First of all, you might know about Daiso (ダイソー), one of the most famous dollar stores in Japan. I often go there to buy daily necessities or find new things. Also, we usually call dollar stores “hyakkin” (100均) means that most items are sold JPY100 at the stores. Other than Daiso, Seria and Cando are also well-known. These days, due to soaring overhead like materials, logistics and utility costs, hyakkin are struggling to keep their prices as they are. On the flip side, they’re not hyakkin anymore if their whole prices increase. This is their identity that is distinct from other retailers. So, they are rolling out new brands at each hyakkin store. Today, I’m going to introduce how Daiso survives in this industry and talk about how to enjoy Daiso’s other brands. Let’s get started.
1. A Pioneer of Retailer
For starters, Daiso was founded in 1977 and has 4,341 stores domestically and 984 stores overseas. They represent hyakkin, which are here and there all over Japan. They sell a variety of items from daily necessities to cosmetic items and gardening items. Now they are starting two new brands, Standard Products and THREEPPY. Let’s dig in.
2. Daiso Represents Hyakkin
Daiso is well balanced in its cost and quality. It’s safe to say that there are no items that are sold at Daiso that you’ll find at other retailers like HomeCenter, convini, or supermarkets. There are varieties of items there. One of the shopping hacks in Japan is finding an alternative one at hyakkin stores. I wrote 2 articles before about this; when you get a chance, have a look at them.
3. Standard Products
Standard Products: This brand, run by Daiso, has 100 stores in Japan. They say the concept is “To be the standard.” They are targeting people who prefer simple design and better quality. I think that hyakkin are welcome to many people because of their prices but some people are not satisfied with that quality. So that’s why they launched this brand. The price range is 300JPY and more. As Daiso is the top share in the hyakkin category, they have ample knowledge about how items are produced at a cheap price, and have many suppliers. Now, they make the most of their advantage that they have with many resources to procure items to fulfill the customer’s demands. From my view, there are items that are worth three to five times the value. For example, if the item is 300JPY, ordinary stores sell it for 900JPY or 1,500JPY more. Plus, the design is simple, and the monotone color eliminates unnecessary things.
4. THREEPPY
THREEPPY: What is “THREEPPY”? It’s not English, it’s a Japanese-English coined word made from “three” and “happy.” Their main price range is 300JPY (“three”), and they make women happy by providing their kawaii items (“happy”). They are targeting women who are in their 20’s to 40’s. They focus on accessories, interior items, kitchen items, and stationery. Kawaii has many definitions, and it can vary from person to person, I’d say. THREEPPY isn’t too much, they have a kawaii taste with a simple, stylish design. If their kawaii taste was a vivid color, they would never be successful as of today. So it’s easy to use for many women in that sense.
5. Evolution of Daiso
Why did Daiso develop these three brands? Well, developing another brand helps to offer a new solution to the customer without damaging the original brand. Let’s say, people who visit Daiso don’t want to check the prices because most of them are 100JPY. These people don’t need to care about the price, they care how many pieces they buy. However, if there are many items that are priced over 100JPY, the regular customers would feel like it’s more expensive than it used to be, and they might no longer go there. Separating the brand is workable for meeting both the demands of the regular customers and people who want to buy better quality even though it’s higher than 100JPY. This is one of the marketing strategies in order to survive harsh competition.
6. Conclusion
When you choose souvenirs for your family and friends while visiting Japan, Japanese traditional ones like kimono, chopsticks and sensu would be fine, but you might want to have some items of these three brands. These represent what Japanese people want to do now. It’s worth visiting these places while you’re here. You can also feel how retailers compete with each other, and you’ll tell what makes their products different. How was it? Thank you for taking time to read my article to the end. See you soon!
I worked at a trading company for many years. I live in Tokyo with my wife. Love skiing, traveling, IPAs, wine , X-treme sports, fashion, and learning English and Chinese.
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