Client

Changes to customs payment methods streamline business

——Please tell us about your company profile.

Sakino: Our company was founded in 2001 as an online retailer. At the time, we imported Asian goods, especially those from Bali, and sold them domestically. Later, in search of products that would attract repeat customers, we began handling ethnic foods, but now our main products are food products manufactured in Japan.

We had been exporting ramen overseas since around 2009, so we were interested in cross-border e-commerce. In 2010, we hired foreign staff who could speak English and Chinese, which led to the start of B2C sales to overseas markets.

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

In the two years since 2010, we have opened stores on eBay, Taobao, and Amazon. Around that time, we also launched a store specializing in international shipping, with the entire site displayed in Japanese, aimed at Japanese people living overseas. We now have five e-commerce sites for overseas customers, including our own site which is available in English.

When I first started on eBay, I mainly sold souvenirs sold in tourist spots like Kyoto, noren curtains, and replica swords to the US. A customer living in Canada who bought a replica sword contacted me saying, "I want to buy a real sword," and we went together to visit blacksmiths in Japan.

We no longer carry miscellaneous goods or swords, but our replica swords were popular with customers from Australia and New Zealand. We have also significantly reduced the number of imported ethnic foods we sell, and we now sell domestically produced foods overseas. Sales of organic matcha and ramen are also increasing.

--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.

Sakino: We have contracts with an international courier service for the United States, China, and Malaysia, and we especially use them for packages bound for China. We've been using the service for about three years, since before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Following the nuclear accident caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, import restrictions on food products sent from Japan became stricter overseas. China in particular imposed strict rules, which led to a temporary reduction in the scale of shipments, but recently there has been a move to relax restrictions and shipments are beginning to return to normal.

We would also like to consider using an inventory storage service to shorten the delivery time from the date of customer order to delivery, and since other companies have announced increases in shipping costs to the US, we would like to ask ECMS Japan (hereinafter referred to as ECMS) to handle shipping to the US as well.

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

Sakino: The two challenges were "shipping costs" and "customs duties." Previously, most of our shipping methods were Japan Post's EMS, but customers who purchased products from China asked us if we could make shipping costs a little cheaper, so we were looking for a better shipping method. We tried other logistics companies, but have now settled on ECMS.

The biggest problem for us was customs duties.

Depending on the item, it is often not only purchased by Japanese or foreigners living overseas but also sent by Japanese companies to their employees working as expatriates in the country. In particular, when ordering from a corporation, the corporation may be asked to pay the full amount of customs duties. We check the details of the customs duties and inform the corporation.

With EMS, the recipient of the package has to pay the customs duties, but with ECMS we have a service that pays the duties on your behalf and bills us, making it easier to do business.

When I was shipping using EMS, customs duties would occur and sometimes customers would refuse to accept the package, saying, "I don't want it if there's a customs duty involved." So I decided to declare the customs duties properly every time and pay the duties, and also incorporate the customs duties into the selling price of the product. That makes business easier.

Supporting challenges in an era where borders are becoming blurred

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

Sakino: I was worried about the support system of another logistics company I used previously. Their response time was slow.

Yamamoto: That's right. When you contact a customer support representative at ECMS, they respond within the same day. I'm grateful that I usually get a response within about two hours. With other companies, once the package leaves Japan, the correct information isn't displayed on the tracking screen, and even when I inquire, I sometimes don't get a clear answer. This makes it hard to know how to respond to the customer. But with ECMS, I'm given the information after the package has left the country via email, and that information is then shared directly with our staff in China so that we can respond to the customer, which I find very helpful.

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

Sakino: I would like to increase cross-border e-commerce sales at a pace two to three times faster than the growth rate of domestic e-commerce. Eventually, I would like to grow the ratio of domestic to overseas sales to the same level.

To achieve this, we would like to increase the number of items that contribute to the health of the mind and body, focusing on the perspective of "health," rather than just products that have a high hurdle, such as food. I think there are many ways to do this, whether it's sleep or beauty.

I also want to work on things related to the environment. As for my vision for the future, for example, in Europe, product development in the environmental and organic fields is progressing, so I am considering selling these not only in Japan but also in other countries.

Looking ahead to the next 5 to 10 years, I think things will be different in terms of politics, but in terms of the economy, I think we'll be in an era where the concept of borders will become much less important. I would like to work with good partners to spread good products all over the world. Of course, I would also like to spread the good products of hardworking small and medium-sized enterprises in Japan.