Simple items sold at Uniqlo or volume retailers like Shimamura are like an accessory to one's coordination. For the primary items, the design, the color, the brand, and every detail must be refined for Japanese women.
Ranking in the 18th place is Chitose Kai. This company owns a internet shopping site called Belle Maison. The site sells furniture, life-style goods, and apparel. They had started with a magazine shopping and are well known in Japan for low price and good quality goods.
As Japan had been a slow starter in catalogue shopping and the internet shopping, Chitose Kai's existence in the ranking proves that Japanese consumers are starting to feel more comfortable with shopping without actually seeing the products.
Although many catalogue stores and internet shopping sites are getting comments asking to see the products on hand before purchasing, the wind is slowly changing its direction.
However, the ranking is no big surprise to Japanese as all the companies/retailers within the ranking are the most prominent in Japan.
As department stores are investing large amounts of capital in redecorating their stores, the sales are going to get more and more competitive from henceforth. Perhaps the ranking in the next 2 years will be quite different than the one we see now.
marketing@alchempro.com
