Japan 100 Yen Store Advanced Edition 300 Yen Store

In the 1990s, the " 100-yen store " that started to rise after the burst of Japan's economic bubble has grown along with Japan's long-term deflation and has grown so far. The revenue of the entire industry is expected to exceed 1 trillion yen this year or next year. A classic business case for small profits but quick turnover”.

The so-called "hundred-yen store" refers to a store that sells all the daily groceries in Japan at a copper price of 100 yen. In Japanese, it is also nicknamed "Hundred Jun (ひゃっきん)", which means one hundred yuan for the same price. At that time, the minimum hourly wage in Japan was roughly 800 yen or more all over the country, and the consumption tax at that time was being discussed whether to increase it to 5%. Even a part-time student could buy at least 8 products with the money earned by working part-time for one hour. From this, we can see how cheap the products in the 100-yen store are for the Japanese. Of course, the variety of products at that time was not as diverse as it is now.

If there is no reference object, it should not be easy to intuitively understand how large the industrial scale of 1 trillion yen is. Converted to USD 7.4 billion, NTD 222 billion ($1=¥135=NT$30), which is about the same as the revenue scale of Chunghwa Telecom or UMC last year. An industry that costs only 100 yen per item can create a revenue scale that rivals them. (Of course, the current 100-yen store not only has 100-yen products, but also higher-priced products.) Incidentally, Daiso , a leading enterprise, has an annual revenue of about 500 billion yen, and one company occupies half of the market size.

While the 100-yuan store is expanding, a similar 300-yuan store is also developing silently. As far as I know, 3COINS opened its first store in Osaka in 1994. It's just that, back then, it wasn't like it is now. Almost all the products were designed and developed by themselves, but they were sold in batches to others. At that time, it was already a popular era for 100-yuan stores. Why did 3COINS set the price at the price of 3 copper plates? According to official news, the main industry of PAL, the parent company of 3COINS, is selling clothes. Three of the employees especially like daily groceries. They hope that the company can find a new way to develop new businesses. The three proposed to the president together, so they used three copper plates for pricing. ...

I really didn't make up this matter. When I checked the information, I found that the official website of 3COINS really wrote it like this!

However, they also provide another way of saying that the price of 300 yen can introduce more fashionable and practical products than the 100-yen store products, and 300 yen is also easy for consumers to make impulse purchases. Customers take out thousand-yen bills to buy 3 I can get back 1 copper plate, so I successfully persuaded the president to let them open a shop.

The development momentum of 300-yuan stores is not as fast as that of 100-yuan stores. Even if 3COINS, which has become the leading 300-yuan store, there are only 251 stores in Japan (as of 2022/06), and 100-yuan stores are said to have exceeded 6,000 in Japan alone. shop.

The main reason for the current situation is related to the overall environment of Japan. The economic bubble mentioned at the beginning burst, and Japan’s economy began to decline from its peak. This started what economists describe as the lost 10 years , 20 years, and 30 years, and is now heading for the fourth lost decade. The economic downturn made it difficult for the salaries of the salaried class to rise. Japan, which is known as the "100 million middle class" (meaning that the vast majority of Japanese people are middle class), had to collectively start shrinking and dieting, and everyone began to start spontaneously. Saving skills, 100 yuan stores have become the most representative industry under this trend.

Therefore, although the 300 yuan store has developed very early, it has been in a tepid state for the past 30 years. It was not until recent years that there was a major turnaround. Perhaps this should be "attributed" to the new coronavirus epidemic. Because of the epidemic, people have reduced the time to go out, and naturally the time spent at home has increased significantly. In the dull home life, people will want to be more kind to themselves. For daily necessities or groceries, you can get better quality and trendier-looking items for a small price to make you feel happier. What's more, going out is reduced and unnecessary expenses are also reduced. If the same income level can be maintained, the wallet can be more fulfilled. At this time, the 300 yuan store is one of the most suitable consumption targets.

Introducing 3 3COINS hot-selling products, microwave oven special pot, automatic bubble blowing sword/fairy stick, wireless earphones in various shades.

Japanese instant noodles (referring to bagged noodles) are basically not soaked in hot water, but must be cooked in a gas stove. This microwave special pot only needs to put the noodles, seasoning packets, and basically cooked ingredients into a bowl, and finally add water and put it in the microwave.

Smart consumers will also judge by themselves which types of products are suitable for purchase in 100 yuan stores and which types of products are suitable for purchase in 300 yuan stores. For example, daily consumables, such as pens, contact books, molds for modeling lunch boxes, hangers, garbage bags, etc., can be bought at 100 yuan stores if there are children at home. Clothing accessories, earrings, mobile phone cases, storage boxes, etc., small props that want to have an eye-catching appearance tend to be purchased in 300 yuan stores.

Another big background that sparked the popularity of the 300 yuan store is the popularity of social software. The Japanese will use the daily use of LINE, Twitter, Instant, etc. to take photos and upload, and it is natural to see at a glance whether the 100 yuan product and the 300 yuan product are better.

Although 3COINS is currently in the leading position in the field of 300 yuan stores, Daiso, the leading enterprise of 100 yuan stores, will definitely not let go of this market easily. It has also opened up a new brand THREEPPY a few years ago. In the name of the 50th anniversary, a flagship store was opened in Ginza, the most expensive land in Japan. Rent an entire floor at once to launch a 100-yen store and 2 new brand 300-yen stores (THREEPPY and Standard Products) on the 6th floor of the MARRONNIER GATE GINZA2 (マロニエゲートGinza 2) shopping building in Ginza. Friends who like to visit the hundred-yen store have the opportunity to go on a pilgrimage and compare the differences between the two products at different prices.

In addition to 3COINS, several new 300 yuan store brands under Daiso (THREEPPY, CouCou, Standard Products), illusie300, and "ミカヅキモモコ" are relatively well-known 300 yuan stores. In the end, this "ミカヅキモモコ" had expanded its branches to 47. It had the opportunity to go public. Due to the deterioration of its performance, it declared bankruptcy last year, and only 7 branches were retained for resale to other companies.

Whether it is a 100-yuan store or a 300-yuan store, this industry is already a blue ocean market from the standpoint of merchants, but because of the fierce competition among merchants, they must constantly develop new products that can destroy the existing prices. Conversely, from the standpoint of consumers, it is a great joy to be able to buy high-quality and cheap goods at copper prices.

Finally, watch a video of the difference between the 300-yen store and the 100-yen store, which was filmed by a Japanese TV station earlier this year. Although it is broadcast in Japanese, even if you don’t understand the meaning, you should be able to see why the 300-yen store is popular. In addition, I would like to say something off topic, because there are only 100 yuan stores near my house, and I usually have no chance to find 300 yuan stores. I never thought of writing this article, and this article was born because of the trigger of this film.

2022/06/30 posted.

Original link to Japan behind-the-scenes observation