Results of “FY 2011 Research on Infrastructure Development in Japan’s Information-based Economy Society (E-Commerce Market Survey)”-The domestic B to C-EC market has grown to 8.5 trillion yen-

The survey, which looks into trends of the e-commerce market and the current state of users, has been conducted every year since FY 1998, and this was the 14th survey.

The FY 2011 survey investigated continuously, as in the previous year, the scale of the B to C trans-boundary e-commerce market and trends of trans-boundary e-commerce among Japan, the U.S. and China, and in addition to this, the survey looked into trends of consumers' use of e-commerce in Japan, the U.S., China, France, Vietnam, and Indonesia.

1. Survey period
   January 2011 to December 2011
2. Survey targets
   Japan, U.S., China, France, Vietnam, and Indonesia
3. Survey method
   Document investigation, hearing from business operators, group interviews of consumers, questionnaires, etc.

(1) Scale of the domestic e-commerce market

Regarding the domestic B to B-EC (business-to-business e-commerce) market for 2011, the market scale of B to B-EC in a wide sense*1 expanded to 258 trillion yen (100.6% against the previous year's level) and in a narrow sense*1 expanded to 171 trillion yen (101.7% against the previous year's level). The scale of the domestic B to C-EC (business-to-consumer e-commerce) market also expanded in 2011, up to 8.5 trillion yen (108.6% against the previous year's level). The EC ratio*2 has been on a rise (B to B-EC in a wide sense: 24.3% (up by 0.6% from the previous year); B to B-EC in a narrow sense: 16.1% (up by 0.5% from the previous year); B to C-EC: 2.8% (up by 0.3% from the previous year)) and the computerization of commercial transactions further advanced.

*1 Domestic e-commerce is defined as follows in this survey.

1. E-commerce in a wide sense
   Transactions that are conducted (purchase orders are issued) via computer network systems and whose contract amounts are captured also via such system. E-commerce in a wide sense includes e-commerce in a narrow sense and conventional EDI without using VAN, dedicated lines, or the TCP/IP protocol suite (such as EDI using the JBA procedures or EIAJ procedures, etc.)
2. E-commerce in a narrow sense
   Transactions that are conducted (purchase orders are issued) via computer network systems using Internet technologies and whose contract amounts are captured also via such systems. Internet technologies refer to technologies using the TCP/IP protocol suite, and include the Internet via public lines, extranet, Internet VPN, IP-VPN, etc.

*2 The EC ratio in this survey refers to the ratio of the e-commerce market scale against the total amount of the overall commercial transactions.

(2) Scale of the market of trans-boundary e-commerce among Japan, the U.S. and China

The purchase amount in trans-boundary e-commerce by Japanese consumers from U.S. and Chinese business operators was 14.5 billion yen (41.9% against the previous year's level), while that by U.S. consumers from Japanese and Chinese business operators was 107.5 billion yen (84.9% against the previous year's level) and that by Chinese consumers from Japanese and U.S. business operators was 233.1 billion yen (107.1% against the previous year's level). The presumed scale of trans-boundary e-commerce between Japan and China as of 2020 reaches around 2 trillion yen at the largest, suggesting a significant potential in the future.

(3) Trends of consumers' use of e-commerce in six countries

The following trends were observed as a result of the survey on the trends of consumers' use of the Internet and e-commerce (hereinafter referred to as "EC") in Japan, the U.S., China, France, Vietnam, and Indonesia.

1. Trends of the use of the Internet
   • Terminals used for Internet access
     In all of the six countries, those who use only personal computers and those who mainly use personal computers but also use mobile phones and smartphones jointly account for over 80%. Terminals used for Internet access are mainly personal computers. Meanwhile, the percentage of those using mobile phones and smartphones is larger in China (80%), Indonesia (79.3%), and Vietnam (74.5%) than in Japan (61.7%), the U.S. (47.8%), and France (52.8%).
   • Major places to use the Internet
     In all of the six countries, those who use the Internet at home account for the largest percentage (Japan (90.7%), the U.S. (85.7%), China (71.2%), France (91.3%), Indonesia (67.2%), and Vietnam (68.4%)). However, in China, Indonesia, and Vietnam, nearly 30% of consumers use the Internet mainly at their workplace or at school.
   • Number of hours per day using the Internet
     In the U.S., China, Indonesia, and Vietnam, over 60% of consumers use the Internet for three hours or longer, relatively longer hours compared to the percentages in Japan (32%) and in France (40.6%).
2. Trends of the use of EC (targeting consumers who used EC in the past one year)
   • Terminals used for EC
     In all of the six countries, over 90% of consumers use personal computers for conducting EC. Terminals used for EC are mainly personal computers. Meanwhile, the percentage of those using mobile phones, PHS, smartphones, tablets, or e-book readers for conducting EC is larger in China (79%), Indonesia (50%), and Vietnam (46.1%) than in Japan (24%), the U.S. (31.8%), and France (23.4%).
   • Frequency of using EC
     The percentage of those using EC more than once per week is the largest in China (42.1%), followed by Vietnam (29.3%), Indonesia (23.0%), the U.S. (17.8%), France (9.1%), and Japan (7.4%).
   • Number of years having used EC
     The percentage of those having used EC for three years or longer exceeds 60% in Japan and the U.S. and is around 50% in China and France. In Indonesia and Vietnam, 60 to 70% of EC users have used EC for less than two years.
   • Goods purchased using EC
     Goods purchased using EC are almost the same in all six countries, and "books and magazines (excluding e-books)" and "clothes and accessories" are commonly included in the top three.
     Regarding books and magazines (excluding e-books), the percentage of those who have purchased books is generally larger than the percentage of those who have purchased magazines in those countries. In particular, the percentage is large for those who have purchased business books, comic books, literary books, and living-related books.
     Regarding clothes and accessories, the percentage of those who have purchased clothes and fashion items for men and women is large in all of the six countries.
   • Reasons for using EC
     As reasons for using EC, the largest number of EC users in the five countries excluding China and the second largest number of EC users in China cite the point that they can purchase goods without considering time to go to stores and their business hours. The convenience of EC is thus highly evaluated.
   • Factors causing concern over the use of EC
     As factors causing concern over the use of EC, the largest number of EC users in the five countries excluding Indonesia and the second largest number of EC users in Indonesia cite the point that they cannot make sure of a product before purchasing it. In China, Indonesia, and Vietnam, many cite concerns over distribution, such as the possibility of damage to products upon delivery (cited by the second largest number of EC users in China and Vietnam and by the largest number of EC users in Indonesia).
   • Intention to use EC
     In all of the six countries, those responding that they are willing to use EC and those responding that they would like to use EC if they have a chance jointly account for over 80%.
   • Troubles when using EC
     As the most frequent troubles when using EC, those caused by defective or counterfeit products or inadequate services were cited in Japan and those caused by the delay of the delivery of products or the provision of services (by several days or a week) were cited in the other five countries.

* For the details of this survey, please refer to the following materials as well.

• Appendix 1: Summary of the survey results(PDF:2,029KB) (in Japanese)
• Appendix 2: Additional data (PDF:499KB) (in Japanese)
• Appendix 3: Report(PDF:4,467KB) (in Japanese)

August 28, 2012

Information Economy Division, Commerce and information Policy Bureau