Chinese consumers change their views on Japanese brands
2024-08-15
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An article published by Bloomberg on August 13, titled: Chinese consumers’ fascination with Japanese brands is fading. Japanese health and beauty products were once regarded as the gold standard for safety and quality in China, but now they are beginning to lose their luster in the world’s largest consumer market.Data provided by data analysis platform Liandanlu shows that in the first half of this year, Kobayashi Pharmaceutical's online sales of products on Taobao and Tmall fell 54% year-on-year. The reason is that the company's health products containing red yeast rice are suspected of causing dozens of deaths. Shiseido and other cosmetics manufacturers have also seen similar declines in sales due to consumer boycotts caused by the discharge of nuclear waste water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant.“There’s no doubt that Japanese brands have to work harder than local Chinese brands, which are well-designed, have good product quality, can adapt to market changes more quickly, have more targeted products and are often better value,” said Mark Tanner, founder and managing director of consultancy China Skinny.A 38-year-old Chinese woman said that the Kobayashi Pharmaceutical incident made her begin to doubt how Japanese health products could contain potentially dangerous ingredients. She used to be a loyal user of Japanese health products, but now she has turned to buying health products produced in China and Australia. She said: "I used to eat a lot of Japanese collagen powder and whitening pills, but not now."In addition to safety concerns, changes in consumer preferences and habits have also overshadowed some Japanese retailers, with many brands gradually reducing their presence in China. In June, Isetan closed its department store in downtown Shanghai after 27 years, leaving only one store in the country of more than 1.4 billion people.Some of the brands that remain are also beginning to go downhill. Uniqlo's parent company, Fast Retailing, saw both revenue and profits decline in China in the most recent quarter as Chinese consumers increasingly prefer cheaper alternatives. Uniqlo's expansion in China appears to have slowed, and the company said it will now focus on renovating flagship stores in cities such as Shanghai and Guangzhou. (Translated by Chen Xin)▲
