Discusses the state of direct marketing and what channels are available for companies to use direct marketing.
The scale of direct marketing in Japan, which includes mail order, telemarketing, direct response television, and internet sales, is still modest by U.S. standards. Nevertheless, according to a survey by the Fuji Keizai – a leading business data research company in Japan, sales were estimated at ¥9.7 trillion (approximately US$86.7 billion at JPY112.10/USD1) in 2017. The survey predicted that the market will grow to ¥10.8 trillion (approximately US$ 96.2 billion) by 2019. Business-to-consumer (B2C) internet shopping continues to grow. The survey forecasted that the market size of direct marketing which sales were made by electronic commerce (eCommerce) would reach ¥8.9 trillion (approximately US$79 billion) by 2019. Within ecommerce, ordering platform is primarily by computer, followed by smartphone, and tablet PC.

According to the Japan Direct Marketing Association, the most popular way of gathering product information was the internet via a computer, followed by the internet via mobile devices, and hard copy catalogs. Young people are particularly adept at gathering product information via mobile devices. Japanese direct marketers use websites optimized for both PC and mobile devices to reach consumers. U.S. exporters wishing to sell products targeting young Japanese will need to optimize their platforms for mobile access.

Although ecommerce is growing rapidly, catalog shopping is also still popular in Japan. The following are the major Japanese catalog shopping brands. Those companies are also operating online shopping sites.

Belluna                       
Senshukai - Belle Maison      
Dinos - Cecil (Japanese website only)
Nissen (Japanese website only)
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Cataloghouse-Tsuhan Seikatsu (https://www.cataloghouse.co.jp/)

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