Selling in Japan: Converting Traffic into Sales (Part 2)

This article is a continuation of the “Selling in Japan” series. In the previous article, we talked about how to drive traffic to your online store in Japan. Now that you have traffic, how do you convert visitors into customers?

This part of the series is based on a webinar presented by btrax CEO Brandon Katayama Hill and e-commerce consultant Ayaka Matsui. It is split into three parts and published in the following installments:

1) How to attract users and gain traffic

2) How to convert traffic into sales

3) How to retain your customers

This article will address the second topic: How to convert traffic into sales. We will cover some of the most common and effective ways to convert visitors into paying customers in Japan.

How to Convert Traffic into Sales

Your online storefront is your shopkeeper who works 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Your website serves to define your brand and accommodate users’ needs when shopping. First impressions are very important in turning visitors into customers, so we’re going to use something called the “Psychology of Conversion” to explain how to best optimize your storefront to generate sales.

Below is the common page structure recommended for Japanese e-commerce sites. E-commerce site layouts are quite standardized but areas that may be customized are the payment, newsletter subscription, and blog sections.

Attention

The first thing a shopper sees on your online storefront needs to capture their attention so they’d be interested to find out more. The header of your landing page should feature special deals or trending products that will interest the shopper.

Rankings are key in grabbing a shopper’s attention in Japan as Japanese people are very keen on rankings and “trending” items. Both online and offline, in Japan you’ll find that retailers have a tendency to display their products ranked in terms of popularity (see left in the image below).

Make sure you put your top-selling items in your product ranking and promotional banners. Campaign banners (shown on right below) are a great tool to organize your content and display your special campaigns.

Interest and Desire

Once you have the user’s attention, you want to trigger interest by displaying aesthetically pleasing images of your products and allowing potential customers to picture your product in their lives.

One of the biggest barriers to customers shopping online is not being able to try things on. You want to eliminate this barrier and help trigger interest and desire as much as possible by displaying your products with models and detailed size charts. It also helps to tell the customer what size the model is wearing. This visualization helps shoppers imagine themselves using your product.

Conviction

Once the user wants your product, you have to convince them that they can trust your shop. You want to provide detailed information on your shop’s shopping and return policies, the product’s specifications and so on to reassure the user.

Below is an example of a Japanese online store providing detailed shipping, payment and customer support information to potential buyers. This information helps shoppers feel secure about purchasing items from your store.

User reviews are another powerful way to convince potential customers to shop at your store. Your existing customer is a great asset because they can help convince other customers that you deliver great customer service and products.

Action

Once shoppers make the decision to purchase from your store, the next step is to lead them into action. Whether you are selling food, apparel, or electronic gadgets, it’s important to think one step ahead and consider the shopper’s intention when buying your products.

For instance, if a customer is buying snacks for themselves, the packaging doesn’t have to be fancy. However, if the customer is purchasing a gift for someone else, it’s thoughtful to have the product gift wrapped and ready for special occasions. Tailoring your packaging for different shopper intentions and interests can go a long way to create the best customer experience.

Photo by: Josh

Offering gift wrapping services is standard among online stores in Japan, especially during Christmas or Valentine’s Day. Merchants looking to sell in Japan should be aware of this and be sure to have gift wrapping services ready.

If your store is hosted on an online shopping mall such as Rakuten, you may also consider doing “Points Campaigns.” For example, Rakuten has a points system where users can gain points by shopping and use those points in other Rakuten stores to purchase goods or even reserve flights and hotels.

This is a common customer loyalty program in Japan. In order to increase conversion rate, you can run campaigns to give users double or triple the amount of points when they shop at your store.

Finally, the most powerful tool to convert users is to offer limited time sales. This is a great way to attract new customers as well as returning customers to shop at your store. You can set the time limit of your sale to anything from 4 hours to a weekend.

Satisfaction

Of course, interaction with the customer doesn’t end at the sale. After you convert traffic into sales and gain new customers, you should focus on ensuring that the customers are happy with their shopping experience.

You can do this by having ample customer support, fast delivery rates, good return policy, and high quality products that result in positive customer reviews. Ensuring the customer is satisfied can create a feedback loop that helps bring in more customers via word of mouth and positive customer reviews.

You can see our full slidedeck on this topic on slideshare and also watch our webinar below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaBwTuY7ktE

If you have any questions on this topic or would like more information, you can email us at sf@btrax.com and we will respond accordingly.

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Photo by: halfrain