IntaSect Communications, Inc. (headquartered in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Tan Yufeng, President; hereinafter “IntaSect”), which provides overseas promotion and inbound support for China, Taiwan, and other countries, conducted a survey of Chinese visitors who have traveled to Japan in order to find out the latest trends amid a recovery trend in inbound tourism from China. In order to find out the latest trend of inbound tourism from China, we conducted a “Survey on Purchasing Home Appliances during a Visit to Japan” among Chinese who have traveled to Japan before. In this news release, we present the results of the survey.

This survey was conducted in August 2024 using the survey function on WeChat, a messenger application provided by Tencent, and targeted Chinese residents who have traveled to Japan (601 respondents in total, 533 of whom are included in this survey).

<Summary of the findings of this survey>.

• More than 70% of respondents decide to purchase home appliances before their trip to Japan.
• SNS is the main source of information on consumer electronics in Japan, with RED being the most common.
• Cameras/digital cameras”, “earphones/headphones”, and “game console-related products” were the top consumer electronics products purchased during visits to Japan.
• Duty free stores at airports” and “department stores” are the most common places to purchase home electronics, while home electronics retailers do not rank high on the list.
• Regarding the feelings of purchasing Japanese-made home appliances, respondents indicated that they would like to know if there is a low-priced store nearby, etc.

<About the demographics of the respondents

The survey was answered by 533 respondents (37% male: 197; 63% female %：336人）。年代は18歳以下が1.8% ) living in Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Chongqing, Beijing, Tianjin, and Nanjing. ( %：336人）。年代は18歳以下が1.8%:10 %：336人）。年代は18歳以下が1.8%, 25.89 %：138人、25-30歳が30.96% for those 18-24 %：138人、25-30歳が30.96%:165 for %：138人、25-30歳が30.96%, 25.14 %：134人、41-50歳が10.88% for those 31-40 %：134人、41-50歳が10.88%:58 for %：134人、41-50歳が10.88%, 3.0 %：16人、61歳以上が2.25% for those 51-60 %：16人、61歳以上が2.25% 12 for %：16人、61歳以上が2.25% )

Of the total, 62.1%: 331 had traveled to Japan (breakdown: 34.90 %：186人、2022年1月以降なしが27.20% had traveled to Japan since January 2022 %：186人、2022年1月以降なしが27.20%: 145 %：186人、2022年1月以降なしが27.20%, and 37.90%: 202 had no experience).

Of the 331 respondents who had traveled to Japan, 80.40% (266 respondents) had purchased home appliances (products that use electricity) when visiting Japan, while 19.60% (65 respondents) had not.

<Detailed survey results

■ “When did you decide to purchase the appliances you purchased during your visit to Japan?” (Number of respondents: 266 respondents who purchased home appliances during their visit to Japan, single answer)

73.7 %：196人で、7割を超える人が訪日以前から家電製品の購入を決めていました。そのうち、全体の41.7% respondents answered that they “had already decided on the purchase of a product before their visit to Japan.” %：196人で、7割を超える人が訪日以前から家電製品の購入を決めていました。そのうち、全体の41.7% Of %：196人で、7割を超える人が訪日以前から家電製品の購入を決めていました。そのうち、全体の41.7% (111 respondents) had “decided on the genre (product name not decided) to purchase” and 32 %（85人）は「製品名まで決めていた」と具体的な製品の購入を決めてから、訪日していました。「訪日後に店頭で見た中から選んだ」人は20.7% (55) of the %（85人）は「製品名まで決めていた」と具体的な製品の購入を決めてから、訪日していました。「訪日後に店頭で見た中から選んだ」人は20.7%. A small number of respondents (5.6%, 15 respondents) “looked up the product on the Internet during their visit to Japan.

■”Please tell us where you gather information on Japanese consumer electronics products?” (Number of respondents: 266 respondents who purchased home appliances during their visit to Japan, multiple answers)

SNS is now the most important way to gather information when purchasing products, and in the survey on “Japanese consumer electronics,” many respondents also use SNS, including RED (Chinese version of Instagram, No. 1 overall), Douyin (Chinese version of TikTok, No. 3 overall), and WEIBO (Chinese version of X, No. 7 overall). The majority of respondents preferred RED (65.8 %（175人）、Douyinと回答した人は39.1% (104 respondents), and WEIBO (22.9 %（61人）でした。実際の店舗、ショールームで情報を収集すると回答した人は54.9% respondents)). %（61人）でした。実際の店舗、ショールームで情報を収集すると回答した人は54.9% (146), the second most common “individual method of gathering information,” after RED. 35.7% (95 respondents) said “Recommendation by a family member or acquaintance,” which was the fourth most common answer overall.

