[Jeon Youngsoo's Population Prism] Rapid Growth of Proxy Demand Driven by Population Changes... A Blue Ocean with Just One Click

Population changes are reflected in consumption patterns. Quantitative and qualitative changes by age and generation create new realized desires and consumption points that differ from before. The emergence of customers who are new in both size and nature leads to a transformation in the structure of the consumer market. While the youth population drives change, middle-aged, older adults, and even the elderly join new consumption trends that keep pace with rapid societal changes. One representative desire point among these is the agency market created by the deepening division of labor in single-person households. The rapid growth of household chore outsourcing is circumstantial evidence. Once utility is confirmed, demand expands. Agency needs are increasingly diversified. Although it started with cleaning, cooking, and laundry, it won't be long before the entire daily life is outsourced. This is the result of a large number of emerging new customers who feel that outsourcing is more efficient than doing things themselves due to population changes.

Japan is at the forefront of the agency market. As a society leading population changes, diverse and varied change desires are linked to business models. For Korea, checking and analyzing related precedents is expected to yield low-cost, high-performance effects. Currently, shopping agency services are booming. Delivery services that bring goods to busy customers are popular. The target customers are potential clients from dual-income and single-person households. Purchase refugees who have no nearby shopping spaces are also regulars. People who have difficulty going out, such as patients, are similarly included. From household chore agencies to specialized purchase agency companies handling errands, many regular users utilize the service once a week or twice a month. There are also one-time services. The usual rate is around 2,000 to 3,000 yen per hour (excluding transportation costs). Deliveries are mostly made to homes or workplaces, but the service also caters to those who find internet shopping difficult or to regionally limited products.

'Future Society = Isolated Individuals'
Delivery of Necessary Items is a Given

There are also agency services that solve the painful decision paralysis caused by difficulty in deciding what to buy. This is a new demand effective when there are many choices. It is perfect for those who do not enjoy shopping and have no time. If 'customer worries = business opportunities,' then new businesses that assist in product selection according to shopping fatigue perspectives and demands have a bright outlook. Since it is a kind of trusted purchase entrusted with confidence, the touch of verified experts is essential. It is a business matching customer perspectives with professional experience. Clothing and accessories are representative examples. For instance, the clothing rental company air Closet has professional stylists select women's clothing that suits the customer. By uploading full-body photos and preferred colors, the service finds and suggests clothes suitable for the customer. The candidate pool includes 100,000 items from 300 brands. A service that selects men's suits (leeap) has also joined. After registering as a member, various patterned suits are delivered and returned monthly. Customers receive recommendations for custom suits based on conditions and return them after one month, after which new suits are delivered. The advantage is the careful selection of items tailored to the latest trends, member age, and usage. The service acts on behalf of the effort and trouble of shopping, and since there are no purchase, management, or storage costs, it is often evaluated as cheaper when calculated in total.

Professor Jeon Young-su, Graduate School of International Studies, Hanyang University

It is not just clothing. Anything difficult to choose can be a candidate item for purchase agency. Books fall into this category as well. The case of a neighborhood bookstore (Iwata) in Hokkaido, which has gained fame in Korea and is being benchmarked, supports this. The idea is to select 10,000 yen worth of recommended books by the store owner and deliver them to customers. In short, it is called '10,000 yen selected books (一萬円選書).' It became a hot topic purchase agency due to nationwide overwhelming orders. Through surveys, the service comprehensively considers customers' occupations, ages, family relationships, and preferences to select the most satisfying books. The service takes 3 to 4 months until completion. The survey via mail, fax, and letters is not a one-time process but involves repeated mutual confirmations several times. After sending the first recommendation list, further discussions are held to remove or add items. Additionally, a meticulous service that sends messages explaining the reasons for selection is popular. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, indoor reading increased, and currently, a service suspension notice has been posted (end of June 2020). The structure accepts orders when possible at any given time. This is interpreted as a measure to prevent quality degradation due to exceeding the owner's capacity. Ironically, this situation reportedly increased visiting customers.

There is also a storage agency business that takes care of household items. The idea is to rent external space outside the home or office for individuals to store their belongings. In Japan, advertisements for storage agency and space rental can be easily found. Most take the form of long-term rental of spaces around 3.3㎡ (1 pyeong). Thanks to providing a perfect environment including humidity and deodorization functions during the storage period, there is high demand from housewives with seasonal storage needs and young people owning bulky leisure equipment. Competition is fierce. Renting without purchasing space allows low-cost initial investment. It is attractive for companies with idle space. There is also significant corporate demand troubled by storage. Real estate-owning companies with good location environments, such as Keio Electric Railway, lead the market. Rental companies also make their debut in shopping centers of distribution companies like the Aeon Group. They create spaces in parking lots to provide storage agency services. Even giant corporations like Mitsui & Co. have entered. While some businesses are limited to certain regions, active store opening strategies are being implemented mainly in the metropolitan area.

New Customers' Changing Perception of Time Use
Value Delivery Services such as Space Utilization and Exchange Types Attract Attention

Agency needs have shifted to delivery demand. The end of agency is ultimately delivery. Indirect purchases through the internet and mobile, rather than direct purchases at offline stores, also generate delivery demand. The emergence of customers who find delivery convenient adds potential. As a result, delivery expands as an indispensable trend in the consumer market. In other words, the delivery lineup is increasingly expanding. If the 'future society = isolated individuals,' the desire to have necessary products delivered and received is natural. In Korea, the culture of enjoying lunch boxes, side dishes, as well as processed and frozen foods at home and work is spreading. Restaurants that previously avoided delivery are joining in. Smartphone ordering and delivery applications are also popular. New delivery services are evolving. Future prospects include ▲utilizing retail stores without delivery functions linked to newspaper delivery (order delivery portal sites) ▲registered delivery personnel delivering orders placed via apps at available times (meal delivery services) ▲delivery search and ordering possible on social networking services (SNS apps) without downloading new apps.

Food, a staple item in the delivery market, is rapidly shifting from direct cooking and consumption to indirect agency purchases, showing clear growth prospects. This reflects the adjustment of customers' preferences due to population changes. Especially, even if the food market shrinks, food delivery is expected to grow. The two major demands are from the elderly and dual-income households. Fresh foods sensitive to hygiene issues such as sterilization are already included in delivery items. The possibility of internet sales of fresh foods through freshness management has lowered psychological barriers. Changes in customers' perception of time use and effective use of time due to ICT advancements are favorable factors for the delivery market. Therefore, marketing that emphasizes time efficiency is recommended. Combining values important to consumers with delivery services, approaches such as space utilization types (cafes with attached coin laundries), exchange types (on-site cooking), gap utilization types (24-hour fitness), and segmented types (delivery and courier services) are being considered (Mitsubishi UFJ Research & Consulting).