This Article Explains: Why Japan Has No Taobao?

Introduction: Retail has moved from a transactional era to a relational one. Merchants can make significant efforts in physical stores to create an unparalleled consumption scene, but e-commerce transactions are conducted via computers and smartphones, making it difficult to provide unique experiences to consumers. They must seek breakthroughs! Let's look at the ten secrets hidden in Japanese physical stores.

01 Integrating Social Functions into New Business Formats Osaka's EXPOCITY features Japan's tallest Ferris wheel, a 4D cinema with Japan's largest IMAX screen, Japan's first experiential English education facility English Village, and a Shaun the Sheep-themed entertainment area. It also incorporates the latest technology and concepts, perfectly integrating "entertainment," "education," and "shopping," making the venue the core of new entertainment in northern Osaka and fully integrated into residents' lives. Grand Front integrates numerous social functions into new business formats, including high-tech laboratories, university research institutes, brand museums, maker spaces, automotive-themed halls, technology experience halls, gallery spaces, and salon spaces. By incorporating various social functions, Grand Front attracts a wider range of consumer groups and increases consumption stickiness, making it a popular tourist destination in Osaka.

02 Heartwarming Service Details Commercial services are all about details. "The same brand and the same clothing item are no different in a specialty store or a department store, but in a department store, I can enjoy more additional services. It may not sound impressive, but these details are truly heartwarming." Shelves with slopes that automatically restock, and corridors designed to consider sunlight and rainy weather between shopping streets, silently convey respect and consideration for customers. Many companies that have visited Japan for research have imitated these practices upon returning home, adding children's strollers, first-aid kits, mobile phone charging stations, and pet care services. However, the focus on customer needs from the perspective of inner feelings and details is still far from sufficient. The people-oriented spirit is visible everywhere in Japan. When you buy something at a specialty store, the cashier stamps the receipt and then uses blotting paper to absorb the ink, preventing it from staining other items. After handing the wrapped product to the customer, the cashier steps out from behind the counter to walk a short distance, then takes the next customer's items, guides them to the counter, and continues the process of payment, stamping, blotting, and seeing off. In restaurants, the staff in the dining area are always busy, but they also notice when napkins are half-empty and promptly refill them, keeping everything tidy. If they see a soy sauce bottle or chair out of place, they promptly restore it. For example, on rainy days, Japanese shopping malls prepare towels for wiping rain gear and bodies, considering customer needs, and these are thoughtful and reusable. In restroom design, they apply elaborate decoration and ornamentation, but it's the attention to customers' needs in different states and scenarios that matters. Even when a customer expresses liking a brand, the staff will recommend other stores of the same brand in the area and provide addresses and brochures for reference. This is the scale of Japanese commerce, and the only standard is people—respect and attention to people.

03 Craftsmanship Quality Creating an Extension of Home The deepest impression Japanese physical retail leaves is focus. A sushi shop can operate for 150 years, even 250 years, which is common in Japan. Japanese craftsmen take pride in inheritance and continuous improvement. In their minds, there is no distinction between big and small businesses. They find satisfaction in sustained focus, so they remain calm. Opening a store is not about having as many as possible, but about being good enough to satisfy oneself. Craftsmanship is the source of the vitality of Japanese physical retail, and Green Wood Shopping Center is the most fitting example. Located in Musashi-Kosugi, Kanagawa Prefecture, far from Tokyo, it attracted over 1 million visitors in just 13 days after opening. This shopping center is only 37,000 square meters but has Japan's largest rooftop garden. Mr. Suzuki, chairman of companies including 7-Eleven and Ito-Yokado, repeatedly emphasized, "The most important thing is to make Green Wood Shopping Center a place where people enjoy coming to play, and while playing, they buy something to take home."

04 More Emphasis on the Fun of Browsing Rather Than Price When Chinese consumers use e-commerce for shopping, they mostly focus on price, and generally, e-commerce prices are lower than offline. In Japan, an organization once conducted a survey, and enjoying the fun of browsing was the primary reason for Japanese consumers, while the second reason was "cheaper than physical stores."

