The Emergence of Internet Shopping in Japan: Indentification of Shopping Orientation-Defined Segments

Abstract

Internet retailing is on the verge of a rapid growth stage in Japan. In the middle 1990’s, total non-store retail sales amounted to $2 billion (Focus Japan 1998). During that time the number of Japanese consumers who used the Internet was 5 million. By the year 2000 the number of Internet users in Japan had grown to 54 million with substantial growth in Internet cellular phones and portable computing devices. High-speed Internet connections have grown to 11.8 million subscribers in 2003 up from 1.6 million users just two years earlier (Dvorak 2003). Non-store sales related to Internet transactions alone are expected to reach $66 billion in 2004 (Belson 2000). Despite these emerging developments, competing for a share of Japanese customers’ patronage still requires considerable effort. Because Japanese non-store retailing is still relatively undeveloped (Grossman 1998), the optimal strategy to attract customer patronage to the Internet is not easily determined. Further, little research has been conducted with respect to shopping behavior in Japan.