New spring, new me: Rakuten Ichiba unveils 2024 shopping trends

Spring in Japan is a time of new beginnings: The first of April marks the start of not only the financial calendar, but also the school year, and for many, a new job. It’s a flurry of moving houses, buying supplies and preparing for new stages in life.

Last week, Rakuten Ichiba delved into its platform data to analyze the latest market trends, publishing insights on the freshest fads for spring 2024.

Trend #1: No one’s got time for that

Rakuten Ichiba’s first major data point revealed a 2.3x spike in sales of “time-saving” home appliances in 2023 compared to 2019. A survey of shoppers revealed that some 70% of Gen Z-ers (~28 years old) were embracing the “time-saving” lifestyle, compared to around 40% among the 30-40 year old crowd.

From robot vacuums and smart-home devices to travel hangers that dry your garments – shoppers are getting creative with how they save time.

Pre-prepared frozen foods are also having a moment: In 2023, sales of frozen goodies like breads and soups skyrocketed to almost 5x higher than 2019 levels. Who has time to cook these days? Just zap and enjoy!

Trend #2: Bargain-hunting to beat back inflation

With prices on the rise, inflation is on everyone’s minds, and bargain hunting is in.

Used goods are one affordable option that shoppers are exercising this spring: Rakuten Ichiba reported a 30% uptick in used home appliance sales from 2019 to 2023, while used smartphones and tablets saw around a 50% boost.

“Irregular” items, such as those with damaged packaging, are also in the spotlight, recording a 20% jump over 2019. Rakuten Ichiba recently added a new “Irregular/Outlet” section to their New Lifestyle Fair campaign page, so that savvy shoppers can stretch their yen even further!

Trend #3: AR furniture

Buying big furniture pieces online can be daunting – how will it actually look and fit? Rakuten Ichiba’s survey revealed that among those who had never purchased large items online, around 60% admitted to feeling this very hesitation.

Rakuten Ichiba thinks it has the solution: In 2023, the platform launched an alternate reality (AR) tool, allowing users to virtually place furniture and visualize how it might look before taking the plunge. The future of shopping is now!

Trend #4: Grab a disaster backpack

Disaster prep is part of life in earthquake- and typhoon-prone Japan. Yet Rakuten Ichiba’s research revealed that around 30% of customers had nothing stocked away. Many stated that they either hadn’t gotten around to it, that they didn’t know what to prepare, or that they didn’t have space.

Among those who had prepared, the most common items were water, a flashlight, emergency food, chargers, and batteries. Rakuten Ichiba saw a 2.7x leap in sales of disaster goods during the first few months of 2023 compared with the same period in 2019, with “compact” and “waterproof” floating up as trending keywords. Emergency goods as housewarming gifts also seem to be on the rise!

With spring just around the corner, we hope these trend predictions have given you some of your own ideas for shopping in the new season.