Although loyal allies to the world, and innovators within our creative culture, Japan and the United States of America have many obvious differences when it comes to the realm of commerce. Having already compared consumer behaviors in Part 1 and how those polar opposites affect retail strategies in Part 2, we move on to the third and final installment of our case study. In the forthcoming passage we’re going to look at the future of these two distinct consumer cultures and how the internet will affect their markets.
Growing Similarities
“I’d like to think Japan will soon find ways to incorporate its superior customer service into these online shops and apps, thus revolutionizing e-commerce.”
What may come to a surprise to many is that Japan has not fully adopted the ways of e-commerce to the extent Americans and other Western worlds have. Kinfolk’s own Jey Perie explains why: “The level of merchandising and quality of the retail experience is still hard to reproduce online. In addition, the language barrier makes it difficult for most Japanese kids to use the internet to explore new movements outside of their own cultural perimeter.” Reed Space owner jeffstaple adds, “The customer service that the Japanese offer is something you can’t put into an app or website. They want to feel that sense of luxury, service and pampering.” On the contrary, “[if] you ask anyone to go shopping on a weekend in New York City, you’re not excited about it because you know you’re going to have to go through a lot of bullshit in that experience.” That “bullshit” Jeff speaks on was discussed in part two, and for the sake of word count, it refers to subpar customer service commonly seen in American retail environments.
Nevertheless, e-commerce will continue to grow parallel with technology to become more simplified as well as creative in its execution. As a very modern nation with a shrinking population it’s only a matter of time before young Japanese realize the importance of this retail segment and welcome it with open fingers. Otherwise, it will fall swiftly behind the rest of the world – a sacrifice Japan rarely takes. I’d like to think Japan will soon find ways to incorporate its superior customer service into these online shops and apps, thus revolutionizing e-commerce as we know it.
Looking to the Future
“The question now is how will this affect Japan’s world-class customer service?”
With all of that said, trends are suggesting that American and Japanese buyers and sellers are beginning to behave more and more like one another as we go through a similar period of growth, crisis, then rebuild. Having both sat atop the capitalist world for decades, to then be knocked off the throne with separate, yet equally severe recessions – America’s more recently – consumer confidence has taken a drastic hit. And yet “hope in the future is the motor of consumerism,” says Perie. The Kinfolk creative director continues, speaking on both cultures this time, “The new generation raised in the 2000s has learned to live frugally, minimizing foreign influences and focusing on local cultures and subcultures.” This can be interpreted to mean that not only are Americans beginning to seek quality, domestic goods with an ethos that suits their lifestyle, but the Japanese have ditched the need to purchase luxury items to claim their socioeconomic status.
Similarly, Japan’s aforementioned shrinking population will surely disrupt the traditional workplace ethics that have made it the superpower that it is today. As the post-WWII baby boomer generation continues to grow old and as a result take all of the better paying jobs based on tenure, young Japanese are becoming equally discouraged and rather hopeless. Frightened by the uncertainty of their future and possible immobility on the corporate ladder, younger, employed Japanese are constantly seeking new opportunities to advance their career. Combine this with a generation that lives much more frugally than its predecessors, loyalty to the employer will surely become a thing of the past. Money will then become the source of motivation and not pride in one’s work. The question now is how will this affect Japan’s world-class customer service?
So as we watch Japan and America move forward with their transformations into two very similar consumer cultures, we wanted to finish this piece by asking, what’s typically important to you when shopping for an article of clothing? Is it convenience, quality, ethos, design, authenticity, etc.?
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