I came to Japan back in 1987 and have lived here ever since. As a consumer encountering the market for the first time, and then later as a marketing professional, I was often surprised by the degree to which businesses had yet to understand the promotional power of coupons.
Things have changed a lot since.
Nowadays, a variety of companies are leveraging coupons to promote trial and generate repeat business.
Late last year, Catalina Marketing conducted a survey amongst 1,000 Japanese women aged 20 to 69 who visited supermarkets at least once each week.
Amongst their findings:
- 82.6% had used coupons
- 70.7% said they might be more apt to use a store again if they received a coupon
- The highest experience with coupon use occurred with coupons found at store registers (69.2%)
- The kind of establishment at which the highest percentage of consumers had used coupons was fast food outlets (61.4%)
Yet despite the fact that high proportions of women have used coupons, Japan still differs from other markets in significant ways. For instance, only 20-something percent of survey respondents had ever used a coupon found in a magazine.
