Impulsive shopper? Love at first sight? How do you sh
” The Aeon Girls”~ Surge in university girls shopping in malls
The article about “Aeon Girls” , by Nikkei MJ (June/02) is stealing the spotlight in the fashion industry.
When you imagine stylish Japanese girls, you see them shopping in the hottest, trendiest spot.
Perhaps trying to blend in with the Harajuku girls, or with the extravagant fashionistas in Shibuya.
But, things have been changing recently.
Wander around in Shibuya 109, OlOl, and La Foret Harajuku, you notice a decline in these girls.
Shibuya 109’s target market are the late teens to the early 20’s, but in fact, 70% of the actual customers happen to be junior and high school students.
24-35 years old make up 50% of the sales in La Foret Harajuku, but with the high end tenants filling up, we see more 30’s women shop.
Some shopping areas has commented, “We don’t even target university students to begin with. They are just too difficult.”
So the question is, where did all the girls go?
( photo by Nikkei MJ)
The amount of money you spend for fashion increases when you become a uni student. For those who crave fashion and shopping, big shopping centre, “Aeon” is the place where it hits the spot. The major enticement is that you can compare items for those indecisive shoppers! For those who aren’t picky with brands and tastes, they prefer items that are affordable.
” I come here 2-3 times a month with my friend. We usually shop for more than 2 hours. I do go to Harajuku and Shibuya, but about once every 3 months. I like how you can browse around at Aeon mall”. ( University student)
” Even if I find an outfit that I like, I would still go check out 5-6 stores. It doesn’t satisfy me unless I look at everything!” (University student)
Most girls don’t shop impulsively. They take their time to look around, compare, and think what they should get. Not only do they check online for informations, but they prefer to go around and check out similar stores to see what’s the best for them.
They’ll go to the store 3 times, and still can’t decide. Very careful, and very planned. This is the same with cosmetics too. Girls check websites and get information via word of mouth. They double check and even triple check since they usually on a tight budget.
Therefore, the perfect environment would be a mall where you can look at large amounts of items all at once. The more store, the merrier.
Research done by Nikkei MJ makes this evident. 63% of uni girls buy they clothes at Aeon mall or shopping centres, which is an extreme close call with Uniqlo being 64%.
Under 20% are department stores, and pricey brand shops don’t even reach 2 %.
” Uni girls who buys expensive brands are declining year by year. The sales share is less than half, compared to the 90’s”.
Before, girls would buy with out even checking the price. Owning expensive brand bags were a status. But for those who have grown up in the deflation era, a strong attachment towards brand names and logos are relatively lower.
Ready for a shopping spree?
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