Selling Move Free Joint Supplements to Japan

 Selling Move Free Joint Supplements to Japan

1. Introduction: Move Free Products have great potential in succeeding if they were to enter the Japanese market, targeting the age group 45-70+, the biggest population portion in Japan recently.

1. Our company has been analyzing potential new markets globally for the past 6 months.
2. Japan offers a rich opportunity for expansion.
3. This report represents some advantages, such as benefits of regulation reform aging population problems, and demographic and attitudes that we should expand Move Free into Japanese market.

1. Conclusion: Selling Move Free Joint Products in Japan will be successful and profitable, because of the huge market available. Our firm should market all product lines to meet consumer personal needs.

1. Recent changes in regulations in Japan may make this country being a good opportunity for us.
2. The age group 50-70+ in the Japanese Market requires the benefits that Move Free supplements provide, and the increased aging society in Japan is a large potential market to sell Move Free Products.
3. As the Japanese population becomes more health conscious, and the elderly population continuing to hold most of the country disposable income, Move Free supplements will see large amount of sales if selling is expanded to Japan.

1. The advantages of regulation reform: The positive influences of the “third arrow- structural reform” taken from the Abenomics strategy helps fuel the growth of the supplement market in Japan (Natural Product Insider, 2014).

1. The regulatory reform allows supplement companies to have benefits and functionalities be scientifically approved.

1. Supplements are expected to rise at 1% CAGR at constant 2015 prices over the forecast period to stand at 1.2 trillion yen in 2020.” (Takaski Team, 2015)

1. In 2013, the number of Japanese consumers using health products increased to 52 percent because this new legislation provided consumers with detailed information of the products (Natural Product Insider, 2014).

1.  To avoid the medical expenses, which put a burden on Japanese governmental finances, this graying society has become more active on “self-care” and “self-medication.” Moreover, when asked to specify the supplement ingredients the consumers aged 70 used in the past year, “21 percent named glucosamine and 14 percent named chondroitin,” which are contained in our product ingredients. (Miki Omagari and Mamiko Abe, 2014).

1. Appealing and informing the aging population: With various product types, such as Ultra Triple Action Gummies and Capsules, Ultra-Omega, Advanced Plus MSM, and Advanced Plus MSM & Vitamin D, we can start by selling our products to the older generation, and as our brand becomes more recognizable to the population we can target multiple age groups by providing the detailed information of each product with different functions.

1. The target market: Particularly, we can target the mid-lifers since they are facing high pressure at work; a gummy type with different flavors, is convenient and easy to chew. For late-lifers, we could show specific joint support needs and help them choose the best one to fit their personal needs.

1. Research shows that many Japanese people, most in the age 50+, sit for 7 hours a day while working (Kenichi Sumitomo, 2016), and with over 60 working hours per week, Japanese people are “dying from overwork” (Anna Fifield Kashiwa, 2016). We can use these problems to our advantage by targeting the mid-lifer group. Moreover, emphasizing the benefits of taking our supplements and how harmful their current bad working habits are through a creative marketing campaign.
2. Our products differ from others because they are based on an exclusive formulation from similar supplements, this factor will be viable to access Japan’s rapidly aging society.

1. Ultra Triple Action and Advance Plus MSM & Vitamin D3 “help ease joint discomfort, maintain strength and flexibility, and help support and nourish cartilage.” (Move Free, 2017) These two products’ formulations do not just to comfort joints, but also give extra bone support. Thus, it is more convenient and cheaper for consumers because they only have to buy one product.
2. Advance, Advance Plus MSM, Night, Ultra Omega, Double Strength, and Gummy Type contain different key ingredients that put a major focus on supporting joint health and comforting joints. This means the consumers have different options based on their preferences.

1. Products’ affordability:

1. Move Free products are affordable, and proven to be extremely effective which can be seen through its sales and positive consumer reviews in the United States.  
2. Its reasonable pricing and small bottle sizes cause consumers to purchase frequently because this will increase unit sales.
3. There are many other online distribution channels on Move Free.com, so our company can take advantage of that promote products via ecommerce because “Japan has the highest digital buyer percentage in the Asia Pacific, with 77 million digital buyers last year.” (Global Ecommerce Book, Japan, 2016) and remarkably, the increasing number of customers buying though mail order of the industry’s sales is 52 percent (Gary Scatter, 2017).
4. The domestic joint supplement products, such Taisho, Kobayashi as in Japan are more expensive than our product prices despite that are similar in quality; therefore, this is a competitive advantage for our firm to optimize success.

