Mobile Shopping in Japan

It was an article in Der Standard from August 8th, were I read about shopping using a mobile phone in Japan. Xavel a trendy japanese fashion label succeeds in offering brands for young ladies between about 18 and 25 years and this article was one of those which made my brain jumping up and down one whole day ;) But why what is so special on retailing via mobile phone, okay, it's funny but why am I so excited?

One prerequisite for the success on Shopping via a Mobile is some kind of "unused" time which can be made "useful". In Japan where most of the employees need 2 hours to go to work and 2 hours again to get back home, lots of this "unused" time is available. The traditional japanese normally uses that time to sleep.

Whoever had the wonderful opportunity to visit Japan (I can only recommend that, you will never forget this experience :) will also remember another picture of the country - Wherever you go (Subway, train, Cafe, ...) you'll find thousands of (normally young or very young people), who stare like banned on their mobile phones. So what they do is not really talking but playing games, sending SMS or MMS using iMode services and so on. So what we've got here is "unused time", devices which are accepted by most the (young) population and a technology which is ready for commercial use.

What else is missing? Right, we still need the a product. A realization that works right plus a marketing concept that creates the "Must Have" effect. And exactly on that point I discover the strength of a japanese company. The focus group was set so tight that the developer could create an exactly defined product. Try to visit the site http://www. girlswalker.com (the website of the mobile shop) and you won't have any difficulty to find out for whom these products are made. (I'd say) 18 to 25 year old girls and women. There is no try to motivate a housewife buying in this shop, or 50 year old managers or maybe 20 year old boys (don't worry all these things will come). No, just one exactly defined focus group. Without if and however. Additionally there is this great idea of spreading, where friends can inform each other about their purchasings ... and voila a new market is being born :)

Of course other traders will follow, some will succeed, some won't. However, shopping via a mobile phone could also be a part of life in our latitude. The question remains how long it will take to find the right people who can do it right in the practice.