Japan, Scarecrow Village.

Staff from Huaiqing Research Institute were sitting on the beach to discuss that in order to conceal the news of digging gold, Nanyi once invested in and established a resort hotel there.

Huaiqing Research Institute, which is composed of multiple groups such as the Heart Control Group, Financial Group, Intelligence Group, etc., recruits and hikes talents from other institutions. It is mainly responsible for studying the consumption psychology of women around the world. The nature of the work is relatively special and rarely available. When contacting external people, they rarely need to take a shift and often brainstorm while on vacation.

Junko Kitamura, a doctoral student who graduated from the Department of Mathematics at Waseda University, has worked in the Nomura Comprehensive Research Institute and has been engaged in research in the retail industry.

"Everyone." Junko Kitamura held her glasses, "I think I want to find out what opportunities will China have in the future retail industry? We can study the evolution laws behind the changes in the entire macro society and business model of Japan, and then go from the specific The company has begun to see the time when some structural changes have occurred in Japan's retail industry and map it to the current China.

The reason I say this is that, first, Japan is small in area, single ethnic group, and relatively neat in changes in consumer society. It is a very good research sample and it is easy to sort out the context clearly.

Second, China and Japan have cultural commonalities. On the social level, China's first-tier cities and second-tier medium-sized cities are very close to the Kanto and Kansai metropolitan areas in Japan in terms of population density and urbanization development. .

Overall, I estimate that in twenty years, China's population structure will be very close to that of Japan today.

Third, Japan's consumer retail industry learned from the United States and transplanted the American convenience store industry in the early 1970s. It has now become the world's number one trend. As a post-development country, the consumer retail industry is still in the In the primary stage of development, if you can see "opportunities" when studying the United States, you can see "reality" when studying Japan.

Fourth, when a business model that has appeared in a developed economy is used in an emerging economy, it is like traveling through decades ago and can be repeated according to the existing logic. I think the consumer retail industry The same is true.

I divided Japan into two consumption eras from 1954 when its post-war economic rise to 1991.

The first consumption era was from 1954 to 1971. Overall, during this period, Japan absorbed the first three waves of scientific and technological revolution, and social and corporate equipment investment was unprecedentedly active, and the whole consumer was well-off. The population increased from 90 million to 1. 100 million, per capita GDP rose from US$400 to US$4,000, the level of urbanization development rose sharply, and land prices in Tokyo also rose wildly.

Around 1975, nearly 90% of the people in the entire Japanese society thought they were middle class, which is the 100 million total midstream phenomenon in Japan. The whole society produced a large amount of production, consumed a large amount of demand, and homogeneous demand led to homogeneous consumption and homogeneous consumption. After transformation, it is the homogeneity of lifestyle.

The representative consumer products of this period were televisions, refrigerators, washing machines, and representative retail formats were department stores and GMS [chain, supermarket, discount store], which mainly meet the consumption psychology of new middle-class standard packaging and one-stop shopping.

Let me talk about the second consumption era, from 1971 to 1991.

Before 1980, the entire Japanese economy was extremely sluggish due to two oil crises and the collapse of the Breton Forest system.

At the same time, after Japan experienced a rough expansion period in the first consumption era, many companies realized that low-cost, low-consumption and high-efficiency operations were crucial for Japan, which was inexpensive, so they began to turn to Fine operations, such as flexible manufacturing, engineering management, and some cost-effective business models are gradually emerging.

After 1980…”

After a brief pause, Junko Kitamura said in a slightly depressed mood: "At present, this period is the period of Japan's economic bubble. Some interesting things happened during this period, and they can also be regarded as a symbol.

For example, luxury goods carnival, the real estate bubble that is about to occur, now the land prices around Ginza can buy the entire Texas of the United States. In addition, Japan has seen signs of a decrease in birth rate and aging population during this period.

In the first consumption era, homogeneous consumption was very serious. Consumers were keen on buying expensive products that could improve living standards, reflecting it in China, where consumers were also keen on buying color TVs, refrigerators, washing machines, and even, China The four major items that Chinese people get married have also changed from watches, bicycles, radios, sewing machines to color TVs, refrigerators, washing machines, and calculators.

But in the second consumption era, some hierarchical differentiation occurred, and the consumption theme was from quantitative change to qualitative change. Some different user portraits appeared in the entire Japanese market.

There are some different user portraits in the market:

1. Pay attention to the differentiation of labels, so the trendy brand culture is spread from the United States;

2. Pay attention to personal preferences rather than other people’s eyes. Consumption is not simply consumption, but consumption to create one’s own lifestyle;

[This consumption method is to create fees. In human terms, any consumption generated for the sake of pretending is called creating fees]

3. Start paying attention to high cost performance. Don Quixote has just been established for three years and its sales have increased explosively year by year because of its outstanding features - late-night business, compressed display, a large number of POPs (selling point advertising), and low-priced products;

Fourth, focus on spiritual and cultural consumption, culture and industry began to penetrate each other, and many cultural institutes were born one by one;

At the same time, the retail industry has also changed. Large comprehensive supermarkets are still the main force in the market, but category killers (chain stores with large business areas but fewer product categories, such as Jingxi Yigou) have begun to rise, especially in Clothing, home furnishings, and home appliances have more advantages than large comprehensive supermarkets in terms of depth and cost-effectiveness.