05 Japan Implements Taxation Policies on E-commerce Japan has long imposed taxes on enterprises engaged in e-commerce within its territory. Currently, China is still discussing whether to tax e-commerce enterprises. Because China currently does not tax online store operators, the threshold for opening online stores is low, giving online stores a price advantage. In contrast, the price advantage of Japanese e-commerce enterprises is not very obvious. With the global flagship store of Japanese lifestyle brand MUJI officially opening in Shanghai, the long queues waiting to enter on the opening day went viral on social media. Some netizens complained, "This scene is comparable to queuing at the most popular Saudi Arabia Pavilion at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo." Amid the global e-commerce boom, Japanese physical stores have not cooled down but have increasingly shown their value and vitality. What supports their "thriving"?

06 Quality First to Create Unique Selling Points The most reliable aspect of Japanese physical retail is the abundance of brands, with no defective or counterfeit goods. Japanese merchants strictly control product quality. If you buy a defective product at a large shopping mall, you will not only receive substantial compensation, but the manager will also personally come to apologize. The biggest advantage of shopping at Japanese department stores is peace of mind. For example, the popular Japanese Otoko-mae Tofu, based on decades of handmade tofu tradition, has created a unique visual system, launching Otoko-mae Tofu, "Wind-blowing Tofu Shop" shaped like a paddle, "Fighting Tofu Boy" (a soup tofu), Otoko-TOMOTSU, green soybean tofu, and more, as well as soy milk rock 'n' roll, thick-fried tofu captain, and tofu ball captain. After Otoko-mae Tofu became famous in Japan, its price was four times higher than the original. It also launched more comic-themed handmade tofu and various cross-border derivatives, seemingly building an empire of Japanese handmade tofu.

07 Making Efforts to Satisfy Consumers Japanese design circles have always pursued precise content positioning, respecting business positioning before creating specific designs. Just as we do for museums and science museums, we first do exhibition design, then architectural design. Japanese merchants do not act as landlords when attracting tenants but rather co-manage. Tokyo's Roppongi commercial district took fifteen years to open, while some famous shopping malls in China took only half a year from design to opening, with over 2,000 people working overnight the day before opening. Tokyo's Matsuya Department Store was designed by Kenya Hara, who emphasizes the original state of things and insists on scene-based design for commercial real estate experiences. Contrary to the brand-oriented design in commercial design, it emphasizes that the department store and brands together convey a high-quality lifestyle. Consumers naturally love it.

08 Unbeatable After-Sales Service in Shopping Malls After buying goods, if you don't want to carry large bags home, you can entrust the mall to package and deliver them to your door. This service is not limited to large items like home appliances; any clothing, shoes, bags, daily necessities, etc., can be delivered directly to your home or hotel room. Japan's parcel delivery services can use convenience stores for mailing packages, and online retailers can also use convenience stores for nearby delivery. Because Japan's e-commerce delivery system is built on the foundation of physical convenience stores, this means that the e-commerce system and physical stores have a symbiotic relationship rather than an absolute life-and-death competition.

09 O2O Thinking to Integrate E-commerce and Physical Stores In recent years, many Japanese physical stores have cooperated to launch e-commerce platforms and physical store synchronized sales services. Products purchased on e-commerce platforms can be picked up at the department store's physical stores, and out-of-stock items in physical stores can also be purchased through e-commerce platforms. It is evident that Japanese department stores, facing new consumer demands under new circumstances, do not reject new shopping models but instead keep pace with the times, actively building online shopping platforms and conducting e-commerce business to cope with the impact.

10 Mutually Beneficial Cooperative Ecological Business Circle Taking Osaka as an example, its commercial forms include shopping streets, station business ecological maps, and convenience store layouts. Shopping streets are usually concentrated in the bustling downtown areas, and each shopping street is connected through the ecological circles of various stations. Between stations, convenience stores, shop malls, and supermarkets are laid out, thus building a networked commercial ecological map from above and below ground, from areas to points, and often a business circle's venues will jointly launch marketing activities. Each physical store displays a dazzling array of products, and Japanese product packaging is generally small, so a single shelf can have seven or eight layers from top to bottom. Thus, even ordinary physical stores can stock a relatively large number of product varieties for customers to choose from. Moreover, each offline physical store has different characteristics, giving customers more choices.

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