世論 What Japan Thinks

This survey from MyVoice, their second look at department stores, had a surprising to me set of results, with Japanese much less frequent users of these stores than I might have imagined.

Demographics

Over the first five days of March 2009 15,606 members of the MyVoice internet community successfully completed a private online questionnaire. 54% of the sample were female, 2% in their teens, 14% in their twenties, 36% in their thirties, 29% in their forties, and 19% aged fifty or older.

I recommend to every visitor to Japan that they go to department stores to at least just look; the basement floor is usually full of lots of speciality food stores that will be more than happy to hand out free samples at off-peak times. The best one I know for this is Hanshin Umeda – there’s always lots of free mouthfuls of wine, sake, fruit vinegar and tea to be had.

I quite often use these food areas, in particular RF1, which although a little on the expensive side has a wonderful range of salads. My favourites are their baked veggies – lots of potato, asparagus and carrot – and their Hokkaido Danshaku potato croquette, which are wonderfully soft and creamy.

Demographics

Q1: About how often do you visit department stores? (Sample size=15,606)

Twice a week or more	2.3%
Once a week	5.2%
Twice or thrice a month	11.0%
Once a month	17.7%
Once every two or three months	17.0%
Once every six months	17.5%
Almost never	26.8%
Never	2.6%

Q2: What kinds of goods, services do you buy, use at department stores? (Sample size=department store visitors, multiple answer)

Japanese, Western sweets	42.2%
Gifts	37.4%
Ready-to-eat foods, lunch boxes	37.4%
Women’s clothes	31.6%
Fashion accessories	29.9%
Restaurant, cafe, bar, etc	27.2%
Men’s clothes	24.4%
Fresh foodstuff	24.0%
Books, stationery	20.5%
Special products, famous regional products	19.4%
Other foods	14.2%
Children’s baby clothes, items	13.5%
Cosmetics	12.5%
Jewelry, accessories	10.4%
Home items, daily use items	9.8%
Alcohol	8.5%
Toys, hobbies	7.1%
Watches, glasses	7.1%
Furniture, bedding, interior	6.4%
CDs, videos, DVDs	6.3%
Sporting goods	3.4%
Home electricals	1.7%
Beauty	1.4%
Kimono, Japanese clothing accessories	1.4%
Gardening, pet goods	1.2%
Culture school	0.6%
Other	2.4%
Just window shop, don’t visit	6.6%
No answer	2.8%

Q3: What kinds of goods, services have you stopped buying, using at department stores and now tend to go elsewhere for? (Sample size=department store visitors, multiple answer)

Women’s clothes	18.3%
Men’s clothes	15.1%
Fashion accessories	10.5%
Fresh foodstuff	8.4%
Books, stationery	8.3%
Ready-to-eat foods, lunch boxes	7.9%
Children’s baby clothes, items	7.8%
Gifts	7.1%
Cosmetics	6.9%
Home items, daily use items	6.2%
CDs, videos, DVDs	6.0%
Watches, glasses	5.5%
Home electricals	5.4%
Japanese, Western sweets	5.3%
Alcohol	5.1%
Furniture, bedding, interior	5.0%
Toys, hobbies	4.7%
Restaurant, cafe, bar, etc	3.7%
Jewelry, accessories	3.2%
Other foods	2.9%
Sporting goods	2.8%
Special products, famous regional products	2.2%
Gardening, pet goods	1.7%
Beauty	0.9%
Kimono, Japanese clothing accessories	0.6%
Culture school	0.3%
Other	1.3%
Nothing in particular	43.9%
No answer	3.5%

Q4: Where do you go for the goods, services you selected in Q3? (Sample size=those from Q3 who now go elsewhere, multiple answer)

Shopping centre, mall	54.5%
Online shop	33.4%
Ordinary supermarket	30.5%
Specialist shop, small store	24.9%
Discount store	24.4%
Outlet mall	19.4%
100 yen store	19.3%
Mail-order catalogue	16.3%
Station building, fashion building	14.3%
Convenience store	9.9%
Select shop	9.1%
Stand-alone brand shop	4.6%
Fleamarket	2.7%
Other	4.3%
Nowhere in particular	1.2%
No answer	0.8%

Q5: What do you feel are the attractions of department stores? (Sample size=15,606, multiple answer)

Posh	46.0%
High-quality goods	32.8%
Make-up room, other additional facilities	22.4%
Wide selection	21.6%
Good sense in product selection	21.0%
Has items that can’t be bought elsewhere	18.6%
Good location	16.9%
Good customer service	16.2%
Good events	15.5%
Good atmosphere	13.4%
Can get the latest trends	10.1%
Good membership system, point card	8.9%
Can buy the stuff I want	8.4%
Can get detailed advice on products	5.9%
Can shop at my own pace	5.8%
All the family can enjoy	4.5%
Respectful of those with infants	4.4%
Has baggage storage and other additional services	3.5%
Respectful of older people	1.8%
Respectful of handicapped people	1.4%
Other	1.4%
Nothing in particular	17.9%

Q6: What do you feel dissatisfied about regarding department stores? (Sample size=15,606, multiple answer)

Expensive	75.1%
Staff are annoying	22.7%
Product range is unbalanced	8.7%
Can’t shop at my own pace	8.6%
Doesn’t suit my tastes	7.1%
Doesn’t have the brands I want	7.0%
Not good value-for-money	5.6%
Poor location	5.3%
Don’t like the atmosphere	5.1%
Insufficient membership system, point card	5.1%
Few rare products	5.0%
All the family cannot enjoy	4.7%
Behind the times for trends	4.3%
Dull events	4.2%
Poor customer service	3.3%
Insufficient respect for those with infants	1.7%
Insufficient make-up rooms, other additional facilities	1.3%
Insufficient baggage storage, other additional services	1.3%
Insufficient respect for old people	1.0%
Insufficient respect for handicapped people	0.8%
Other	3.1%
Nothing in particular	12.5%
No answer	0.4%

Q7: If there was one close to you, which of the following department store chains would you most like to use? (Sample size=15,606)

Isetan	19.4%
Takashimaya	12.9%
Mitsukoshi	6.6%
Daimaru	5.2%
Hankyu	4.4%
Seibu	4.4%
Sogo	3.5%
Hanshin	2.2%
Tokyu	2.0%
Matsusakaya	1.6%
Kintetsu	1.1%
Other	2.5%
Don’t know	20.9%
Don’t want to use any	13.0%
No answer	0.3%