In addition, the ultimate low-price and ultimate cost-effective business formats, such as the 100-yuan store and SPA format, began to appear. After 1985, the convenience store format rose strongly because the theme of differentiated consumption had already appeared at that time. Convenience stores mainly focused on high-frequency urgent needs and special sales. quick."

"From the shopping psychology of Japanese women, usually, Japanese female consumers often have no specific purchasing targets before going shopping. Most Japanese women like to go shopping, and they usually cannot control their impulses during the shopping process. Purchasing behavior occurs psychologically.”

As soon as Junko Kitamura finished speaking, Cui Hongji, a Malaysian native who came from the Heart Control Group and specializes in female psychology, said directly: "Many Japanese women treat shopping as if they are in a bad mood or encounter unpleasant things. A way to relieve stress, balance emotions, and vent helplessness.

Through the survey of our survey team, up to 93.5% of Japanese female consumers aged 18-35 have had irrational impulsive consumption behaviors, and irrational consumption accounts for 20% of their consumption expenditure.

Due to the lack of clear and substantial purchasing targets, Japanese female consumers are susceptible to environmental factors, including the store environment, shopping scene atmosphere, salesperson's words and deeds, and other consumers' opinions.

Therefore, when purchasing, Japanese female consumers are more susceptible to the emotional functions of the products to buy products that they do not need. Sometimes even the name, style, environment and atmosphere of the products meet their psychological needs, which can stimulate their purchasing motivation

.

Japanese women are rich in emotions and are good at association. They often deviate from the superficial use value of the product, but instead give the product a special emotional connotation and value, and are willing to experience the feeling and artistic conception of shopping.

Most Japanese women usually have a strong emotional color when purchasing. When purchasing, they rely on experience and intuition, that is, women buy products that suit their wishes with their sixth sense.

With the openness of the social environment, Japanese women's social status has continued to grow due to economic independence, and more and more Japanese women have begun to pursue their personalities and show themselves.

Modern Japanese women, especially urban professionals, usually choose products that suit them according to their identity, temperament, occupation and economic affordability in the purchase process to demonstrate their own personal consumption, freedom and confidence.

They pursue change and diversity in clothing, hairstyles, decorations, etc., and usually have a strong interest in new things, and are eager to try and experience different life patterns.

With the economic development and fierce competition today, more and more professional Japanese women have begun to advocate the consumption concept of high quality and high taste. They believe that brand means quality assurance, taste, and classic fashion is a symbol of identity and status.

According to statistics from our survey team, more than 60% of Japanese female consumers believe that although famous brands are relatively high in price, their quality is guaranteed; about half of Japanese female consumers believe that famous brands have high quality processing materials and are well-made and used

Lasting and trustworthy.

At the same time, Japanese women are very sensitive to the pursuit of beauty. Brand products can win Japanese women's consumption, whether they are coordinated color matching, unique styling design, avant-garde and bold fashion, high-quality raw material processing, exquisite packaging, meticulous service and gifts.

favor of those.

It can be seen that famous brands are a symbol of credibility and protection for Japanese female consumers, and a symbol of high-quality life and social status.

I will use the Japanese pharmaceutical cosmetics industry as an example to analyze it:

Japan's drugstores transformed from traditional pharmacies when the pharmaceutical division system was implemented. Since consumers can easily purchase daily necessities and cosmetics when buying medicines, they are popular and develop rapidly.

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Modern Japanese pharmacies include individual pharmacies, cosmetics stores, and daily grocery stores that operate medicines, healthy foods and cosmetics.

The Japanese industry predicts that with the relaxation of various policies and regulations, the number of pharmacies will increase to 24,000 by 2000, and sales will reach 8 trillion yen.

Japanese consumers have regarded drugstores as the primary place for purchasing skin care products. After nearly 30 years of development, drugstores have become the primary channel for cosmetics sales in Japan.

Japanese female consumers generally shop impulsively. Japanese drugstores can always use colorful, exaggerated and conspicuous POP advertisements or product displays that simulate scenes to attract the attention of many Japanese female consumers, attract them to buy, and let them enter.

A strong desire to buy in the store.

The famous cosmetics brand Matsumoto Kiyoshi is filled with so-called seasonal products, hot-selling products, special-priced products, and eye-catching posters to grab the attention of the abortion in front of the door.

Based on the characteristics of Japanese women who are prone to emotional color when shopping, drugstores launch promo sales in product advertising, requiring manufacturers to stand on the consumer's standpoint and consider more whether the product can improve the quality of life of consumers.

It has also become a major feature of the Japanese pharmaceutical cosmetics industry.

For example, the store is built into a gorgeous palace interior room, and the decorated princess bedroom is decorated in pink as the base format, allowing female customers to experience a comfortable and comfortable feeling; using the rigorous and noble royal as the entry point to let customers understand the manufacturer with high quality

Highly effective products and services customers should understand products from a value perspective rather than price.

