8 Things You Need to Know About Selling on Amazon Japan

You have a mature brand on Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk, and now it’s time to leverage your assets and expand to other marketplaces. How about Amazon Japan?

Amazon Japan is an exciting opportunity, but expanding into the ‘Land of the Rising Sun’ can also be daunting. The Japanese marketplace presents new challenges that make it very different from all the English-speaking markets. But with these complexities come a lot of opportunities waiting to be grabbed.

We spoke to Ritu Java from PPC Ninja about expanding to Amazon Japan. Here are 8 things you need to know before establishing your brand there.

1. Online shopping and Amazon have grown since the pandemic

eCommerce platforms are some of the most-visited websites in Japan, with Amazon and Rakuten — a big Amazon competitor — both making the top 10.

According to Amazon, 71% of Japanese shoppers shop online — that’s a huge percentage! And there was a surge of people visiting Amazon from the start of COVID-19 and throughout 2020/21.

Amazon has gained a lot of trust, especially during the pandemic, with quick deliveries, convenience and the customer-centeredness of Amazon. So, the eCommerce market is primed for merchants willing to explore Japan.

2. Combining on- and off-Amazon marketing is a must

There’s a virality to communication in Japan. Products that appear on TV or in magazines or are endorsed by celebrities tend to be very popular. So, combining your Amazon efforts with non-Amazon marketing like social media, offline marketing, or influencer marketing is a crucial strategy for foreign brands going into Japan.

3. Japanese people are quality conscious

Of course, it’s important in general to have a quality product to be successful on Amazon. But Japanese people are extremely quality conscious, and there’s a very high trust barrier for anything foreign.

Ensuring product authenticity and quality is essential for those all-important positive reviews to instil trust in potential buyers. Adapting your approach to cultural differences…