Client

Eliminate barriers for overseas customers when purchasing Japanese products

——Please tell us about your company profile.

Slovei: Our company currently operates three businesses: ZENMARKET (purchasing agent service), ZENPOP (subscription service), and ZENPLUS (cross-border e-commerce mall). Of these, ZENMARKET, which has been running since our founding seven and a half years ago, is our largest business. On ZENPLUS, wholesalers and manufacturers who want to sell their products overseas set up stores on the platform, and we handle communication with customers and overseas shipping.

In fact, just in our Osaka office, which is our headquarters, we have members from 25 different countries working. This is probably the second largest concentration of people from different countries in the Kansai region after Kansai International Airport. Taking advantage of this international environment, we currently provide services to the whole world, supporting 14 languages.

-What kind of products do you sell and on what platform?

Slovay: Our subscription service mainly sells stationery, snacks, and dried noodles. Our other services handle anything that can be shipped by plane and isn't subject to customs restrictions. There's also a high demand for collectible items that are only available in Japan, such as anime-related goods.

When overseas customers want to buy Japanese products, they face the language barrier. In many cases, domestic Japanese online shops do not offer international shipping, and in such cases, our company acts as an intermediary between sellers and buyers.

--Please tell us how long you have been using the logistics services you are currently using, the scale of your services, and your main destinations.

Slovei: We have been using ECMS Japan's (hereinafter referred to as ECMS) international courier service since June 2020. Since the start of the service, we have been using their services to handle packages bound for Asia for our purchasing proxy service. Currently, in addition to that, we also use their services to handle a large number of packages for subscription services, mainly bound for the United States.

Due to the sudden spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) last spring, major logistics companies temporarily suspended some of their overseas delivery services, resulting in packages that had already been shipped being returned one after another to warehouses in Japan. With no other logistics companies to turn to for overseas delivery, we were in a critical situation, and when we learned that ECMS would allow us to continue shipping overseas even during the COVID-19 pandemic, we decided to introduce it. We believe that ECMS was a lifesaver, especially for ZENPOP, which mainly ships to the US.

——What logistical challenges did you face before using ECMS?

Mr. Slovay: Before using ECMS, I mainly used one major company. I used multiple services offered by that company. Then, as I mentioned earlier, the impact of COVID-19 hit, and I thought, "I need to increase my options for logistics companies."

Some logistics companies rely heavily on passenger aircraft to transport packages, and some have not been flexible in their response to COVID-19. However, ECMS has not suspended its delivery services even during the COVID-19 pandemic, and we have not experienced any major delivery delays so far. We are very grateful that they have been able to respond flexibly and transport our packages even under difficult circumstances.

Mr. Hidaka: Our company sends around 23,000 packages per month, including all destinations. We pack the packages securely, but sometimes the contents get damaged during delivery. When shipping overseas, there are many different people involved and the packages are placed on a conveyor belt, so it's not uncommon for them to be damaged somewhere along the way.

On the other hand, we have sent many packages to ECMS, and we have not received a single report of a damaged package. Compared to other companies, ECMS handles packages more carefully, which makes us grateful that accidents during delivery are less likely to occur.

I appreciate your flexible and courteous response.

——What are the benefits of using ECMS and what effects has it had?

Mr. Slovei: Our service is like a packaging service that delivers products to customers. However, we are the only point of contact, so if there is an accident during delivery, for example, we have to handle the customer. As a service provider, we also strive to improve customer satisfaction, but it is a plus for us when partner companies like ECMS do their work carefully on a daily basis.

Mr. Hidaka: I often interact with ECMS customer support, and they respond to emails quickly and are easy to communicate with. They always answer my questions carefully. I get the impression that they are very supportive of our company.

Previously, due to an error in the customer's input, the package could not be approved for export customs clearance, and ECMS had to store it. We were able to contact the customer just before the storage period expired, but ECMS was waiting for us, and we were able to deliver the product safely. We are grateful that ECMS is flexible in ways that other companies might not be able to accommodate.

——What are your expectations for ECMS in the future?

Hidaka: Currently, the actual weight is applied to packages for subscription services. It would be great if this could also be done for purchasing proxy services. Even if the item is actually light, if the package is large, the shipping fee becomes high, and there are cases where the purchaser says, "I can't pay this."

Slovei: Volumetric weight is an easy concept to understand in B2B, but in B2C, most customers don't know what volumetric weight is. They say they don't know how to calculate it. In order to communicate smoothly with customers, isn't it essential to introduce actual weight in B2C cross-border e-commerce?

Also, since we have customers all over the world, I hope that we can expand our destinations. There is particularly high demand in Australia, Canada, and Latin America. If we can ship to these countries using ECMS, I think our shipping volume will naturally increase.

--Please tell us about your company's future prospects.

Slovei: In addition to our three existing services, we are also considering offering overseas promotion services for stores on our e-commerce mall, as well as a one-stop service that allows customers to entrust overseas shipping to us. We would like to meet a variety of needs, including areas related to cross-border e-commerce that we have not yet been able to cover.

Compared to other companies in the same industry, our strength is that we can handle an overwhelming number of languages. People who can speak the local language are familiar with local matters. We employ native speakers in Japan to handle customer support, marketing, and local promotions. We would like to continue leveraging this strength to connect overseas customers with Japanese online shops.