The average purchase price of digital financing is 1.8 times higher than other payment methods. They aim to triple EC sales with a comfortable experience like shopping at a physical store.
Established in 1958, JUN Co., Ltd. engages in a variety of businesses, from planning, manufacturing, and selling of general fashion products for ladies and men to the management of golf courses, restaurants, and wineries.
Since its establishment, the company has launched pioneering projects successively in various fields, and in 2013, it opened the official EC site handling all JUN brands, "J'aDoRe JUN ONLINE".
In this interview, we asked Mr. Inui, the Web Customer Acquisition Leader and Mr. Odate, the Operation Leader at J'aDoRe Division of JUN Co., Ltd. about the measures that J'aDoRe JUN ONLINE is taking to improve customer experience on their EC site, and why they chose the digital financing service, "Smartpay".
Mr. Shimpei Inui (left) | Web Customer Acquisition Leader, J'adore Division, JUN CO., Ltd.
Joined JUN in September 2021 after working at a web marketing research company and a web advertising agency. Mainly responsible for analyzing the customer acquisition status of their own EC site, "J'aDoRe JUN ONLINE", planning customer acquisition strategies, and supporting customer acquisition for each brand.
Mr. Satoshi Odate (right) | Operation Leader, of J'adore Division, JUN CO., Ltd.
Began working at JUN CO., Ltd. in 2019 after working at several apparel-related companies. Engaged in a new business, and currently in charge of operating “J'aDoRe JUN ONLINE”.
JUN Co., Ltd operates a variety of businesses, from planning, manufacturing, and selling of general fashion products for ladies and men, to the management of golf courses, restaurants, and wineries. J'aDoRe JUN ONLINE is its own EC site handling mainly fashion products.
The EC site also serves as a hub for their wide range of businesses
——Established in 1958, JUN CO., Ltd. is a company with a history of over 60 years. They operate many physical stores. What is the difference between the positioning of physical stores and running an EC site?
Odate: Currently, our company operates 25 fashion brands and more than 340 physical stores nationwide. We position our physical stores as places where we can convey the worldview of each brand, including interior and exterior design, and have physical communication with our customers.
Our own EC site, J'aDoRe JUN ONLINE, was opened in 2013. We see the EC site as a hub for our businesses, a place to provide numerous items and information to our customers.
Inui: For example, at physical stores, we provide occasions for pre-orders for customers, taking advantage of the point that "you can touch actual products”.
As for our EC site, in order to overcome the hurdle of "you cannot touch actual products", we have introduced courteous customer service through manned chats, as well as features that can answer to customer's questions or remove their worries, such as reviews and size estimation.
The sales of physical stores and EC are currently about a 7 to 3 ratio.
90% satisfaction with polite customer service of manned chat
——Have you seen any changes in the purchasing behavior of customers after the COVID-19 pandemic?
Inui: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the proportion of EC in the total sales of the entire business has greatly increased. Recently, I feel a return from EC to physical stores.
We are considering creating an experience where you can shop just like in a real store on EC, no matter where you are, to further lower the hurdle of “you cannot touch actual products”.
——We hear that the evaluation from your customers for the manned chat service is very high.
Inui: We call it “Web Customer Service (WCS)”, which is characterized by the fact that all of our 13 team members who deal with customers are veteran salespeople who have years of experience in physical stores.
As all our members have gained experience in physical stores, they can accurately respond to customer inquiries via chat and alleviate their concerns, and guide customers to their desired products. Furthermore, they sometimes answer questions with simple coordination proposals combined with product images.
As a result, the satisfaction of customers who used WCS has reached 90%, boasting a high purchase rate. In the future, we plan to establish a system to gather more information from each brand and further enhance the quality.
Average Order Value via Smartpay is clearly higher than other payment methods
——What changes have there been in your customers' payment methods over the 10 years since you started EC?
Inui: While the percentage of credit card payment is still the highest, it is gradually decreasing. On the other hand, various payment methods such as Smartpay have increased, and I feel that the number of these users are gradually increasing. We consider that the ways customers want to pay have diversified.
——Who are the customers using Smartpay?
Inui: The average order value of customers using Smartpay is clearly higher than that of customers using other payment methods. The average order value with Smartpay is about 16,000 yen, while that with other payment methods is about 9,000 yen. Smartpay payment is almost 1.8 times higher.
Odate: What we can gather from this is that Smartpay is often used particularly when purchasing high-priced items. We believe it meets the needs of customers who want to buy in installments because of the high unit price, but do not want to pay installments fee.
Inui: There is a high-priced brand called "ADAM ET ROPÉ" for those with a high sensitivity to fashion. Since it has a considerable share, we are discussing with the brand side that the fact that you can pay in installments for free is a very appealing point.
Prospects for the future and future projects
——Please tell us your prospects for the future and projects?
Odate: We are aiming to triple the share of "J'aDoRe JUN ONLINE". First, we are focusing on acquiring new users and improving the convenience for existing users, and there are many projects running to improve the user interface and make it more user-friendly.
What is easy to use and what is difficult to use varies from user to user, so we are reviewing each and every opinion we receive from many customers.
We also plan to make the site more attractive to customers by expanding the range of products that can only be purchased on "J'aDoRe JUN ONLINE".
We also want to increase the purchase price of entire EC by increasing the share of digital financing payments through introducing Smartpay Onsite Messaging (OSM) and individual appeal to the customers of high-priced brands.
J'aDoRe JUN ONLINE celebrated its 10th anniversary in October 2023. From October 2023, we are rolling out a series of 10th anniversary projects and wonderful gift campaigns. Please check out "J’aDoRe JUN ONLINE 10th Anniversary".
Ready to try Smartpay digital financing?
Smartpay offers a digital financing payment service allowing customers to pay in three installments with no handling fees.
We are the first in Japan to offer the digital financing payment solution that provides an all-in-one payment experience with no interest or handling fees at the point of purchase. This solution helps solve problems consumers have had with their payment experience and improves conversion rates for businesses.
In fact, customers who use Smartpay on average make more orders and spend 40% more per purchase than those who use a conventional shopping cart. By introducing digital financing payments, you can improve the payment experience, increase sales, and attract new customers, all at the same time.
If you’d like to know more, feel free to contact us.
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