[Cross-border e-commerce at the forefront] Key points for selling Japanese food products through cross-border e-commerce

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As of March 2021, demand for e-commerce due to the COVID-19 pandemic remains high. Looking at best-selling products and categories, products that can be enjoyed while staying at home are doing well.
According to a survey by Adobe, e-commerce sales in the United States in January and February 2021 have already reached a total of $121 billion (approximately 13.213 trillion yen), a 34% increase from the same period last year.
In addition, online shopping usage is also increasing in China, which recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic early on. And with restrictions on overseas travel and other activities, cross-border e-commerce, where Japanese products are purchased through Chinese e-commerce, is becoming more active.


In particular, sales of Japanese products egypt whatsapp data such as cosmetics, medical supplies, home appliances, and food, as well as local specialty products, which are popular among Chinese tourists in Japan, are said to be strong.
This time, we have summarized the points to keep in mind when selling Japanese food products through cross-border e-commerce.


(1) Market size for Japan's food exports through cross-border EC
According to a 2018 report by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries entitled "Survey on Exports of Agricultural, Forestry and Fishery Products and Food from Japan Using Electronic Commerce (Cross-border EC)," the most widely sold food-related item was health foods (supplements and health drinks) at 61.3 billion yen.
This was followed by confectionery at 40.4 billion yen, seasonings (11.3 billion yen), and green tea (10.3 billion yen).
Health foods in Japan account for approximately 40% of the total food exports of 157.4 billion yen.

Market size for Japan's food exports using cross-border e-commerce

Furthermore, looking at the market size of cross-border e-commerce for food products by region, Asia-Oceania had 129.98 billion yen, North America and Central and South America had 21.74 billion yen, and Europe had 5.62 billion yen, with the Asia-Oceania region accounting for 82% of the global market size.

Cross-border EC market size by region

(2) Four factors that determine ease of use in cross-border e-commerce
Here we have summarized the important factors to consider when selling food overseas.
When selling food, bottled drinks and alcoholic beverages are probably not very suitable for overseas sales due to their weight and volume.
When it comes to cross-border e-commerce for food, many businesses handle light, small-volume products such as confectionery, supplements, and green tea. Many
of these have relatively long expiration dates and can be delivered at room temperature.
From the perspective of expiration dates, dried noodles and dried fruit are also easy to handle.
When selling food overseas, there are four things to consider: