Where Is The Way Out For Japanese Department Stores?

According to the world clothing shoes and hats net, from the beginning of this year, Japan's

The shop industry is facing a downturn in consumption.

The problem of sales decline is that many large department store operators choose to close local stores and concentrate their resources on City stores.

This year's Decoded Fashion Tokyo Summit2016, Japan's editor in chief Suzuki Jungwen and director of the IT Strategy Department of the three Yue Yi Dan holding group Kitagawa Tatsuya, with technology and culture as the breakthrough point, chatted about the future of 100 stores.

2001, Japanese department store

The scale reached 8 trillion and 600 billion yen, and the market size narrowed to 6 trillion and 200 billion yen in 2015.

Similarly, in the publishing world, the market size of magazines and library books (cheap and small copies released for popularity) is also shrinking.

Suzuki Jungwen, who was born in Tokyo port area, said that in the past, visiting 100 stores was an irreplaceable experience.

"Children can't buy things on their own, and they can't always get their parents to buy them.

For children, there is nothing more pleasant than going to the Ginza department store. It's a fairyland! Time spent in a department store is very valuable.

(above left: Kitagawa Tatsuya; upper right: Suzuki Jungwen)

Suzuki Jungwen said that the popularity of mobile devices such as the Internet and mobile phones is one of the main reasons for the shrinking of the market.

"Assuming that the time that you can decide is called" processing time ", that is, the use of this time has changed dramatically.

It used to kill time with library books and magazines. Now it's smart phones.

Suzuki Jungwen himself went to the store to buy 12 or 13 red wine from the shop in the past month, and switched to online shopping.

"But clothes can't be bought online, or I want to have a chat with the salesmen who are understanding."

Kitagawa Tatsuya revealed that department stores value sales staff whom customers want to talk to.

"Because of the close relationship between the two sides, we can say" recommend this new product ". On the contrary, even if we use all kinds of software flexibly, it is not as reliable as the salesperson.

The products recommended by the software may eventually be redundant.

Suzuki Jungwen said that going to the store often had unexpected gains.

Take book buying as an example. When you go to a bookstore, you find that it is not what you want to see.

For shopping experience, the role of technology lies in "recommendation".

Stores collect data on consumers' purchase history, and so on, by analogy with customers' preferences, styles and so on, and then share them with salesmen.

Suzuki Jungwen said: "e-commerce sites will recommend similar products.

Even the unskilled salesmen can confidently receive guests by skillful use of technology.

In April of this year, the three Vietnam Yi Shi Dan set up the intelligence strategy department and began to explore the relevant IT strategy.

Kitagawa Tatsuya said: "we have done this job before we realize that we are happy not because of the changes that have taken place these years, but because the way we enjoy that happy thing has changed.

For example, we used to watch movies in cinemas, and now use smart phones.

The original call to meet with customers, now chat software.

From this perspective, technology is one of the ways to get customers. "

Japanese department stores display different images, such as advanced, special local products, but in fact, they can be done without department stores.

The advantage of department stores lies in "history".

Kitagawa Tatsuya explained: "taking the three Yue Yi Dan Dan as an example, the" three Yue "has a history of 340 years, and Yi Dan has a history of 180 years.

Business can last for so long, and it must have its own philosophy.

That is to let the customer feel that the value of the purchase is worth that price.

Only people can do this.

If you do not maintain good relations with your guests, you will not be able to make a clear price.

Department stores and customers are a community.

Using technology to achieve full channels, changing customer experience, and providing more personalized services are not new challenges facing Japanese department stores, because they have existed for hundreds of years.

Department stores are places where salespeople meet customers.

Suzuki Jungwen said that compared with the e-commerce website, physical space is the "treasure" of department stores.

If the department store itself is integrated with culture, someone will definitely go there.

This culture is not only about clothing and art, but also includes food and beverages.

"No matter how much data is accumulated, the place where people start communicating with each other is very important."

Many senior members of the Japanese department store said that the "T-SITE" was opened in May in the city of Osaka to replace the new format of department stores. Many people in the industry said, "local department stores are always cold and clear on weekdays, but here (T-SITE) has gathered a lot of people.

To tell the truth, I was surprised. "

Mei fang T-SITE is the third comprehensive commercial facility opened by Culture Convenience Club (CCC), formerly known as the near iron department store in 2012.

Unlike department stores, CCC takes a lot of time in bookstores, coffee and children's playground.

CCC is based on its kite Valley bookstore and video rental shop TSUTAYA, which is equipped with coffee, grocery, clothing, beauty and other categories, and English conversation classroom, indoor playground for children free play.

In addition, MITSUBISHI Tokyo UFJ bank and other financial institutions were also introduced.

A department store is neither a discount store nor a special merchandise store. The value it can provide is not a "thing" but a shopping experience.

More interesting reports, please pay attention to the world clothing shoes and hats net.