tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52843528387460455442024-03-08T12:53:00.405-08:00Consumer Market in JapanWith the development of globalization, the Japanese consumer market grows more diverse, more sophisticated, and more demanding.Senryaku-kenkyuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14407110371838014354noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5284352838746045544.post-5351741659868520972012-09-29T17:54:00.001-07:002013-01-09T18:10:22.293-08:00No. 8: Increasing presence of the senior generation in the consumer market (September 30, 2012)<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: blue;"><i><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">Market trend:</span></span></b></i></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Middle-aged and older consumers have been increasing the presence. It is reported that the ratio of shoppers older than 50 years of age increased 3% to 31% in 2011 at Seven-Eleven convenience stores. An increasing number of seniors do shop in a convenience store instead of a supermarket. Seven-Eleven is offering snacks and delis in a smaller package for the sake of senior shoppers. The increase is very notable in the membership of fitness clubs. In a fitness club in Tokyo, members older than 50 accounted for 51.1% of all members, surpassing the 50% mark for the first time. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">It is important to take note that the senior generation places more important on quality than price. This can be explained by the growing popularity of premium beers and hybrid vehicles. Traditionally, makers of consumer products have focused on “family” and “youth,” but the situation is changing rather fast because of low birthrate and longevity. An economic research laboratory reckons that total household financial asset is estimated at 1,500 trillion, of which 60% is owned by people older than 60 years of age. Spending by these people was 101 trillion yen in 2011, accounting 44% of personal spending, and it is expected to reach 50% in the near future. Sooner or later, Asian countries will become an aging society. Stay alert. The world is changing very fast. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Seven-eleven stores were indispensable for </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">people in the areas damaged by the March 11 disaster. </span></div>
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Senryaku-kenkyuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14407110371838014354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5284352838746045544.post-33118853676811090382012-09-21T01:03:00.000-07:002012-09-21T01:03:08.079-07:00No. 7: Dynamic change in the beer market? (September 21, 2012)<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.7andi.com/en/index.html">Seven and i Holdings</a> developed its private
brand premium beer “Grand Kirin” joint with <a href="http://www.kirinholdings.co.jp/english/">Kirin</a> and introduced it in June
this year. Grand Kirin is selling well, and the company revised the sales
target in 2012 from 3 million bottles to 4.8 million bottles. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Likewise, the company developed “The Extra”
jointly with <a href="http://www.asahibeer.com/">Asahi Breweries</a>. The new private brand beer will be sold at Seven
and i’s 14,800 outlets nationwide. The Extra contains 80% more malt than Asahi’s
Super Dry and its alcohol percentage is as high as 6.5. Alcohol free beers have
grown popular among Japanese consumers. Is it the time to offer strong beer to
consumers tired of alcohol free beers?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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Senryaku-kenkyuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14407110371838014354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5284352838746045544.post-44677164664960390392012-02-21T21:43:00.000-08:002012-02-21T21:43:17.226-08:00No. 6: The senior market is growing rapidly with the progress of the aging society (February 22, 2012)<div style="color: blue;">
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: large;">Consumer behavior</span></i></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">With the progress of aging of population, the
annual consumption expenditure of the senior generation (older than 60) increased
2.4% over the preceding year to exceed 100 trillion yen in 2011 for the first
time in history in Japan. It accounted for as much as 44% of total consumer
spending in 2011, reflecting tireless consumer spirits of the senior
generation. Travel agencies responded quickly to this trend. <a href="http://www.knt.co.jp/en/top.html?aid=newtop_n">Kinki NihonTourist</a> launched a travel pack exclusively for couples of the senior
generation, and <a href="http://g.his-j.com/">H.I.S. </a>started a service to set people above 65 free from cancel
charge on a certain conditions. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Fitness centers added another service to
the regular menu. <a href="http://www.central.co.jp/">Central Sports</a> that has a network of 160 fitness centers
across the country set up a day service facility to provide seniors in need of mild
nursing care with training using Tablet PCs to prevent mental deterioration.
