Socio-Economic Factors of Changes in Consumer Behavior and Strategies of Trade Companies in Japan

Abstract

The article analyzes the structure and features of the retail trade sector in Japan, the current trends in the consumer behavior of the Japanese, which became noticeable in the late 20th century and especially after the global financial and economic crisis of 2008–2010 and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on empirical material, the author identifies the main lines of transformation of strategies of Japanese trade corporations under the conditions of economic instability and the formation of a new consumption model.

Trade as a sphere of entrepreneurial activity is represented in Japan by various types of trading enterprises and companies and corporate groups of very different sizes and organizational and legal status. The market leaders are universal trading companies (sōgō shōsha) and large network companies (Seven & I Holdings, Aeon, Fast Retailing, etc.), which finance and organize not only the circulation, but also the production of goods (from the development and purchase of raw materials to production and processing, logistics, sales, and services). The groups include numerous affiliated retail sales companies.

The characteristic features of the Japanese consumer have traditionally been the willingness to pay for quality, convenience, and service, a relatively low level of interest in cheaper goods, preference for the format of “physical” purchases, as well as the desire to buy expensive, exclusive things of luxury brands, which for many have become a sign of financial success and social status.

Among the most important modern factors affecting the scale and structure of consumer demand in Japan are the desire to reduce one’s expenses in the face of slowing economic growth and stagnating incomes, increase in the level of environmental awareness, changing lifestyle and leisure patterns. The most important factor determining the image of the modern Japanese consumer has been the entry into the labor and consumption markets of generations Y and Z, who increasingly rely not on owning, but on using things, which acts as a factor in reducing the scale of the consumer market.

Under these conditions, trading companies modernize their strategies, including by entering into partnerships with national and foreign corporations in order to adapt to changing conditions and maintain competitiveness through modernization, diversification, and digitalization of business, reducing transaction costs based on the synergetic effect.