Already a quarter of 2024 has passed.

I imagine many e-commerce businesses are struggling with their annual sales promotion plans.

Amazon holds major sales events every year, starting with Golden Week sales at the end of April, Prime Day in July, and Black Friday in November, but this year it's said that e-commerce is facing tough times.

The "post-pandemic consumption backlash" is said to be having a significant impact.

Since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022 and into 2023, spending on "travel" and "leisure" has increased, and this trend is expected to continue into 2024.

If you're someone who updates your planner or schedule book at the beginning of the year and checks holidays, you might already know this, but 2024 is said to be a "year of holidays" with as many as 11 long weekends.

Compared to yesterday, in 2023, there are 17 national holidays and days off, whereas in 2024, there will be 21 national holidays and days off.

* Last year, in 2022, there were 16 national holidays and days off.

Source: https://diamond.jp/articles/-/336821

In 2023, when the coronavirus pandemic officially ended, consumer trends showed a decrease in spending on food, daily necessities, and clothing compared to the pandemic year of 2022, while spending on travel significantly increased.

・Food -0.7%

・Daily necessities -0.9%

・Clothing -0.8%

・Travel 3.4%

Despite the rebound from the end of the coronavirus pandemic in 2023, the growth rates for camping and travel leisure remain high, and it is expected that in 2024, when it will be easier to take long vacations, this trend will accelerate.

Source: https://www2.deloitte.com/jp/ja/pages/consumer-business/articles/cp/consumer-behavior-survey.html

In 2024, there will be more public holidays, and it's been explained that the number of leisure days will decrease, which will inversely affect products related to daily necessities and clothing. This time, we will delve deeper into sales trends by channel.

When do you all tend to shop online the most?

I think there are various patterns, such as shopping during weekday morning commutes or as a leisurely activity on days off.

Source:

https://ecnomikata.com/ecnews/23777/

The above is an analysis of the proportion of online shopping users and the number of users by day of the week when they shop online.

It has become clear that nearly 90% of users shop online at least once a year.

Additionally, the proportion by day of the week shows that many users shop on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, indicating a high rate of online shopping during weekends and holidays.

It has become apparent that many users enjoy shopping online during their days off or leisure time.

Based on the above data, it is generally believed that if there are more holidays compared to the previous year, the number of users purchasing through EC increases.

However, there are also reports scattered around that show record sales for outlet malls and shopping centers.

[Tokyo 25th Reuters] - The Japan Shopping Center (SC) Association announced on the 25th that sales at existing SC stores in February increased by 9.8% year-on-year.

Source: https://jp.reuters.com/markets/japan/funds/WQI7Y5LF5ZJPRCUNBAO4GRF774-2024-03-25/

As the corona disaster subsides and inbound tourism gains momentum, there is a perception that during long holidays, more users are going out and enjoying shopping at brick-and-mortar stores due to the easing of travel and activity restrictions domestically.

Summarizing the observations so far, it seems that in the post-corona era, with the increase in holidays, there is an increase in customer traffic to physical stores rather than EC.

Let's consider how we can bring back the customer base that has shifted towards physical stores to our EC.

The main strategies include the following.

1. Utilization of subscription services

2. Expansion of sales channels through cross-border EC

3. Omnichannel approach

Regarding the utilization of subscription services, compatibility varies depending on the products handled, but it is easy to sell a certain amount at regular intervals regardless of purchase timing. This makes it easy to predict sales even during holidays, minimizing the impact of sales timing.

At our company, we have independently developed a subscription app called GOSUB, which is highly recommended for businesses looking to integrate subscription services into Shopify.

Link: GOSUB Case Study

Regarding this, it may be difficult to build a cross-border site overnight, but if you already have a Shopify site, it is possible to switch to a cross-border focus in about three months.

Cross-border e-commerce can no longer be ignored in the sense of hedging risks by ensuring a route to sell products overseas, regardless of domestic holidays or economic trends.

For more on cross-border e-commerce, please check our article 【Japanese Products with High Sales in Cross-Border E-Commerce Towards America】.

For customers who enjoyed shopping via remote outlets and shopping malls, it is also important to create a system where they can order products they saw in physical stores online after returning home.

The term "omnichannel" has become commonly used among EC businesses, and to put it simply, it refers to sales promotions that integrate channels such as physical stores, EC sites, and social media into one.

In other words, omnichannel can be described as a system that ensures products customers wanted in physical stores are also available for purchase online, and that integrates the inventory of physical stores.

A famous example is Uniqlo, which is a company that has successfully implemented omnichannel strategies.

It seems that by registering the company's app, they are using it as a strategy to increase customer flow from the store to e-commerce through coupon distribution, or conversely, by developing coupons that can only be used in the app or EC, and sizes that can only be purchased on the EC site.

Moreover, regarding Uniqlo, since they have launched cross-border EC sites, they have created a sales channel where tourists visiting Japan can try on clothes in Japan and then purchase them via EC after returning home, achieving a perfect omnichannel strategy.

In this article, we considered strategies for EC in 2024, which has many holidays, but if you thought the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated EC, now there might be many businesses where physical store sales are rising and EC is struggling, don't you think?

Regarding the EC site hastily constructed due to the coronavirus disaster, I think it's a good time to upgrade the EC site through the introduction of subscriptions and omnichannelization.

By all means, why not consider it?