Although members in their 20s and 30s decrease visiting frequency, members
above 50s stay almost the same in visiting frequency. <a href="http://www.kidzania.jp/">KidZania</a> that offers
services to let children have the same experiences as adults introduce a new fee
structure. Visitors above 60 can ride as many attractions as they want for
5,200 yen per day, 500 yen lower than for adults, to allow them to enjoy attractions
with their grandchildren. It has become rather critical for companies concerned
to analyze the <a href="http://www.nissui.co.jp/academy/data/05/index.html">consumption behavior of the senior generation</a>. </span></div>Senryaku-kenkyuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14407110371838014354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5284352838746045544.post-44383223575224916752012-02-20T22:04:00.002-08:002012-02-20T22:04:48.912-08:00No. 5: A new marketing approach of a shoes company to collect customers (February 21, 2012)<div style="color: blue;">
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: large;">Market trend </span></i></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.asics.com/top/">ASICS</a>, one of Japan’ leading athletic shoes
makers, will launch a <a href="http://www.asics.co.jp/corp/press/pressdoc/%7Ed44909C43406BDCA4492579AB00044D2B">new service</a> within the year. The new service is to
provide each user with information on his best shoes. A user sends his marathon
training plan on the company web page <a href="http://www.asics.eu/myasics.php">My Asics</a>, and the company collects
detailed information on his training. Based on the analysis of his ability and
level, the company sends information on his best shoes by e-mail. The service
is free of charge. The company plans to expand the service worldwide and
increase the users to 1 million in three years. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">The user sends such information as gender,
age, training frequency, as best marathon time via the web page. The company
analyzes the characteristics of each user and sorts out the best shoes for him.
ASICS has more than 100 kinds of running shoes on its lineup and wishes to promote
its products by suggesting the best shoes for each user. The accumulated
information and data will be utilized for the development of new products. </span></div>Senryaku-kenkyuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14407110371838014354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5284352838746045544.post-31978966992348986572011-12-28T21:17:00.001-08:002011-12-28T21:22:48.121-08:00No. 4: Five leading convenience store chains combined open more than 3,400 new stores next year (December 29, 2011)<span lang="EN-US">The five leading convenience store chains,
Seven-Eleven, Lawson, Family-Mart, Circle K, and Mini Stop combined will increase
the number of new stores more than 20% over the previous year to more than 3,400
in 2012, achieving the record high net increase of mover than 1,800 stores. Shortage
of goods in supermarkets caused by the earthquake on March 11 increased the number
of female shoppers of convenience stores. The elderly that hesitates to shop
around is also expected to shop at a convenience store more often than before. </span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US">Each of the five chains is trying to
increase the presence in the market by introducing mobile stores in the
disaster-stricken and sparsely-populated areas besides the three major metropolitan
areas of Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya, by starting the delivery service of packed
lunches, and by expanding the lineups of chilled products, prepared foods, and vegetables.
According to the statistics released by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and
Industry, the number of retailers decreased about 580,000 stores from 1982 to
2007 mainly because of the closures by aging shop owners. Convenience stores
will have more business opportunities as they segmentalize the market. As Dr. Peter
Drucker said, “Business is to create and keep a customer.” </span></div>Senryaku-kenkyuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14407110371838014354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5284352838746045544.post-46540330235226194242011-12-25T19:02:00.001-08:002011-12-25T19:04:54.717-08:00No. 3: Convenience stores are growing and spreading domestically and globally (December 26, 2011)<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Sales of convenience stores were 8,500
billion yen in 2010, achieving a 10% growth in the past five years. The number
of domestic stores reached 46,000 stores. Still, the convenience stores seem to
have a bright future. Currently, 70% of shoppers are males, while 30% of them
are females. That is, new markets can be created as the number of women workers
increases. Working women try to buy all the necessities in one store convenient
to them instead of shopping around for cheaper goods to save time. The combined
market of retailing and restaurant is estimated at about 160,000 billion yen.
