In Japan, the sum of online retail merchandise in 2019 is 18 trillion yen, which is equal to 5 trillion Taiwan dollars. It is expected to record a new high in 2020.

The scale of the E-commerce market in Japan is 7 times bigger than in Taiwan.
In 2020, the pandemic hit the global economy widely, but it provides huge opportunities for the “stay-at-home” economy. Many companies are accelerating digital transformation and developing e-commerce.

With the foundation of over 80% internet coverage in Japan, most of the customers are welcome to purchase daily necessities online. Online shopping has become a new consumption habit for customers. Customers who purchased from online shopping at least once a month had contributed 49% of the total retail sales. The trend goes up significantly.

Expanding the physical retail channels to overseas markets was postponed or stopped because of the pandemic, developing cross border e-commerce became a solution to explore the overseas market.

The leading enterprises such as Amazon, Alibaba and Rakuten Japan are benefiting from the “stay-at-home” economy with their strong customer base and well-established networks. Facing the huge increase in demand, they also encountered the problem of supply chains and logistics.  

Therefore, how to approach your target customers, provide them accurate information and good after-sales service would be a key to success. 

Imagine when a customer placed an order online and on the next day, they received goods from overseas. The timely delivery, high quality and reasonable prices would surprise the customers and make the products become competitive among the local e-commerce platforms. This has gradually come true under the competition and improvement of the three platforms.

However, the opportunities also bring competitors. More retailers and suppliers exploring e-commerce and sharing the market. 

Japanese customers value brand reputation and trust, they have the same concern about cross-border brands and companies. Besides logistics and payment flow, languages would be another barrier to provide services to overseas customers.

Google translate may be one of the solutions, but from our experience, we can see the difference. Inaccurate translation may mislead customers and affect the brand reputation.

Well interaction and effective communication in customer service would help to establish brand reputation and trust, increasing the adhesion between the seller and their consumer.

With our professional experience in cross-border services and our bilingual customer service team, we can help you to deliver the valuable service to the local customers. By analysing the customers in the local market, you can also stay ahead of the market trends. Eason Sourcing, would be an accountable partner for you in exploring cross-border e-commerce.