Yoshitsu Co. Offers Duty-Free Shopping Services As Japan Opens Its Doors To Tourists

In October, Japan lifted its COVID restrictions and opened the door to tourists, unrestricted, for the first time since the onset of the pandemic. Japan was one of the countries with the strictest travel precautions and restrictions. 

The number of foreigners that visited in October, both tourists and business travelers, rose to 498,000, which is more than double September’s amount of travelers. The Japanese government is eager to have the tourism industry boost the economy.

In light of the return of tourism, Yoshitsu Co. Ltd. TKLF, a Tokyo-based provider of health, wellness, beauty products, home goods, and food, announced some new domestic duty-free shopping opportunities. 

Cosmetic and beauty products are some of the most purchased duty-free products. Yoshitsu is hoping to take advantage of the desire for tourists to purchase Asian beauty products at duty-free locations.

Since early November, Yoshitsu has provided pickup services at its Urawa and KoshigayaRyutsudanchi stores in Saitama, Japan. Additionally, the company is offering the same service in Nagano, Japan; Yoshitsu is the first company to offer this service in Nagano. 

To accomplish its pickup service, the company partnered with Digital Transformation Service Provider, iEnt Co., Inc. The partnership allows the company to enter the e-commerce market; foreigners can shop on the TaxFreeOnline.jp (TFO) platform and pick up their orders at one of the three designated locations in Japan. The company is planning to offer sweepstakes and promotions to bring awareness to new opportunities and meet the demands of tourists. 

Mr. Mei Kanayama, the Principal Executive Officer of Yoshitsu Co., Ltd, commented, “We are excited to see that the Japanese government opened its borders to foreign visitors, which should prompt the inbound tourism recovery in Japan. We strive to attract foreign visitors by providing TFO and pickup services at our stores, which offer them a convenient shopping experience during their stay in Japan. Looking forward, we will remain focused on providing unparalleled services and diversified selection of products at our stores. We are confident that our improved customer experience and promotion activities will attract foreign visitors and our strong capacity will meet the anticipated increased needs of foreign visitors.”

Companies like Yoshitsu offering unique opportunities like duty-free shopping for tourists will be instrumental in driving tourist spending. The Japanese government is hoping to reach an annual 60 million foreign visitors by 2030 and is aiming for an annual 5 trillion yen in tourist spending. 

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Photo by Jezael Melgoza on Unsplash