In response to the troubles and needs of female customers, drugstore sales can not only propose targeted solutions, but also eliminate the complicated things that women rely on themselves to buy goods, and reduce the number of female consumers who give up buying because they are afraid of taking risks.

Probability.

At the same time, it also subverts the traditional promotional scheme that passively relies on various manufacturers to promote promotions. It actively stands on the consumer's standpoint and organizes products and arranges store shelves from the worries of female consumers. It is necessary to consider women's whitening, moisturizing and removing

Various needs for acne, healthy weight loss, etc., should also create arrangements and decorations for women that meet the product characteristics.

The largest drugstores in Tokyo, Misakiri and Kiyoshi Matsumoto, are often overcrowded. Buying similar products from Shiseido at these two drugstores is 20% cheaper than buying them in department stores in Tokyo.

This reasonable low price of drugstores ensures that female consumers choose the manufacturer's products when shopping around, thus winning the market for female consumers not only in Japan and other regions of Asia.

In the pharmaceutical cosmetics chain store, there are usually plenty of trial products piled around the shelves sold on the shelves, and there is no salesperson or shopping guide to follow. Customers can try it for free at will. This will not only bring a comfortable experience to female consumers and promote them.

The secondary purchase also brings new customer base to the manufacturer.

Japan's fashion popular elements are very fast-paced, with new ingredients and new products appearing almost every other season. Cosmetics is also at the forefront of the trend, and basically launches the top ten new hot-selling products every week.

In a drugstore, in addition to finding regular care products, you can also find various exquisite beauty props. Double eyelid patches are divided into different models, including solid and liquid, and there are also 10 cosmetic cotton pads.

Available for selection.

Usually, distributing goods related to health is the basic distribution standard of pharmaceutical stores. However, in terms of the current operating status of Japanese chain pharmacies, the scope of product distribution is far from limited to this, and even operating candy, beverages, etc., it seems

Products that have no direct relationship with health have long been spread throughout all kinds of drug stores.

Pharmaceutical stores strive to meet customer needs, grasp the products purchased by customers, and provide equipment and regional characteristics in each store.

Whether working outside or not, Japanese women pursue independence, so the marketing activities that emphasize independent decisions on lifestyle have received positive responses. The sales methods of multiple varieties and multiple styles satisfy the pursuit of fresh products and personalized products by Japanese female consumers.

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In addition, drugstores all have high-quality and caring services on their own brands. Matsumoto Kiyoshi is supported by their own brand MKer. Its philosophy is the concept of "caring for your own body" advocated by Matsumoto Kiyoshi.

The parent brand is divided into four sub-brands: pharmaceuticals, groceries, cosmetics, and food. It strives to reflect the customer's voice, pursue the safety of raw materials, manufacturing, testing and use, so that customers can feel relieved.

and safe.

Moreover, it also pursues environmental protection in packaging, reflecting the sense of social responsibility of the company.

Many people in the film and television beauty industry have a special liking for Japanese private brands. The reason is that their private brands are unique in design and promotion, and are of quality assurance.

In terms of service, drugstores have won the love of Japanese female consumers in their unique way, allowing customers to become leaders in beauty trends after entering the store to consume, which has become their service purpose.

Another modern chain pharmacy chain, Shan Pharmacy, which is more successful in operating pharmaceutical cosmetics, has set up a beauty consultant in the store to provide customers with beauty knowledge and practical beauty advice;

In addition, there are resident health experts and pharmacists who not only solve customers’ problems in beauty, but also consult and diagnose physical confusion, such as always a little tired and not being able to sleep recently.

Let Japanese female consumers feel caring service and care, and convey to Japanese female consumers that they should understand their internal health from external beauty such as skin, smiles, makeup - the concept of letting beauty radiate from the inside out

.

The successful marketing model of Japanese pharmaceutical cosmetics reflects in-depth analysis and speculation of women's consumption psychology.

From my personal perspective, the Japanese pharmaceutical cosmetics industry will definitely deserve the favor of Japanese women and even Asian women by promoting promotions that cater to women's gender psychology and characteristics, and supplemented with products and services that meet women's psychology.

The Japanese pharmaceutical cosmetics market has become the leader and the weather vane of the Asian pharmaceutical cosmetics market."

After listening to Kitamura Junko and Cui Hongji, Huo Yuanbai, the director of Huaiqing Research Institute, nodded: "It is a consensus among all of us that women will become the main consumer force, and the foundation of our research institute is also based on this point.

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Just now, Kitamura said that your time travel time is very good. In Asia, Japan's economy has developed relatively fast and early. Like South Korea, Li Jiapo, Vietnam and other places, Japan is also deeply influenced by Chinese Confucian culture.

Several countries have many commonalities, which are suitable for Japan's economic development route. Combined with the actual situation of their own countries, they can be replicated in other countries.

In fact, South Korea can indeed find many Japanese elements in its economic development trajectory. Due to geopolitical factors, Li Jiapo's economic development model is more inclined to geopolitical economy. Looking at the development trajectory of the Chinese economy, we can also find the Japanese economy.

shadow.
To be continued...