Behind The High Price Of Japanese Luxury Goods - Asian Tourists Pay The Bill

In the current economic situation, we have tried to avoid buying Luxury brand Japanese consumers have to spend more money on the same product than American and European consumers.

In Japan, imports of some luxury goods can account for 50% to 60% of the total. It is not difficult to understand that the price of products sold in China is lower than that in other countries, because the latter requires import taxes and transportation costs. However, while Japanese consumers are hesitant to pay their own way, the gap between domestic and foreign luxury prices seems too wide.

Not only that, but now it is easier for people to compare stores online and decide to buy their favorite brands from the official brand website or third-party retail stores. At the same time, discount stores of various brands have sprung up in this country. For Japanese consumers, more and more people choose to spend their summer holidays in Europe and purchase luxury brands in Paris or Milan.

Is the same Goods payment Higher price

"Today, some manufacturers choose to set higher sales prices for their products in Japan. In the past, they did not do so because they were not so sensitive to prices, prices were not transparent, and they did not pay much attention to the quality of goods and the shopping experience of consumers." Brian Salsberg, chairman of McKinsey Tokyo Branch, said, He is also the head of the Japanese consumer and retail and consumer and shopper survey industries. "But as time goes by, it becomes more and more difficult to price the same commodity differently in the market."

The Japanese CEO of Gilt Groupe, Koji Morino, also said, "Five to seven years ago, consumers thought that high prices meant high quality, and this idea was mastered by businesses." Gilt Group is an online retail store that specializes in selling discount design goods.

A detailed Purchase invoice Can reveal a lot to people. For example, a Louis Vuitton Neverfull bag sells for 455 euros, or about 587 dollars, in Paris. But here, consumers have to pay 50% more, which costs about 77700 yen, about 888 dollars. (For comparison only: this handbag sells for $700 in the United States, about 18% higher than that in France.)

Similarly, in Milan, Prada's black rectangular single zip wallet costs 330 euros, or about 428 dollars. In Japan, the price is as high as 61950 yen, or 708 dollars, up about 65%. A Diane von Furstenberg wrap skirt costs about 66000 yen, or about 754 dollars, in Japan, while a similar skirt costs about 325 dollars to 375 dollars in the United States.

Obviously, if the demand increases greatly, then the high price is not difficult to understand. However, no matter how you observe it, this is not the case. In consideration of the country's economic situation and their own job stability, Japanese consumers have reduced their spending on clothes. Instead, they prefer to go to clothing chains such as Hennes&Mauritz and Uniqlo; Popular handbags have also become cheap canvas bags of Dean&DeLuca and local brand Cher.

Tariff, exchange rate, etc. drive up the pricing in Japan

Researchers have a tepid attitude towards the Japanese market. Now, the market seems to have bottomed out and begun to stabilize. However, no one believes that the market will immediately usher in a large-scale rebound. According to YanoResearchInstitute Ltd According to the statistics of, in 2009, the sales of Japanese imported clothing and accessories fell by 15.9% to 894.6 billion yen, which is about 9.57 billion dollars based on the average exchange rate; This year, sales will increase slightly, about 1%.

Luis Vuitton and Gucci refused to comment on this, and Prada and Chanel are also maintaining their own price policies.

"Our price policy in Japan and Italy is consistent with the market, and we take into account the general level of prices and the Japanese luxury market and other factors," said a Prada spokesman.

A spokeswoman for Chanel, Japan, made a similar speech. "All our products are priced in euros, and many other parameters must be taken into account later." She said, "These include exchange rate, tax rate, import tax and transportation costs, which will vary greatly with the market. This is why the prices of goods in different countries are different, and these are factors that must be considered for brand exports."

Japan has high tariffs. Depending on their material composition, some shoes can be subject to tariffs of up to 60%. A Japanese customs spokesman said that the higher tariff price came from the protection of the domestic shoe industry. The tariffs on clothes and handbags often fluctuate between 10% and 20%, depending on the goods themselves.

The exchange rate problem is also an important reason: the exchange rate of the yen fluctuates greatly. In the past six months, the yen has risen about 17% against the euro and about 6 percentage points against the dollar.

Koji Sangno said that luxury brands are increasingly eager to sell their unsold products in Japan through Gilt, and Gilt's membership in Japan has increased to 400000 people.

Asian tourists pay high prices for Japan

Nobuyuki Ota, the former chairman of Issey Miyake, explained why the price of luxury goods in Japan has remained high in the past, and listed a series of reasons.

As early as the 1970s and 1980s, Japanese consumers did not have enough economic strength to buy luxury goods. Some luxury brands began to enter the Japanese market through trade companies and wholesale institutions, which had to charge additional fees. Similarly, department stores that once occupied an absolute proportion in Japan must also take a share, Ota explained.

From the 1980s to the 1990s, luxury brands began to set up their own subsidiaries in Japan, and ended the cooperation with some operators to sell their products in their own stores. However, the high price tag seems to be continuing.

Ota calculates that about 30% to 40% of the increase is due to tax and transportation fees. "For me, this is understandable," he said, adding that the price of luxury goods in Japan could increase even more. If third-party retailers were involved, the price could increase by 50% to 70% from the original price.

The high prices of Japanese goods have not dampened the enthusiasm of Asian tourists for Ginza and Omotesando. Perhaps one reason is that in China, the price of imported luxury goods is also high. The National Tourism Administration of Japan recently said that from January to June this year, the number of foreign tourists coming to Japan increased by 35.8%. Compared with last year, the number of tourists from South Korea and China has a double-digit exponential growth.

Although Japanese consumers have reduced their spending on overseas travel in recent years, the strong yen exchange rate seems to be able to reverse this situation. Japan Travel Online (JTO) said that in the first quarter of this year, the number of Japanese outbound tourists has increased by 10.8%.

"If they really want to make a big purchase, it is not difficult to understand the outbound travel," explained Fflur Roberts, an account manager who worked with Euromonitor.

Satoko Hasegawa, a 32 year old marketing specialist, said that she never buys goods in luxury boutiques or joint brand stores in her city unless there is a big discount. On the contrary, she goes to Europe once or twice a year, spending 200000 to 300000 yen each time, equivalent to 2285 to 3427 dollars, to buy Prada or Gucci. "When traveling abroad, I bought most of the luxury goods," she said. "Occasionally, I would go to a Japanese discount store to buy a bag."