Luxury Goods In Japan: Higher Prices For The Same Goods

　　 In the current economic situation, the purchase has been avoided as far as possible. Luxury goods Japanese consumers have to spend more money than the US and European consumers to buy the same product.

In Japan, imports of some luxury goods account for 50% to 60% of the total. It is not difficult to understand that the products sold in our country are lower than those in other countries, because the latter should be added. Import duty And transport costs. However, when Japanese consumers hesitate to pay for their money, the gap between luxury prices at home and abroad seems to be too wide.

Not only that, it's easier for people to compare their families online. shop The decision is to buy the favorite brand from the official website of the brand or the third party retail store. At the same time, all kinds of brand discount stores are springing up in this country. For Japanese consumers, there are more and more people who choose to spend their summer vacation in Europe and purchase luxury brands in Paris or Milan.

　　 Pay higher prices for the same goods

"Now, some manufacturers choose to set a higher sales price for their products in Japan. In the past, they did not do this because they were not so sensitive to price, the price was not transparent, and they did not attach much importance to the quality of goods and the shopping experience of consumers. Brian Salsberg, chairman of McKinsey Tokyo branch, said he is also the head of Japan's consumer and retail and consumer and shoppers' investigation department. "But as time goes on, the price difference of the same commodity in the market is too large, which is becoming more and more difficult."

Sanno Katsumi, executive director of Gilt Groupe, said similarly: "5 to 7 years ago, consumers thought that high prices meant high quality, and people thought this idea was mastered by businessmen." Gilt Group is a retail outlet specializing in the sale of discount products.

A detailed shopping invoice can reveal a lot to people. For example, a Louis Vuitton Neverfull package is priced at 455 euros in Paris, or about 587 US dollars. But here, consumers will have to pay 50% more and spend about 77700 yen, or about 888 dollars. For comparison: this handbag sells for us $700 in the US, which is about 18% higher than that in France. )

Similarly, in Milan, Prada's black rectangular zipper wallet sells for 330 euros, or about 428 dollars. In Japan, the price is as high as 61950 yen, or 708 dollars, up 65% from the former. A Diane von Furstenberg wrapped skirt in Japan costs about 66000 yen, or about 754 dollars, but in the US, a similar skirt sells for about 325 to 375 dollars.

Obviously, if the demand is increasing, the high price is not difficult to understand. However, no matter how it is observed, it is not the case. Japanese consumers, taking into account the state of the country's economy and the stability of their jobs, have already reduced their spending on clothes. Instead, people prefer to go to some clothing chains like Hennes &Mauritz and Uniqlo. The popular handbags have also become cheap canvas bags for Dean &DeLuca and local brand Cher.

　　 Tariff and exchange rate rise in daily pricing

The attitude of the researchers to the Japanese market is not warm. Now, the market seems to have bottomed out and has begun to stabilize. However, no one believes that the market will immediately rebound. According to the statistics of Yano Research Institute Ltd., in 2009, the sales of Japanese clothing and accessories dropped by 15.9% to 894 billion 600 million yen, or 9 billion 570 million US dollars based on the average exchange rate. This year, sales will increase slightly, about 1%.

In this regard, Luis Vuitton and Gucci declined to comment. Prada and Chanel were also maintaining their price policies.

"Our price policy in Japan and Italy is consistent with the market and taking into account the general price level and the luxury market in Japan." A spokesman for Prada said.

A Japanese spokeswoman for Chanel also delivered a similar speech. "All our products are priced in euros, and many other parameters must be taken into account." "This includes exchange rate, tax rate, import tax and transportation cost, which will vary greatly with the market," she said. This is why the prices of commodities in different countries are different. These are the factors that must be considered in brand export. "

Japan has a high tariff. According to its material composition, some shoes can collect up to 60% of customs duties. A Japanese customs spokesman said the higher tariff price came from the protection of the shoe making industry in China. Tariffs on clothes and handbags often fluctuate between 10% and 20%, depending on the product itself.

Exchange rate is also an important reason: the yen's exchange rate fluctuated greatly. In the past six months, the yen has risen by about 17% relative to the euro, or about 6 percentage points relative to the US dollar.

Sanno Katsumi said luxury brands are increasingly eager to sell products they haven't made in Japan through Gilt, and Gilt's membership in Japan has increased to 400 thousand.

　　 Asian tourists pay for high prices in Japan

Lssey Miyake's former chairman, Nobuyuki Ota, explains why Japanese luxury goods prices have remained high in the past and cited a number of reasons.

As early as twentieth Century, 70s and 80s, Japanese consumers did not have enough economic strength to buy luxury goods. Some luxury brands began to enter the Japanese market through trading companies and wholesale agencies, and these institutions had to charge extra fees. Similarly, a department store that used to occupy an absolute share of Japan must have a share in it, Ota explained.

During the period from 80s to 90s twentieth Century, luxury brands began to open their own Affiliated Companies in Japan, and ended some operators' cooperation to sell their products in their own stores. However, the high price tag seems to be continuing.

Ota calculates that about 30% to 40% of the increase is due to taxes and transportation costs. "For me, this is understandable." He added, adding that the price of luxury goods in Japan can also increase more. If third party retailers are involved, the price will increase by 50% to 70% compared with the original price.

High priced goods in Japan did not dispel the enthusiasm of Asian tourists for Ginza and Omotesando. Perhaps one of the reasons is that the price of imported luxury goods is also high in China. Japan's National Tourism Administration recently said that from January to June this year, the number of foreign tourists to Japan increased by 35.8%, compared with last year, the number of tourists from South Korea and China has an exponential growth of two figures.

Although Japanese consumers have reduced spending on overseas travel in recent years, the strength of the yen seems to be able to reverse the situation. JTO said that in the first quarter of this year, the number of outbound tourists in Japan has increased by 10.8%.

"If they really want to make a big purchase, then outbound travel is easy to understand." Fflur Roberts, a customer manager who works with Euromonitor, explains.

Satoko Hasegawa, a 32 year old Marketing Commissioner, says she never buys anything in luxury stores or brand stores in her city unless there's a big discount.

Instead, she goes to Europe one or two times a year, which costs 200 thousand yen to 300 thousand yen, or between 2285 and 3427 dollars, to buy Prada or Gucci. "When I travel abroad, I buy most luxuries." She said, "occasionally, I will go to a brand discount store in Japan to buy a bag."