Mail Order Business
The Mail Order Business, which offers nutritional supplements and skincare products to consumers in Japan, is leveraging our proprietary expertise and "quality made possible only by a pharmaceutical company" to ensure our dominance in the mail order market, which is faced with more intense competition.
Main Products in the Mail Order Business
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- Glucosamine & Collagen EX
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- Hifmid Series
- The Hifmid Series consists of 10 products that contain a compound of ceramide found in the skin and human ceramide with the same structure to help moisturize the skin.
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- Aloe Series
- The Aloe Series features Aloe Ikumo Eki, a medicated tonic that promotes hair growth, as well as a silicon-free shampoo and conditioner.
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- Vegetables and Enzymes
- A nutritional supplement recommended for consumers that tend to have an unbalanced diet featuring a fermented blend of 17 vegetables and 7 grains that offers a healthy serving of gluconic acid.
Earnings Trends
Net Sales
Market Trends and Performance
Leveraging the Proprietary Expertise of a Pharmaceutical Company
▲We have established a rigorous quality regimen, spanning from ingredient selection to determination of compounds and formats, only made possible by a pharmaceutical company.
(Photo taken in our testing lab)
The mail order market in Japan is now about 9 trillion thanks to the spread of smartphones and tablet devices. As a result, many new entrants have appeared in the marketplace in search of this robust growth, meaning that differentiation from competitors is essential to avoiding price competition.
Since we began selling nutritional supplements through the mail order channel in 1999 we have expanded our presence by fully leveraging the strengths of a pharmaceutical company. This includes using the same rigorous quality management standards as for pharmaceuticals, offering nutritional supplements with zero additives, labeling compound blends and contents, and offering consumers access to pharmacists, nutritionists and skincare advisors. Today, we sell some 150 products in this channel that include nutritional supplements and skincare products, like cosmetics and hair growth formulations.
We are also taking continuous steps to make the shopping experience even more convenient, including opening a new mobile site for smartphones in September 2012.
Outlook
Providing Even More Finely Tuned Services
▲Pharmacist responding to a customer question at our customer service call center
We will step up our sales promotion activities using direct mail marketing targeting existing customers. Through this effort, we will propose products tailored to individual need based on data for gender, age and purchase history, which will help to spur on purchases.
We will also utilize more effective advertising media, such as the Internet, for the Hifmid Series and other skincare products.
The mail order can also directly communicate with customers. This is why we have positioned our call center as more than just a number that consumers call to place an order. This call center focuses on dialogue with the customer to accurately grasp their individual and unique needs.
Furthermore, we are working on developing and cultivating new growth pillar products based on a correct understanding of customer needs.
