Sales revenue of leading online and mail-order retailers in Japan FY 2021

In fiscal year 2021, Rakuten Group, Inc. was the leading mail-order and e-commerce retailer in Japan, with handling volumes amounting to around five trillion Japanese yen. Rakuten operates the online marketplace Rakuten Ichiba, which is one of the most popular e-commerce platforms in Japan, next to Z Holdings Corporation's Yahoo! Shopping and Amazon Japan's marketplace.

E-commerce in Japan

E-commerce in Japan is a market characterized by predominantly domestic orders as cross-border sales play a secondary role. With stable business-to-business (B2B) transactions dominating online sales, the focus is shifting to business-to-consumer (B2C) retail as an opportunity to expand the digital economy in the country. The B2C e-commerce market more than doubled in size within the last decade, during which consumers discovered the convenience of around-the-clock shopping and efficient services.

Online shopping behavior

Online shopping is starting to take off in Japan, with digital buyers growing accustomed to the convenience of getting desired goods and groceries delivered to the doorstep. Timely deliveries of heavy goods and the possibility to consider price differences between vendors were named major reasons to shop online. However, with the growing penetration of digital shopping, the number of consumers reporting troubles is rising. In response to consumer feedback, online retailers are steadily improving their user interfaces and services with 3D models, free shipping plans, and artificial intelligence putting pressure on established in-store retailers.