One of the contributing factors of this expansion could be the Olympic Games, scheduled to take place in Tokyo in 2021.
Products that fall into this category include sports equipment, camping gear, and sportswear and accessories, etc.
Revenue in the Sports & Outdoor segment has grown and predictions show that it could reach nearly $4 billion USD in 2020. This particular category also has a significant edge compared to other growing and popular categories; the growth rate is nearly 6%.
User penetration is expected to jump from 16% this year up to as much as 24.6% by 2025. These types of products are becoming more important to Japanese shoppers.
A growing market is always a good place to consider when expanding to Japan. The past few years and the next few years have seen some major sporting events take place in Tokyo, sparking a lot more interest. There is a lot of support for this growing area of eCommerce even though the market share isn’t as large as some of the other featured categories.
In fact, it has been ranked among more popular product groups in Japan since as far back as 2015.
Sports and outdoor regulations in Japan
The regulations that you may be subject to all depend on exactly what types of products you intend to sell. You could be impacted by the Consumer Product Safety Act, the Household Goods Quality Labeling Act, or any one of several regulations that govern toys and other products designed for children. You can get a basic overview of some of those regulations from MIPRO.