Japan Poised to Emerge as World Leader in Online Shopping

Japan is currently the second largest Internet market in the world behind the U.S., according to the Dept. of Commerce. But market analysts predict that it will catch up with the U.S. in 2007. With hundreds of billions of consumer dollars being spent online in Japan, American companies are eager to tap the huge growth potential. Lots of Bytes, a marketing and technological consulting firm, today announced a new service designed to enable U.S. online shops to market and sell products directly to customers in Japan.

Kenji Hino, President of Lots of Bytes, says the concept is simple yet very effective. “America-de-shop.com (which means ‘shopping in the U.S.’ in Japanese) is a Japanese promotional site where we review products sold by U.S. online shops. Through this promotional site, any U.S. company can enter online Japanese markets – even those that don’t already ship to Japan.”

Traditionally Japan has been a difficult market to enter, but the Internet has changed that. One of the most technically advanced countries, Japan boasts a whopping 88% of households have Internet access. Compare that to just 55% in the U.S. Hino says the most dynamic way to gain direct access to those millions of Japanese users is via blog marketing.

Blogging is one of the hottest marketing concepts in e-commerce. What started as a way to voice an opinion in single-sentence commentary has evolved into an online marketing tool capable of tapping into important target groups very quickly. Hino says, “We think a blog is a great way to inform Japanese readers about American products. It takes two things to succeed as an online merchant - a great product and visibility. You supply the product and we’ll supply the visibility in the Japanese market.”

After reading the product reviews, Japanese visitors on the site can buy directly from the retailers. America-de-shop.com offers a free email translation service to correspond with customers, an order entry service for Japanese customers lacking in English knowledge, and a shipping service for companies that don’t currently ship to Japan. Hino says, “The way we’ve bundled our services, you can avoid the expense of translation and you don’t need a Japanese website. Online shops of any size can utilize our services to tap into the lucrative Japanese market.”

The average Japanese household has over $100,000 in savings and disposable income of $3,800 per month. That amounts to hundreds of billions of dollars being spent on everything from food and clothing to electronics and entertainment. Hino says, “Japanese consumers purchase a wide variety of consumer goods and services each year. Especially hot are products from the ‘50s such as retro toys and signboards. T-shirts, jeans, and pet supplies are also popular. But there is no limit to the type of item that can be successfully exported. If a product is unique, there will be interest.”

About Lots of Bytes:
As President of Lots of Bytes, Kenji Hino, works with clients of all sizes to produce results in a high-quality and low-cost environment. In addition to blog marketing, the company specializes in online application development and customized e-commerce solutions, and other services to clients in the U.S. and Japan.