When the coronavirus outbreak nullified many of Japanese department stores' tried and true sales strategies, they were forced to think outside the box to prevent the spread of infections while still staying afloat.
Practices such as product fairs and face-to-face sales were suddenly out, because customers tend to crowd. For this reason, department stores have deftly switched on enhanced advance services and online ordering to allow customers to do their shopping without visiting stores.
-- Wisdom to prevent 3Cs
Department store chain Takashimaya Co. on Monday announced that its stores will accept preorders of "lucky bags" for the upcoming New Year's holiday both online and in stores from early December.
Customers will be able to receive preordered lucky bags at stores after mid-December or after Jan. 4. The annual lucky bags sales at department stores on Jan. 2 and 3 will not be held. This was devised so that consumers could buy lucky bags without waiting in line.
In another measure, the passageway for the Hokkaido fair, which has been held at each store since September, has been made wider than usual to ease congestion.
The Matsuya Ginza department store in Chuo Ward, Tokyo, held an event until Sunday that coincided with Grandchildren's Day for the first time in about 20 years.
In 1999, the Japan Department Stores Association set the third Sunday of October as the Grandchildren's Day, but this did not take root. The store aimed to explore a new market by calling on grandparents, who had difficulty meeting their grandchildren due to the ongoing virus crisis, to communicate with them by giving gifts. Sales of fruit and cakes for gifts are said to be brisk.
Even on business of having special sales people visit wealthy customers, department stores are trying to avoid face-to-face interactions while maintaining convenience. Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd., for example, uses the Line communications app at the Isetan Shinjuku Main Store in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo. Sales staff make lists of products according to a customer's request and send proposals to them via Line. It also began service in which customers in remote areas can receive explanations about products from sales staff in Tokyo via internet.
Department store sales have been sluggish due to the drop in foreign visitors to Japan.
Daimaru Matsuzakaya Department Stores Co.'s sales in the first half of October were down 4% from a year earlier. The drop is significant because the last October figure decreased from the same month in 2018 due to the consumption tax hike.
-- Demand for home consumption
The following is the summery of the remark of Yoshiro Murata, president of Takashimaya Co., during a Monday interview.
It is important to realize customers' expectations amid the constraints of the coronavirus disaster. During the year-end and New Year shopping season, we will strive to satisfy customers and prevent the spread of infections.
It is necessary to raise the unit selling price in our electronic commerce, which we have focused on. Sales will not grow unless we increase not only midyear and year-end gifts, but also home demand [to buy products as reward for themselves]. I want to enhance the search function and the function to suggest recommended products of our website .
Even after the virus outbreak is brought under control, it will be difficult to get back foreign visitors to Japan in the year after next. I don't think department stores will need as much space as they do now. Some of the space can be replaced with showrooms and offices. We will study what department stores should do, including how to contact customers and promote culture.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
