The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) conducted “FY 2009 Research on Infrastructure Development in Japan’s Information Economy Society (E-Commerce Market Survey)” to analyze the current state of the Japanese e-commerce market and trends in the Internet business in Japan, the U.S., and major European and Asian countries. The results of the survey are hereby released.

1. Summary of the Survey Results

Three major points of the survey results are as follows:

(1) Though the scale of B to B EC (Business to Business E-Commerce) was reduced in the global depression from 2008 to 2009, the EC ratio continued to grow. Steady penetration of EC was observed.

(2) While China marked a much higher ratio of international Internet shopping than other countries, Japan was at a comparatively low level (though it increased from the ratio in the FY 2007 survey). The same tendency was observed also in the future utilization intention. Chinese people have needs for shopping from Japanese and other foreign websites.

(3) When compared with e-commerce in other countries, there was a lower possibility of trouble in Japan. Japanese people were relatively safe when dealing with e-commerce, but many of them omitted consultation with the seller or administrative organs even when they experienced trouble. This suggests the need for the establishing of a consumer consultation system.

2. Outline of the Survey

This survey is the 12th of a series of annual surveys conducted since 1998 and covers e-commerce market trends and actual state of users from January to December 2009.

In cooperation with the Next Generation Electronic Commerce Promotion Council of Japan (ECOM; Chairman: Jiro Kokuryo, professor at the Faculty of Policy Management, Keio University), the survey team conducted literature research, hearings from entrepreneurs and questionnaires for consumers from November 2009 to February 2010.

METI also conducted an actual state survey on trans-boundary e-commerce trends (among Japan, the U.S., China and Korea) and surveyed the consciousness about utilization of the Internet and Internet business trends (in Japan, the U.S. and major European and Asian countries).

(Note)

This survey is of the same series as “ Research in IT Utilization in Japan 2008 (E-Commerce Market Survey).”

Reference

• Survey Results (PDF:226KB) Updated on August 3, 2010

July 20, 2010

Information Economy Division, Commerce and information Policy Bureau