This past summer, Maezawa sold a majority stake in Zozotown to Yahoo Japan for nearly $4 billion. With the deal, Yahoo Japan, which is owned by Softbank, is looking to double down on the country’s attractive e-commerce sector and catch up to Amazon.com and Rakuten, another domestic heavyweight.
Yahoo Japan chief Kentaro Kawabe said the company wants “to make e-commerce its main growth driver.”
Japan is sometimes overlooked by companies trying to expand abroad or set up shop in a new country. However, the nation has plenty to offer for established businesses and startups in the e-commerce sector alike, and its e-commerce sector boasts impressive growth potential.
GROWTH OF E-COMMERCE IN JAPAN
Japan has continuously ranked among the top five of the world’s largest e-commerce markets. Not only that, but its e-commerce market is among the fastest-growing globally, boosted by a very developed economy, highly urbanized population, high internet penetration, and single-language culture. Ecommerce businesses there also benefit from the small country size and excellent infrastructure, allowing for speedy delivery.
The internet penetration rate is above 93 per cent, and surprisingly, it remains on that level even for older generations. Thanks to these factors, Japan’s e-commerce sector is expected to keep growing actively in the years ahead. Analysts have estimated that Japan will remain among the world’s top five when it comes to online sales. Ecommerce revenue is forecasted to grow by about 6 per cent annually between 2018 and 2022.
EMERGING STARTUP ECOSYSTEM
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