■”Please tell us about the appliances you have purchased during your visit to Japan” (Number of respondents: 266 who have purchased appliances during their visit to Japan, multiple responses, number of purchases)

Cameras/digital cameras” was the most frequently purchased consumer electronics by visitors to Japan (280 purchases), followed by “earphones/headphones” (224 purchases), and “game consoles” (200 purchases). Regarding the reasons for purchasing each product, 149 respondents purchased “Cameras/digital cameras” for themselves (52 for (1) gifts and 79 for (2) purchases at their own request). Earphones/Headphones” and “Game consoles” also showed the highest number of purchases for themselves (56 for gifts, 52 for purchases on request, and 116 for purchases for themselves; “Game consoles” 60 for gifts, 61 for purchases on request, and 79 for purchases for themselves). On the other hand, “No purchase” was not a consideration when visiting Japan.
On the other hand, home appliances that received the most responses of “not considering purchasing” during their visit to Japan included “iron” (174), “blood pressure meter” (173), and “other health appliances” (161).

■”Where did you purchase the appliances you have purchased during your visit to Japan?” (Number of respondents: 266 respondents who have purchased home appliances during their visit to Japan, multiple answers)

In the survey on the place of purchase, “duty free stores at airports” was again the most convenient, with 68.4 %（182人）でした。続いて「百貨店」も多くの日本旅行者が利用しており、65.8% respondents). %（182人）でした。続いて「百貨店」も多くの日本旅行者が利用しており、65.8% (175 respondents). Supermarkets %（110人）、ディスカウントストアと回答した人は24.1% the most popular shopping destinations, with 41.4 %（110人）、ディスカウントストアと回答した人は24.1% (64 %（110人）、ディスカウントストアと回答した人は24.1% ), respectively.

■”Please select the most important factor that applies to you when you purchase Japanese-made home appliances when you visit Japan. (Number of respondents: 266 respondents who have purchased home appliances when visiting Japan, single answer)

The most common answer was “I want to know if there are cheaper stores nearby” with 204 respondents, followed by “strongly agree (118 respondents)” and “somewhat agree (86 respondents)”. (76 strongly agree and 117 somewhat agree). The second most common response was “I want to know if there are more stores nearby” with 193 respondents (76 strongly agree and 117 somewhat agree). 189 respondents strongly agree (65) or somewhat agree (124) that “it is a hassle to carry the items with me during my stay after purchasing them.

Commentary by our representative
Deputy General Manager, Overseas Advertising Promotion Group Japan Promotion Planning Office
Masahiro Shimokawa, Deputy Branch Manager, Osaka Branch Office

The survey found that more than 70% of Chinese travelers who purchased consumer electronics decided to purchase before their trip to Japan. The most popular media for gathering information were SNS such as “Douyin” and “RED (Little Red Book)” and actual store showrooms, including during their visit to Japan.

In addition, the top concerns of visitors to Japan are “I want to know if there is a low-priced store nearby,” “I want to know if there is a store with a larger selection of products nearby,” and “It is a hassle to carry the product with me during my stay after purchase. This may be a good opportunity to stimulate the desire to purchase.

Based on the results of this survey, we believe that SNS promotions and measures prior to the visit to Japan are important, as well as offline guidance to promote the features of sales outlets and smoothly lead customers to the outlets during their visit to Japan, and product exposure measures utilizing in-store retail media, etc.

IntaSect Communications can provide a full range of services from operation of major Chinese SNS such as RED (Little Red Book) to promotion and offline guidance measures, so please contact us if you are interested in our services.

■Company Profile
Company Name : IntaSect Communications, Inc.
Representative : Tan Yufeng, President
Location : 2F B-M Bldg. 3-1 Kanda Ogawa-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0052, Japan
Established : November 2000
Business Activities : Overseas promotion and inbound (inbound to Japan) support mainly in mainland China and Taiwan
Cross-border e-commerce for China, Affiliate operation agency, Affiliate site patrol,
System development, etc.
Capital ：98.56 million yen
URL ：https://www.intasect.com/

Established in November 2000. We provide one-stop support for domestic and international web promotions and inbound business for overseas markets, mainly China and Taiwan, based on the four pillars of web marketing in Japan and overseas, comprehensive support for settlement and inbound business, system-related services, and corporate innovation.

Specifically, we provide customer attraction support such as “IntaPay,” a multi-payment service including WeChat Pay and Alipay+, core agency for Baidu advertising, and official general agency in Japan for Mafengwo, the largest travel information site in China. We also provide other services such as cross-border e-commerce support in China, work style reforms such as electronic contracting and business process improvement, healthcare IoT-related R&D, offshore development, Affiliate management services, and eateat, a mobile ordering service for restaurants, etc.

■Inquiries about inbound promotions in Mainland China, Taiwan and other markets:
IntaSect Communications, Inc.
Overseas Advertising Promotion Group, Promotion Planning Office for Japan
Tel: 03-3233-3527 (Business hours: 9:00 – 18:00 weekdays)
Contact Form: https://www.intasect.com/contact/