For Chinese tourists, Japan was a popular destination before the epidemic. Tourists flock to explore the historic temples in Kyoto, experience the modern entertainment in Tokyo, enjoy the beautiful scenery, soak in hot springs, taste food, and experience the culture of harmony in Japan.

For many people, a trip to Japan without visiting Japanese drugstores and specialty stores is incomplete. It has become an indispensable item in the trip to bring back some good local Japanese things for yourself and your relatives and friends. According to the data disclosed by the Japan Tourism Agency, in 2019, the consumption of Chinese tourists in Japan reached 1.8 trillion yen (about 16.2 billion dollars), accounting for 37% of the total consumption of foreign tourists. For this reason, many Japanese retailers have increased their investment to attract Chinese tourists by increasing the number of goods that Chinese tourists are keen to buy and providing Chinese shopping guide services.

However, the COVID-19 epidemic will add a shadow to the tourism industry and shopping in stores in 2020. In fact, as of September this year, the number of foreign tourists to Japan has dropped by 99.1% year on year.

Although the hotel, retail and tourism industries still need some time to rebound, Tsuruha Drug has stood out and successfully developed cross-border e-commerce business.

Miura Hezhi, executive director of Heyu Pharmaceuticals, said: "Most enterprises in Japan, including Heyu Pharmaceuticals, have been greatly impacted by the epidemic. Under such difficult circumstances, Heyu Pharmaceuticals uses WeChat applet We have successfully launched e-commerce business in China and enhanced interaction with customers. "

In October this year, "Heyu Pharmaceutical Direct Mail" WeChat applet Officially launched. Chinese consumers can online "overseas shopping" more than 1400 high-quality Japanese products at any time without leaving home. Customer orders are delivered from Heyu Pharmacy Store located in Dawtonbori, Osaka, and sent home by express. Crane Feather Medicine Makeup Applet The transaction volume in the first month of online has reached offline stores in the same period of 2019 WeChat payment About 50% of sales.

"We use WeChat Ecological and social fission, promote Heyu brand to Chinese consumers. We see WeChat The ability to 'connect 1.2 billion users' has built a stable and easy to use platform for Chinese consumers to easily choose the goods they want and need. " Miura Hezhi added.

New mode of cross-border e-commerce: WeChat applet+e-commerce+social networking

Create a new cross-border sales model

The new idea of breaking the situation is not achieved overnight. A few years ago, Heyu Drugstore noticed that almost all Chinese tourists shopping in the store were using it WeChat payment Check out. Inspired by this, Heyu created his own WeChat official account To facilitate interaction with customers and attract more Chinese shoppers.

Heyu Pharmacy has very rich experience in store operation, but has not yet tried cross-border e-commerce. They considered a variety of possible solutions and tested the functions and capabilities of different e-commerce platforms before finally selecting WeChat applet 。

WeChat The ecosystem provides many ways to reach customers for Heyu cosmetics. Crane feather makeup has been replied WeChat official account To communicate with customers with the help of WeChat Chat groups promote the marketing content of online stores, and distribute shopping coupons to encourage fans to forward and share with more friends.

Buyers can obtain discount coupons in the WeChat applet of "Heyu Pharmacy Direct Mail"

According to Heyu, 20% of users WeChat Friends share the preferential information of Heyu. In addition, consumers can actively interact with merchants, directly ask them about new products, and give real-time feedback on online shopping experience. Data shows that Heyu users open the Applet 9 times, with an average of more than 80 times of browsing. Well known brands like Heyu in China can make full use of their brand awareness and social stickiness to improve sales.

The merchants of most e-commerce platforms can attract consumers to visit their online stores by paying for advertisements. but WeChat applet The strategy of "decentralization" is used, WeChat The ecosystem enables merchants to independently operate their private domain traffic and transactions without any cost. Users and transaction data can only be seen by the merchants themselves.

Key to unlocking commercial potential after digital epidemic

Online shopping is not only an alternative to physical stores such as Heyu Pharmaceuticals, but also an important way to understand the changes in shoppers' habits and preferences.

Miura Hezhi added, "We actively operate WeChat official account and WeChat Group, which gives us the opportunity to interact with users in a timely and in-depth manner to help us better meet the needs of Chinese consumers. "

More and more Japanese brands begin to understand WeChat In ecology WeChat applet Combine the value of social skills. Now, many Japanese cosmetics brands, department stores and airports are preparing to join WeChat Ecological, to meet the consumers' desire to search for good things in the world with a few touch of the mobile phone screen.

A recent report on Chinese consumer behavior after the epidemic by Bain Consulting pointed out that consumption rationality, demand differentiation, online acceleration and the rise of private domains have become the four new consumption trends emerging after the epidemic in China. Official online channels, communities and Applet The channel penetration rate has exceeded 20% and is expected to maintain a growth rate of 15-25% by the first half of 2021. With the economic recovery, brands and retailers will face more cautious consumers, while it is still unknown when the tourism industry and offline commerce will recover to the level of 2019. It is particularly important for enterprises to seek new ways to reach customers.

About Crane Feather Medicine Makeup

Heyu drugstore is the largest chain drugstore in Japan. As of October 2020, it has 2399 stores in Japan. Since its establishment, Heyu Drugstore has always adhered to the spirit of "friendliness first" and "credit first", and is committed to creating a store with unique charm and customer trust. Heyu drugstore positions itself as the "health and life partner" of customers, providing a wide range of goods from medical supplies to daily necessities, making consumers' lives more convenient.