Products

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Build ecommerce strategy for Japan market

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Titanium Inc. has rich experience with supporting opportunities of international merchants.Before you go any further, take a moment to review our business overview so you will have better idea what benefit can be brought to you for your future business in Japan.  

Getting into Ecommerce in Japan? If you’d rather push ahead, here are some of the basics:
• Amazon is typically where most international sellers begin their journey into Japan.This is because the interface and functionality are familiar and the platform has the biggest market share among overall ecommerce platforms.

• Rakuten, Japan’s homegrown ecommerce giant, is the second biggest platform in Japan.Over 49,000 virtual shops on its platform and caters to a quarter of Japan’s total ecommerce market share.Incredible vehicle for reaching a diverse network of Japanese consumers.
It will become a bit of a challenge to work with them if you do not speak Japanese or have limited in-country resources,

• Yahoo! is still thriving in Japan, with its online shopping division, Yahoo! Shopping and Yahoo! Auction.It caters to millions of shoppers each month and benefits from an online ecosystem of multiple channels, including Yahoo! News, the most popular news platform in Japan.

• Smaller, domestic ecommerce platforms offer increasing opportunities to reach a wide section of Japan’s population. If you want to targetniche groups, platforms like Mercari, ZozoTown or DMM could offer you better returns.
Tip: Japanese platforms present challenges to international business operators who do not conduct Japanese language and capabilities.This is due to their more demanding registration, language, and localization requirements to the products.
This can make the onboarding process more complicated taking time away from your actual selling motion.Success can often rely on finding local partners or vendors who are already authorized to sell on one of these platforms and can get your products to market as soon as possible.Partnership with Titanium Inc.  can be the shortcut to get your products to market.

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Localize Your Approach for Selling Online in Japan

When in Japan, “localizing” is more of a mindset than a specific activity.
As an international merchant,  localized ecommerce strategy is crucial to success in Japan and without it, you end up increasing obstacles before you reach to Japanese customers.Finding a way to overcome language and cultural barriers is one of the first things you think about.
Even with a winning product, a strategy that does not have products description in Japanese language, images, and marketing content tailored to the Japanese user will not get you very far.
Your Japanese competitors will always have an advantage over you simply because their products are made in Japan.When you are trying your best to win as many customers as possible, you do not want to face even greater resistance with a non-localized ecommerce strategy. 

A few more reasons to localize products:
• Greater engagement with your target customers
• Showcase content for higher conversion rate• Greater presence and reputation within Japanese market
• Gain trust from Japanese consumers
• Improve your organic search volume with Japanese SEO optimized product listings for ecommerce platforms
• Avoid basic translation mistakes and misrepresentation of your brandWhen in Japan, “localizing” is more of a mindset than a specific activity.

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Understand Your Place in the Market

Japanese people buy products from all over the world, but they tend to feel comfortable with “Made in Japan”.
Households show strong signs of loyalty to brands they know and trust.This makes it harder for outsiders to break into Japanese market, especially in segments are already saturated by competitor products.
One of the major reasons for this is a natural aversion to “uncertainty” among consumers.In fact, Japan has one of the most “uncertainty avoiding cultures” in the world.
On Hofstede’s Uncertainty Avoidance Index, the nation holds one of the highest scores of all societies, registering 92/100.
This can translate into an unwillingness to buy products from less known brands or companies that are not known to be completely reliable.To thrive here, it’s useful to understand a few situations where shoppers do choose foreign brands over Japanese ones:

• Higher brand reputation from a foreign brand
• Association with popular figures or influencers
• Better quality and reliability
• More value for money

The biggest mistake is to think that just because you are bringing an international product to the market that you are likely to have a good chance ofmaking some strong sales. Unless you position yourself effectively to showcase all the advantages your brand can offer, while doing your best toovercome trust issues, you won’t be given as much attention as you would like.

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Build A Great Customer Service Strategy

Expectation to Customer Service quality is incredibly high in Japan.Assumption is that brands and sellers should help their customers in any way possible.
This can mean delivery of good service and products, comprehensive after-sales support to make sure customers are satisfied.For anyone operating in Japan, it is common practice for merchants to have a robust team of Japanese native speakers inplace to handle countless issues like customer inquiries, ETA and sales policies.
Consumers here want to know exactly what they are getting before they commit to purchase.
Amazon Japan offers best in class service by following up with customers who have received their products and take any requests for returns seamlessly.
It is a long way to establish customer service with the help of local staff or partner.
Other platforms like Rakuten will even place greater pressure on your Japanese customer service capabilities.

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DO I NEED TO SPEAK JAPANESE?

While you can certainly get away with not speaking Japanese, it is important that you have a good grasp of your local business.
Many established companies can bridge the gap between international brands and the Japanese market.
They offer services tailored to international ecommerce sellers including:

• Customer support
• In-platform page maintenance (on platforms like Rakuten)
• Order and return management
• Product listing optimization and platform SEO
• After-care sales

HB Pro Tip: Many merchants look for support from local partners who can handle daily ecommerce activities while focusing on business growth anddevelopment. This can reduce the chance of fluency being a barrier, but it also comes with additional costs that could reduce your overall profits. It isa call you have to make yourself baked on your time and resource availability.

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Final Tips and Best Practices

Many Japanese customers might panic at the sight of English when shopping, even if they find your products attractive.
Imagine your own reaction when browsing for products and come across a Japanese product description.
You are likely to keep looking until you find something that leaves no room for doubt.While younger users are more open to international products and brands, they generally have much lower purchasing power than individuals inother developed countries, partly due to Japan’s adherence to hierarchies within company structures.
This means that adapting your brand to focus more on an older demographic group could be necessary to secure the sales you need here.Avoid leaving any gaps in your product descriptions about what you offer and how your products work.
Focus less on generic marketing promotionsand explain specific details that will help to build consumer confidence.

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The list of the brands we deal with

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