Convenience stores have merely a 5% share because they currently have sales of
8,000 billion yen. It is possible to increase the ratio to 10%, the president
of a nationwide convenience store chain said.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">A convenience store offers lots of
opportunities of innovation because there is no clear definition on how a
convenience store should be. In fact, his chain successfully increased the
sales of vegetables, though vegetables were supposed to be unsalable in convenience
stores. In addition, it is possible to increase the number of stores by 1.5
times to 15,000 stores in 10 years inside Japan only. The original concept of a
convenience store was invented in the U.S., but the current concept of a convenience
store developed in Japan can be exportable. Actually, Japanese convenience
store chains are growing business and spreading store chains in Asian countries
including China. </span></div>Senryaku-kenkyuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14407110371838014354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5284352838746045544.post-15126434529125678372011-12-23T21:37:00.001-08:002011-12-23T21:45:57.417-08:00No. 2: Import small cars are selling well (December 24, 2011)<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">The trend to change a domestic car to an import
car seems to be spreading steadily. New registrations of import passenger car
increased 36.7% in November this year over the same period of the previous
year, scoring an increase three months in a row. This is partly because
consumers are somewhat weary of austerity life, but the strenuous efforts of
import car dealers to market import small cars to the young generation with an
emphasis on yen’s appreciation are working very well. A man in his twenties
claims that an import car with excellent and fancy design interests him in view
of the small difference is price between a domestic car and an import car.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.yanase.co.jp/">Yanase</a>, Japan’s leading import car dealer, analyzes
that consumers who decided against buying a replacement after the Lehman Shock
have started shopping around. In fact, the company sold four times more Mercedes-Benz
open car SLKs, each of which is priced between 5,500,000 and 7,500,000 yen, this
year over the previous year. It feels the growing popularity of cars with tasteful
design that cannot be sold easily in tight economic times. In a sense, it can
be said that domestic cars place too much emphasis on economic potential. As
always, rich people exist however depressed and stagnant national economy
becomes. </span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"></span></div>Senryaku-kenkyuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14407110371838014354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5284352838746045544.post-27111350248734633862011-12-22T17:35:00.001-08:002011-12-23T21:49:51.408-08:00No. 1: Import cheese becomes less expensive next year (December 23, 2011)<span lang="EN-US">The price of import cheese for the first
six months (Jan-Jun) of 2012 will be lower that the price in the second six
months (Jul-Dec) of 2011 for the first time in the past three six-month
periods, because the price of natural cheese from Australia and New Zealand
will decrease by 3-5% in the first six months of 2012. The price of Cheddar
cheese from Oceania is used as the indicator of import cheese. Cheddar cheese
from Oceania to Japan will be 4,500-4,600 dollars per ton and <span class="st">Gouda
cheese will be 4,400-4,500 dollars per ton, decreasing by 5% and 3%,
respectively. Japanese dairy foods companies like <a href="http://www.meg-snow.com/english/">Megmilk Snow Brand</a> negotiate
with cheese exporters in Oceania through Japanese trading companies twice a
year.</span> </span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US">Import cheese grew higher in price up to
the second half-year period in 2011 because of brisk demand for milk products
in newly industrialized countries including Russia and China. However, the
worldwide demand did not increase as expected because of economic instability,
though demand in newly industrialized countries remains active. In addition,
raw milk production is growing in Oceania thanks to good weather, and milk
produces in Europe also grows milk production because they did not suffer from
a big natural disaster. </span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US">Japan consumes about 250,000 tons of cheese
annually, of which 80% is import cheese. Oceanian cheese accounts for 70% of
the import cheese market. Import natural cheese is mixed with domestic cheese
to produce slice cheese. Special sale of cheese is expected to grow popular
next year. </span></div>Senryaku-kenkyuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14407110371838014354noreply@blogger.com0