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The Japanese retail system is, as discussed, designed to enable companies to attract and maintain a strong customer base, that is – market share. As such, aspects such as price, quality, and service again leap to the forefront of doing business in Japan. The maxim that "the customer is always right" rules as law in the Japanese retail industry, and every effort is made to ensure that the consumer's shopping experience is as pleasant and as easy as it can be. To understand Japan's retail food industry, however, it is useful first to examine how Japanese consumer shopping habits differ from the Canadian consumer.
It is said that approximately 80% of Japan is covered by mountains and that 80% of Japanese people live in the remaining 20% of the land. Accordingly, space is quite limited – especially in major urban centers such as Tokyo – and the consumer's ability to keep and store food in their home is, therefore, also limited, not unlike Europe. As a result, Japanese consumers tend to do their grocery shopping on an almost daily basis, preferring to buy products for immediate consumption. Working in a Japanese supermarket, I often overheard mothers ask their children what meal they would like for the next day's "bento" or box lunch, with a direct impact on the day's food purchases.
Further, since many Japanese urbanites are also forced by the sheer logistics of high-density population to commute to work by train, they tend to do their daily shopping close to home or train stations in order to avoid carrying groceries long distances. Thus, Japanese supermarkets are often strategically placed in, near, and around commuter train stations to afford convenience to the consumer. This focus on convenience has been demonstrated recently by one major Japanese retailer's efforts towards the "naturalization" of its store environment, through the provision of improved shopping access for those with mobility challenges such as seniors, the blind, and customers using wheelchairs (access which has generally been poor in Japan in the past).
The high population density and desire for convenience has traditionally meant high retail prices in Japan, a market which has, therefore, attracted (and commanded) a high degree of competition. The Japanese consumer is blessed with a wealth of retail outlets from which to choose, resulting in a highly competitive retail food industry. Newspaper inserts and other printed promotional materials offer the consumer the opportunity to compare the sales offers of stores in a certain area, and therefore choose which store to visit – a choice which does not often entail significantly different travel requirements. As such, Japanese food retailers strive to provide a ‘hassle-free' shopping experience to their customers, with the hopes that the high level of service and product quality (and more recently price advantages) will encourage repeat patronage – and thus maintain the store's market share. Alberta food products must also fit into this focus on convenience in terms of quality, packaging and sales support to participate successfully in the system.
With the Japanese computerized inventory control systems, point-of-sale information has become critical for Japanese food retailers, brought on by a greater need to match consumer preferences with just-in-time distribution systems. As such, profit generation based on information technology (on the whole, behind Canada and the U.S. North America) has emerged as a key criterion of product performance measurement.
Sales information at the supermarket is collected and processed at the point of sale, then sent through to the buying departments that decide what products will be on the supermarket shelves. The retailer is able to monitor information on consumer preferences in a timely and efficient manner through centralized computer systems that are directly linked to consumer purchases. Subsequently, items that perform below average for their category are quickly cut from ordering systems. While this practice may appear somewhat drastic, it is a fact of retail life necessitated by the limited shelf and storage space in Japanese stores. More so, for every item that is a sub-performer in its category, there are several competitive products waiting in the wings. The Japanese and U.S. retail industries are notorious for their short product cycles and rapid shift in trends. As such, Japanese producers are intently focused on continual improvement of their products, whether in price, quality, or presentation. There is a perpetual need to keep the Japanese consumer interested in one's product simply because of the wealth of choice available.
As part of the "hassle-free" shopping experience, careful thought has been given to every detail of Japanese in-store product presentation, from store layout to the way items are stocked. In terms of layout, as in many foreign stores, daily grocery items (produce, dairy and meats) are set out around the sales floor's outer perimeter. However, Japanese planning extends beyond this by further grouping items that might be purchased together in sequence in the aisles. The system is designed so that, as a customer walks through the store, purchases are stimulated at natural points based on previously selected items. It is a system full of detail, and strongly focused on the customer's perceptions.
For example, pastas and pasta sauces will often be stocked beside each other to stimulate a complete meal selection that will be supplemented with additional items. Perhaps the reader may find this idea difficult to grasp, for I too did not realize the preparation that had been put into stimulating the consumer purchase until it had been pointed out and explained to me. After hearing the Japanese logic, however, it struck me as being different from the Canadian shopping experience. As errant as this personal perception may be, the consideration and attention paid by the Japanese retailer to the inclusion of this detail within the in-store system is worth noting.
Another example of the detailed system is when the products are stocked on the shelves. Products are stocked with the freshest items in the rear, in order to assure oldest items are sold first and shelf-life guidelines are adhered to. In other words, a "last-in / last-out" type of inventory system. Products, regardless of the true inventory on hand, are also always stocked to the front of the shelves. In this way, even if the product is almost out of stock, the appearance presented to the consumer is one of a store whose shelves are always fully stocked – and, therefore, convenient. In addition, the fact that stock is always pulled to the front ("mae- dashi", or ‘bringing forward') means it is much more likely to catch the consumer's eye and is also easier for the consumer to pull off the shelf.
With careful attention paid to ensure that the face labels of all products are facing the front (through "te-naoshi", or ‘correction by hand'), the intent is to create an attractive and pleasant shopping atmosphere. One of the most important functions for store staff (regardless of rank or position), then, is to continually check the aisles and product for clean presentation. The goal is to ensure that as products are taken from the shelves, it is not long before the remaining stock is pulled to the front of the shelf and inventories once again appear full. Aisles are also checked in a pre-arranged and orderly fashion, not at whim, in case an employee should be interrupted during this task and miss any portion of the section upon resumption.
Checking the aisles is an important and critical function of the system. Rather than being presented as a nuisance to employees, this task is presented as being one of the most important links in the ordering system. For, as employees repeat this task, not only do they learn the precise location of different products within the store, they also gain a keen perception of which products sell faster and what type of products consumers seem to prefer. This small detail, thus, becomes a key factor in employee education and in training a store's employees to become more astute at ordering new stock – a task which, when poorly executed, is quickly punished by a just-in-time system.
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