Nissho Akita Corporation was established in Taiwan to work with local communities to co-create new value through branding, and to promote the growth of the local economy and regional sustainability.
The company is engaged in sales channel development, marketing, branding, and promotion of Akita products.
[We spoke with]
Mr. Toshiya Takashima, General Manager of Taipei Branch
Request Background
- Sales of Akita Prefecture Products in Taiwan
- EC sales of Akita Prefecture products in Taiwan
Effectiveness
・Demonstration of online sales of Akita Prefecture-grown apples in Taiwan
Background of the request to applemint
Mr. Takashima: I learned about Mr. Sato and applemint.Co from a YouTube video, which I don’t remember the details, but it was a video of Mr. Sato having a discussion with someone.
After I saw the website, I got the impression that Mr. Sato was honest in the videos he published in addition to the dialogue video.
The biggest factor we decided was that I thought, “He doesn’t seem to lie.” There was no gap between what was written on the website and what he said in the video, and I thought he was a person with no flip side in a good sense of the word.
The trigger for the initiative to sell Akita-grown apples online in Taiwan
Mr. Takashima: Traditionally, when selling Japanese apples in Taiwan, they were mainly sold through wholesalers in department stores and other retail stores.
However, when trying to sell apples through conventional sales channels, wholesalers often rejected the apples depending on their size.
For example, apples that were too large or too small often not allowed to be sold at retail stores.
However, there is no change in the fact that all apples are delicious. When we thought about how we could sell more Akita apples, we said, “Well, let’s sell them online ourselves! We decided to do it ourselves.
In addition, we also wanted to verify the effects of selling apples through an e-commerce site.
The importance of digital marketing in Taiwan as felt when working with applemint
Mr. Takashima: The first thing that surprised me when I worked with applemint.Co was the speed of digital marketing. I thought that the digital world moves very quickly.
For example, when we have a meeting with a wholesaler to sell apples to retailers, it takes quite a long time to decide where to sell them and when to sell them.
Perhaps, when selling apples at retail, it takes time because there are many people involved in the process of making the sale.
On the other hand, Digital marketing can begin immediately. Once you have a website design and payment system in place, then you can prepare and start for digital advertising.
The preparation for digital advertising was also handled by applemint.Co in just a few business days. I was surprised at this speed at first.
Also, when selling through wholesalers to retailers, it is difficult to know how many apples have been sold and to which retailers. It is also difficult to know what kind of customers have made purchases.
In this respect, digital marketing is very interesting in that it allows us to “see the customer” because we can visualize what kind of people purchased and how much they purchased!
Thoughts before and after the sale
Effects of digital marketing
Mr. Takashima: At first, I was worried about whether or not the orders would come in, but once the digital advertising started, the orders really came in, and I felt a tremendous sense of accomplishment!
After that, I received frequent email notifications of orders, and each time I thought, “Wow, they are really coming!
The effect of the digital advertising was tremendous, and we found that apples that had been hard to sell before were selling!
We found that large and small apples, which had been considered difficult to sell in retail stores, could be sold online, which was a great first step toward expanding our sales channels in the future.
Also, if we had sold through retail stores, we would have been able to contact only a few hundred people in limited cities such as Taipei and Taichung, but through digital advertising, we were able to communicate with people all over Taiwan.
What we felt through working with applemint
Mr. Takashima: This is not limited to digital marketing, but through this digital advertising, I have an understanding of the need for effort on both sides once again.
For example, I am a complete amateur when it comes to digital marketing, and at first I did not know what to do. However, I don’t think I would have been able to get good results if I had left everything to applemint.Co.
At first, I had an image that applemint would do everything, but when I started collaborating with them, I realized that there was more work to be done here than I had expected.
We responded to applemint’s requests on a case-by-case basis, but looking back, I think there were things we could have done better.
For example, we could have written a blog on how we harvested and shipped apples during digital advertising, which would have enhanced the credibility of our products.
Or if we had sent applemint timely material about the shipping process and the apples being packaged, we might have had a different outcome.
I thought that digital advertising would be more effective if both parties cooperated with each other, rather than just saying “I don’t know anything about digital.
Also, applemint did not have a high-handed or overbearing attitude toward my proposal, and we were able to communicate very smoothly.
Whenever we made a suggestion, some vendors would start with a denial and then we would shrink and not be able to express our opinions, but applemint never did that and we had very comfortable communication.
About the future
Mr. Takashima: In the future, we would like to increase the number of products on our EC site and more actively sell Akita products through our EC site.
We would be more than happy if people in Taiwan could experience Akita’s products through our EC site and feel Akita’s attractiveness.
In addition, Akita has a world-famous icon, the Akita dogs. We are thinking of utilizing these Akita dogs more and sending out videos.
We hope that Taiwanese people will get to know Akita and purchase Akita products, which will lead to the development of our business.
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