世論 What Japan Thinks

infoPLANT recently released the results of a survey they conducted into the use of convenience stores. Over one week spanning the end of February and the start of March 5,305 users of DoCoMo’s iMode system chose to fill in a questionaire. 34.8% of the sample was male, 65.2% female.

I actually use them fairly infrequently, probably less than once a week, and most often it is to pay bills (you all do know you can pay most if not all utility bills at the major chains, with no extra fee charged?) or pay for tickets ordered online. If I do buy something, it’s more often than not just some bottled water, usually the cheapest in the store.

Research results

Q1: About how often do you usually use convenience stores? (Sample size=5,305)

	All	Male N=1,843	Female N=3,462
Almost every day	17.4%	28.0%	11.8%
Four or five days a week	15.5%	18.6%	13.9%
Two or three days a week	31.0%	30.2%	31.5%
Once a week	16.2%	12.2%	18.3%
Two or three days a month	14.0%	7.6%	17.4%
One day a month or less	5.3%	2.8%	6.6%
Don’t use convenience stores	0.5%	0.7%	0.5%

Men of all ages were much more frequent visitors than women, with well over twice as many men between 20 and 49 using them daily compared to women.

Q2: About how much do you spend on each visit? (Sample size=5,276)

	All	Male N=1,831	Female N=3,445
Under 300 yen	7.7%	8.4%	7.4%
Under 500 yen	26.6%	24.4%	17.1%
Under 700 yen	16.7%	15.9%	17.1%
Under 1,000 yen	33.0%	34.7%	32.1%
Under 1,500 yen	9.8%	10.6%	9.4%
Under 2,000 yen	3.8%	3.9%	3.8%
Under 3,000 yen	1.3%	1.4%	1.3%
3,000 yen or more	0.9%	0.7%	1.0%

By age, older people tended to spend more per visit; 39.6% of men in their twenties and 42.5% of that age spend more than 700 yen per visit, yet for those aged fifty or over it was 57.2% and 64.3% respectively.

Q3: Which of the following do you often buy? (Sample size=5,276, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=1,831	Female N=3,445
Bread, sandwiches	65.9%	64.9%	66.4%
Sweets	63.9%	48.4%	72.1%
Soft drinks	59.4%	57.8%	60.2%
Rice balls	58.9%	56.0%	60.4%
Newspapers, magazines, books	54.9%	60.9%	51.7%
Dessert, ice cream	48.0%	31.5%	56.8%
Lunch box, side dishes	44.9%	51.7%	41.3%
Tobacco	36.3%	45.4%	31.5%
Cup noodle, instant foods	23.9%	31.7%	19.7%
Alcoholic drinks	18.6%	26.2%	14.6%
Energy, vitamin drinks	16.7%	21.0%	14.4%
Food ingredients	12.6%	14.5%	11.6%
Tickets	10.7%	7.3%	12.5%
Cosmetics, personal grooming items	10.6%	4.7%	13.7%
Daily items, stationery	9.0%	11.1%	7.9%
CD, DVD, game software	1.5%	1.7%	1.3%
Medicines	1.4%	1.5%	1.3%
Underwear, socks	1.2%	1.1%	1.2%
None of the above	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%

The rates for tobacco purchases for women are higher than the reported national smoking statistics, so I wonder what factors are coming into play here to change the numbers. Do they get sent to buy ciggies for their man, as the male figure is slightly down on the average.

Q4: When going to buy things at a convenience store, for which of the following types of items have you decided on the brand beforehand? (Sample size=5,276, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=1,831	Female N=3,445
Newspapers, magazines, books	40.4%	46.6%	37.1%
Soft drinks	23.6%	22.4%	24.2%
Sweets	16.6%	12.9%	18.5%
Dessert, ice cream	13.8%	8.9%	16.3%
Alcoholic drinks	10.7%	16.3%	7.7%
Energy, vitamin drinks	6.4%	6.9%	6.1%
Cup noodle, instant foods	6.1%	9.7%	4.3%
Food ingredients	5.8%	6.7%	5.4%
Cosmetics, personal grooming items	4.4%	1.3%	6.1%
None of the above	24.8%	23.2%	25.6%

Q5: Conversely, when going to buy things at a convenience store, for which of the following types of items do you not decide on the brand beforehand? (Sample size=5,276, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=1,831	Female N=3,445
Sweets	53.8%	44.2%	58.9%
Dessert, ice cream	45.0%	34.2%	50.7%
Soft drinks	34.7%	33.1%	35.5%
Cup noodle, instant foods	25.6%	30.4%	23.1%
Food ingredients	24.6%	28.5%	22.6%
Newspapers, magazines, books	11.8%	12.7%	11.4%
Alcoholic drinks	11.1%	13.8%	9.6%
Energy, vitamin drinks	7.3%	10.6%	5.5%
Cosmetics, personal grooming items	6.8%	5.0%	7.8%
None of the above	12.7%	15.2%	11.4%