Yuji Kosaka is an expert in business theory and practices as they relate to human emotions.
Dr. Kosaka explained that consumption has changed and if you want to sell things, you must sell an experience.
He related two interesting examples.
One, a seller of bicycles in the middle of Tokyo. When you enter the shop, he says, you see few actual bicycles. Instead, a visitor will first notice furniture, food and drinks laid out.
Visitors can sit and enjoy themselves as if it were a café. The shop also boasts a popular program in which visitors can go on group bike rides together. Why does this help sell bicycles? It promotes the experience of visiting the shop and riding and enjoying time with friends.
The individuals buy bicycle products because the experience convinced them.
Another example involved a special type of Japanese undergarment called yumoji. Does anyone really need this item? No. It has been rare for some time and no one has lamented its loss. But when one seller of Japanese clothing got the idea to work with a Japanese culture expert to offer classes in how to wear yumoji, suddenly it was a hit. The course was quickly oversubscribed. On class days, the shop was always busy and bustling with anticipation and activity – and sales. Customers were happy to be introduced to this unknown world, a part of their culture that had been lost. They weren’t buying a product, they were buying an experience.
Consumption today is not rooted in things, it is rooted in experience. Those merchants who understand this mindset will be the ones racking up sales.
