Online food sales stall

Japan news May 2017

Matsuya Foods, one of Japan’s big three restaurant chains serving beef on rice and similar quick meals, is hoping to generate spinoff business via the web with Chinese-style buns. The firm has expanded into e-commerce with online sales of two types of nikuman (buns with meat filling). Traditionally, minced or roast pork is used for the filling, but Matsuya plans instead to use shredded beef and vegetables, the staple topping for a bowl of rice at the chain’s restaurants. To oversee preparation, the firm has retained a famous Chinese chef, Jin Wanfu.

In addition to a mild type of bun filled with beef and vegetables, a spicy variety flavoured with garlic, ginger and doubanjiang (a Sichuan-style hot sauce) will be offered via the Yahoo! Japan Corporation shopping portal. The price of a box of 10 nikuman, including shipping, is ¥3,480. And there are plans to further expand the menu.

The firm’s stated objective in starting up an e-commerce business is gaining market access and expanding its brand image in parts of Japan where it does not currently operate restaurants.

But online supermarket sales have been stagnant, reported the Nikkei Marketing Journal on 14 April, citing a report based on a January nationwide survey of 2,000 adults.

While hopes had been pinned on the elderly, working couples and child-rearing families engaging in online shopping, which includes home delivery, only 7.2% of the survey respondents made such purchases. This is in contrast to deliveries by seikyo (business cooperatives) at 13.2%, and by supermarkets and department stores at 96.7%. Other sources of retail food purchases, such as drug stores, greengrocers, butchers and fishmongers, were in the 20% range.

The reasons given by respondents for not shopping at Internet supermarkets include, “It is difficult to choose without seeing the merchandise”, stated by 61% of respondents; and “Prices are higher”, mentioned by 33%. A third complaint was “Inconvenience in taking delivery”, at 24%.

The main factors in product selection were given as “affordability”, followed by “selection of goods” and “quality”.

Nevertheless, 17.1% of respondents said they were considering using online supermarkets in the future.