1. Demographics and attitudes: The elderly Japanese consumers have growing interest in living a healthy lifestyle because of the increase in their purchasing power, changing and having the highest income level and savings. This results in a magic advancement of dietary supplements.

1. Disposable Income: Older Japanese are known to be wealthy and appear willing to spend more than other age groups.

1. This consumer group retains a huge proportion of the country’s financial assets, for example, the age group 50-59 is 21.2 %; 60-69 is 31.3%, and 70+ is 27.9%, which is 80% out of the total percentage of financial assets.
2. Since Japan is currently home to the third largest health food market in the world, there will be a strong demand for our joint support supplements. In addition, the consumption expenditure by the elderly in Japan has trended upward for more than a decade, such as 48% of overall consumption and corresponding to 24% of nominal GDP (Kumano Hideo, 2015).

1. Health Conscious: Our company should emphasize that as consumers get older their awareness of joint health issues increases. As a result, this strategy will attract a larger market segment with less effort and less financial investment given the untapped market in joint supplements within this nation.

1. Japan is one of the healthiest country with the longest life expectancy, particularly “life expectancy will increase from 83.6 years in 2015 to 85.8 years in 2030.” (Euromonitor International, 2015).
2. According to a research on Lifestyle and Health: Elders (2013) by Intage Inc., the “Top 3” health problems of Japanese men and women in their 70s are “pain in knees, lower backs, and joints.” Particularly, there is 54 percent of men and 62 percent of women experience these symptoms, and 63 percent of this age said that they must see doctor due to these health issues (Miki Omagari and Mamiko Abe, 2014).
3. Glucosamine supplements has been one of the bestselling of dietary products in Japan, and this type has ranked the second in popularity out of 8 health products in 2015 (Takaski Team, 2015). This enhanced focus on wellness will entail a competitive environment that will make market share and sales more expensive and less likely to be consistent, unless the brand resonates and creates an attachment that supersedes pure utility as our products. Competition will be aggressive and finicky, thus comprehensive marketing will be necessary.

1. Recommendations:

1. As top-notch solution to lower back, knee, and joint problems, and as the best option for those that have a bad working habit in Japan.

1. Highlighting the usefulness and effectiveness of our products will be necessary on advertisements, and it will be one step closer to blossom success.
2. As an import product from the U.S. with a great reputation, we should emphasize this point as well since Japanese people have high regards for products coming from the west, especially the United States.

1. We should use the ocean shipping to reduce the costs.

1. Our company will need to target the top 10 cities in order for our supplements to have easy access to the numerous shipping ports.

1. The biggest ports are located in Tokyo, Osaka and Yokohama, such as Akita Port, Chiba Port, Funagawa Port, etc. (Marcus Sohlberg, 2014)

1. Our company probably should market amongst the largest and most common wellness items within the Japanese market, which may include heavy online Japanese retailers and superstore chains. These chains need to be securely trusted and respected for the company.

1. Marketing team should create a strong ecommerce because there is a huge number of online shoppers in Japan. An example website to sell Move Free Supplements is “rakuten,” one of Japan’s biggest online shopping website (Japanzine, 2010).
2. In addition, we should distribute our products to the dense population such as the urban area, (93.5% of the population live in urban area (Euromonitor International, 2015)) and 10 cities with high income (Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, Yokohama, etc.) Because of the large quantity of products, we will ship our products through cargo ships to major Japanese ports such as Nagoya and Osaka. Since port cities also have dense populations, our company will be able to sell our product to local health stories such as Hac Drug Nagoya Dome Zen Shop and department stores such as Takashimaya Shinjuku and Mitsukoshi Nihonbashi.

1. Summary: There is strong evidence that the Japanese market will be the optimal place to introduce Joint Free supplements to. With a rapidly growing elderly population that account for a majority of the population, Joint Free supplement has a huge market to appeal to. Japan’s elderly population also have an increased disposable income compared to other age groups, meaning they are more likely to make a purchase.  Finally, being ranked as one of the healthiest countries in the world, Japan’s population is health conscious, and from these three factors, it is evident that Joint Free supplements will go over well with the population. As a result, Move Free has a great opportunity to expand into Japan’s growing “silver market” (Emmanuel Cheron, 2011).

Bibliography

Sachiko Kakisaka (2014, September 17). Regulatory Reform Fuels Japan’s Supplement Market.

Retrieved from: https://www.naturalproductsinsider.com/articles/2014/09/regulatory-reform-fuels-japan-s-supplement-market.aspx.

Move Free (25 August, 2016). Where to Buy.

        Retrieved from: http://www.movefree.com/buy-now/.

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