience.
those categories have international and local high-quality
Japanese brands and the Japanese consumer tends to Customers expect transparency
support its national brands, buying from foreign brands Japanese people are remarkably straightforward and data-
only the things they cannot buy from Japanese brands or driven. Add to this a cultural enshrinement of honesty, and
that foreign brands are well known for doing better. you have the perfect recipe for a massive disappointment to
your customer base in Japan if your e-commerce or brand
Customers expect lower prices online information is not clear, is slow to arrive to customers, or if
Generally speaking, in Europe, most products have the it is incomplete.
same price online—or less than a 5% difference3—as in a
physical store. We can start to see the real price differences For example, Rakuten’s e-book “Why Sell in Japan?” shows
when we compare the same online product in one country this amazing statistic: In 2020, Edelman Trust Barometer
in Europe to another. showed that Japan was the 7th lowest among 26 countries
when it comes to trusting businesses. This means that
And this has to do with the differences at the national Japanese customers do not take marketing messages at
economy level among all the EU members. For example, face value and that they may be sceptical in their purchase
according to Eurostat, in Denmark, products are priced decisions.
40% above the EU average, while in Bulgaria, the price
level is 45% below the EU average. This is one of the Also, one of the persisting trends among Japanese
reasons why according to a EuroNews report, 63% of consumers is that user reviews are more important than
e-commerce in Europe surveyed by EuroNews do not let any expert insight. And a great way to help build trust

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