Launching in Amazon Japan with John Cant of Rising Sun Commerce - a podcast by Michael Veazey

Launching in Amazon Japan 

Expanding internationally -what’s the process?





Are you looking into expanding and launching in Amazon Japan? Know the differences, the similarities, and the pitfalls when exploring the Japanese market.



The process is just the same



* Do research before you start, same as do it for Japan.

* Keep eyes open

* Try to offset risk before starting.



Market Research

Definitely start with market research before you start sending inventory.

Most of the usual research tools don’t work well there

You have to do the research manually really when you are launching in Amazon Japan. JS etc. doesn’t work there.

Amazon research - (answering Q is there a market for your product?) 

Sometimes there’s an inconclusive answer from research



* If not many people buying a product, what does that tell you?



Research can’t give you the answer in the end - you have to be prepared to take a risk.

DIY research Process?

Look at your product

Work out best search term



Translate into Japanese Look at 2-3 variations



Look in category ranking for that listing.



Brings up category best-sellers list - what kind of products doing well.



* See identical/similar products for sale/how to do well.



Google translate is the key! 

Potential pitfalls would be



* Can display the content of listing in English

* But that’s reliant on the seller putting fields in English



* It’s not actually a translation





* So it might not look like there’s any content

* You’re better off pasting the Japanese product details into Google Translate



What is the basic process for keyword research manually?

Don’t be intimidated by how it looks!



Google translate for research is actually quite good.



Don’t do big long sentences - target individual words when launching in Amazon Japan.



Look for product main keyword search term - type that into Amazon.jp - get a feel for what’s going on.

How would you make a decision to go into this area or not?

Check reviews, images



Check the review stars.



Check the images.



Content - size of description, bullet points.



A lot of listings in Japan have enhanced content - didn’t use to have to be registered to get that.

What are the similarities between  Amazon Japan and Amazon UK or USA?

Fulfilment side works exactly the same.



PPC pretty much same.



All similar - interface is similar - can use English

What are the differences between Amazon Japan and Amazon UK? 

Japan Amazon is just oversize of UK Amazon but the population is double



Also, Japan Amazon has just 20% of the e-commerce market. That has increased from just 12% a few years ago. So Amazon’s market share of e-commerce in Japan is growing fast.



It’s easier to get to the top of the markets when the market is smaller - so now is a great time to get selling in Amazon Japan.

John’s Background and Foundation of Rising Sun Commerce

In 2005 John lived in London and worked as a programmer. He met a Japanese girl who wanted to move back to Japan.



He went to Japan for 5 years and married the girl!



Moved back to the UK in 2010. Met business partner Neil, who runs a PL brand, who wanted to grow his business. He was interested in Japan.



They teamed up and sent a batch of his products to Japan. They went well.



They thought other businesses would have a similar need so they created an agency about 2 years ago.

Cultural differences?

Further episodes of Amazing FBA Amazon and ECommerce Podcast, for Amazon Private Label Sellers, Shopify, Magento or Woocommerce business owners, and other e-commerce sellers and digital entrepreneurs.

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Website of Michael Veazey