Building trade through overseas crowdfunding: Achieved over 400% of goal amount in 3 days

 

STANDAGE Co., Ltd. (Minato-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Akinori Adachi; hereinafter referred to as Standage), which develops and provides digital trade platforms, has begun offering the trade package service "Digitrad" to Nosaku Co., Ltd. (Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture; CEO: Yoshiyuki Oka; hereinafter referred to as Nosaku) in April 2023. Kanazawa lacquerware, which has a high unit price and high quality, has always had high inbound demand, but due to the nature of the product, it is difficult to mass-produce it, and there is no personnel with know-how in overseas business, so the company has only considered selling it overseas on its own. After receiving a consultation, Standage focused on crowdfunding, which allows the creators' thoughts and stories to be delivered to wealthy people overseas and allows them to sell made-to-order products overseas. Immediately after the start of the service, orders came in mainly from Europe and the United States, and in just three days, they achieved approximately 407% of their target amount.
In the future, we plan to use the recognition and achievements we have gained through crowdfunding to further expand our overseas sales channels, including exhibiting at overseas exhibitions of Japanese products.

 

■ There is demand, but exports are not possible... A barrier unique to "luxury crafts"

Kanazawa lacquerware is a traditional craft that is widely acclaimed both in Japan and overseas for its dazzling beauty and the traditional technique of applying lacquer to wooden products.

Founded in 1780 and celebrating its 250th anniversary in 2030, Nousaku, located in the Kaga domain of one million koku of rice, pursues high quality and design and offers a wide range of products, including tea ceremony utensils, tableware, and decorative items.

Due to the location of Kanazawa, Nousaku lacquerware has long been in high demand from foreign tourists visiting the area. However, due to the characteristics of the products, which are high-priced and cannot be mass-produced, Nousaku was not able to secure and maintain enough inventory to withstand continuous orders, and the company did not have the know-how to handle trade procedures, so it did not actively sell to overseas markets.

Having been aware of the recognition and demand for Kanazawa lacquerware from overseas, we began a contract with Standage's trade packaging company, Digitrad, in April 2023.

Although there is definite demand, traditional crafts can only be sold on a made-to-order basis and are not considered suitable for trade as commercial products. We therefore took on the challenge of developing overseas sales channels for these traditional crafts.

 

■Made-to-order products can be sold overseas without difficulty Focusing on compatibility with crowdfunding

Typically, in trade, the lead time from ordering needs to be adjusted to meet the buyer's requirements, so it is assumed that the seller can steadily secure inventory that can withstand this.

In the case of traditional crafts and other products that are high-priced and difficult to mass-produce, the lead time can sometimes reach several months, making them unprofitable under normal trade schemes and unsuitable for building permanent overseas sales.

Therefore, Standage turned its attention to using crowdfunding as a way to sell overseas while maintaining its made-to-order production system.

Unlike sales on e-commerce sites, the main motivation for buyers in crowdfunding is to sympathize with and support the story of the creator, such as "the creator's thoughts," "the history they have built up and the dreams they want to realize."

For this reason, most buyers do not mind if it takes several months for the product to arrive, and even made-to-order products can be easily sold overseas all at once.

Furthermore, a crowdfunding page that has been carefully created by trade and overseas marketing professionals can also function as a powerful landing page (LP) for overseas markets, visibly demonstrating your company's proven track record.

As a stepping stone to full-scale overseas expansion, NOUSAKU first believed it was important to gain recognition and a track record, so we promoted NOUSAKU's Kanazawa lacquerware plates, "INAZUMA," on the American crowdfunding site "Kickstarter."

 

 

As a result, orders continued to come in mainly from European and American regions, such as the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Belgium, and Switzerland, and the crowdfunding campaign achieved approximately 407% of its goal just three days after it began.

The main factors behind the success are thought to be that a person well versed in overseas marketing carefully created a story about Nousaku's history and the makers' commitment through video and text, and that the product was chosen to be plates that can be used universally around the world, rather than bowls and chopsticks.

Armed with the recognition and success gained through this crowdfunding promotion, the company plans to further expand sales overseas by participating in exhibitions of Japanese products overseas, allowing visitors to see and examine genuine lacquerware in person.

 

■Comment from Yoshiyuki Oka, 8th generation president and CEO of Nousaku Co., Ltd.

This time, we used this system to promote, recognize, and sell our Maki-e lacquerware, a product lineup that is our specialty, overseas.

We didn't have anyone in our company who was skilled at expanding sales channels overseas, and now we have many customers from overseas, with 30% of our sales coming from Europe and the United States. Although we have a good understanding of what overseas customers are interested in, we didn't know how to approach them from our side and were feeling frustrated. In the midst of this, we decided to introduce and implement this system.

I think it was a good idea for STANDAGE to first carefully explain to people overseas the origins and process of Kanazawa lacquerware, using text and videos of the lacquerware being used, and to first get them to become fans, which I believe led to sales.

We hope that once people have purchased our products, they will spread the word about them to others through word of mouth, and that this will help spread the appeal of lacquerware, which is not available overseas, to the rest of the world.

 

■ DigiTrad is introduced by a total of 150 companies in Japan

"DigiTrad" is a comprehensive trade package service developed exclusively by Standage that provides a one-stop service covering everything from sales channel development to negotiations, contracts, settlements, and administrative procedures related to logistics and customs clearance.

Due to the rapid depreciation of the yen in the second half of 2010 and the government's efforts to expand exports, Japan's overall export volume has been on a gradual upward trend. However, when looking at the export volume of small and medium-sized enterprises in urban and rural areas, the gap is still widening.

Digitrad was created as a package service to handle all aspects of trade, from market development to contracts, negotiations, payments, and logistics, to enable Japanese manufacturers, who face these challenges, to expand overseas more freely and easily.

Rather than being limited to systemizing some operations or providing consulting, this is a service that can "handle" the entire flow of trade. As of February 2012, the number of companies using this service has reached a total of 150.

◇Click here for the “DigiTrad” service details page: https://boueki.standage.co.jp/digitrad/