Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Archives

Complete Guide To Selling In Japan For Non-Japanese Companies

Selling in Japan: Key Takeaways From This Article ➡ Successfully selling in Japan requires partnering with the right distributor, importer, or agent, as nearly all foreign products enter the market through these specialized companies. ➡ Your distributor gives you a local presence in Japan without the need to set up an office in Japan and hire Japanese employees. In addition to warehousing your products, your distributor will actively sell, support and market your products. ➡ Distributors handling non-Japanese products often …

Distribution Channels in Japan: Selling Directly To Retailers & B2B Customers In Japan

“We do great business with Best Buy in the U.S., so I’m sure retailers in Japan like Yamada Denki, Yodobashi Camera, K’s Denki, and Joshin would love to do business with us and have our products on their shelves.” In our experience, this is only partially true — these large Japanese retailers might be very interested in selling your products, but they won’t want to do business with you unless you have an office in Japan. Distribution channels in Japan …

Finding Japanese Distributors Using Government Services

Many clients come to us after unsuccessfully trying to find Japanese sales partners using the matchmaking services provided by government agencies such as the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Gold Key Service, UK Department for Business and Trade, Canadian Trade Commissioner Service, Austrade, German Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Japan (AHK Japan), Business France, and Switzerland Global Enterprise. Why are these government agencies rarely successful in helping foreign companies connect with the right Japanese distributors or sales agents? I’ve talked …

Do You Need “Connections” To Find The Right Japanese Distributor?

I’m often asked by new clients if we have experience in their industry. The underlying belief here seems to be that you need “connections” to do business with Japanese companies or need to “know someone” in order for distributors in Japan to take you seriously. This is simply not true. We have cold-called thousands of Japanese distributors and I can say with great confidence that the vast majority of Japanese distributors are extremely open to hearing about new business opportunities… …

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