Title: E-commerce expansion in the Japanese apparel market

Authors: Xueying Wu; Tao Hua Ouyang; Takeshi Okayama; Takuya Urakami

Addresses: Faculty of Maritime Sciences, Kobe University, 5-1-1 Fukaeminami, Higashinada, Kobe 658-0022, Japan ' School of Economics and Management, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China ' Faculty of Business Administration, Kindai University, 3-4-1 Kowakae, Higashiosaka 577-8502, Japan ' Faculty of Business Administration, Kindai University, 3-4-1 Kowakae, Higashiosaka 577-8502, Japan

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to highlight the expansion of e-commerce (EC) in the Japanese apparel market and investigate the impact of online sales on the performance of the Japanese apparel makers. Descriptive statistics and a regression analysis are used to tackle this issue. The findings of this study are as follows. First, it was clarified that the EC penetration rate of the apparel market is greater than the average of Japan as a whole and this rate is increasing. It was also revealed that EC efforts of apparel companies have a significant positive impact on the performance for relatively large companies. This indicates that the EC efforts of apparel companies are an important strategy as the EC penetration rate continues to grow steadily in the Japanese apparel market.

Keywords: e-commerce; Japanese apparel market; firm's performance; regression analysis.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEMR.2023.133949

International Journal of Electronic Marketing and Retailing, 2023 Vol.14 No.4, pp.394 - 411

Received: 15 Aug 2021
Accepted: 12 Jan 2022
Published online: 06 Oct 2023 *

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