According to the "Women's Daily" report, the move to stop the sale of adult magazines may be related to the increasing opposition to the sale of adult magazines in convenience stores in Japanese society in recent years.
Although convenience stores originated in the United States, many people think of Japan first when it comes to convenience stores. On the streets of Japan, especially in more prosperous cities such as Tokyo and Osaka, you can find a convenience store almost every 10 meters away.
Most Japanese also have a special affection for convenience stores. There are many reasons, the most important of which is probably two. First of all, in addition to a wide range of goods in Japanese convenience stores, most of the stores provide free use of toilets, can pay utility bills, buy tickets for concerts and other events, and even provide services for sending and receiving express delivery. On the other hand, Japanese convenience stores all adopt a 24-hour business system. Most Japanese people say that convenience stores are always open no matter whether they are late at night or in the morning. This provides a way for lonely Japanese people in Japanese society where the rate of singles is getting higher and higher. Kind of spiritual comfort. For some single women who return home late at night, convenience stores are still a good place to avoid danger if they encounter tailgating.
However, it is precisely because convenience stores are closely related to the lives of Japanese people. In recent years, the phenomenon of convenience stores selling a large number of adult magazines in the book corner of the store has caused huge controversy, especially in the eyes of women and children’s parents. Adult magazines will have a lot of negative effects on women and children.
In Japan, almost every convenience store has its own book corner. In addition to general weekly and monthly magazines, there are also many novels and comics on the shelves, as well as travel guides and manuals for foreign tourists. But almost every convenience store will first use a relatively large area to store adult magazines.
Especially in recent years, due to the popularity of the Internet, most consumers of adult magazines in convenience stores are mostly concentrated in the 50.60-year-old middle-aged and elderly people, and the style of the magazine is more open. Although marked as prohibited under the age of 18, the adult magazines placed on the shelves are not placed or isolated separately, which means that no matter what kind of consumers can browse at will in the store.
"Why does the convenience store arrange a corner to sell adult magazines? Why not isolate it like other bookstores, but make it easy for everyone to get it?", "Convenience stores also have children during the day, and girls come to shop. This kind of books and periodicals can be seen at a glance, it's too much!", "It's so strange that Japan would allow such counters to exist!" There are more and more similar comments posted on the Internet.
Therefore, once MINISTOP's move was announced, it won praise from most netizens. Due to the dissatisfaction of more and more women and the upcoming Tokyo Olympics in 2020, starting with MINISTOP, other convenience stores in Japan may also stop selling adult magazines in the store in the future. However, as an important part of the income of convenience stores, the sales of adult magazines will not be abandoned, but the main sales field will be changed from physical stores to online sales.
But in fact, as early as a few years ago, Japanese convenience stores provided digital magazine and book purchase services. For example, books and magazines ordered on the official website of 7-11 can be picked up in 7-11 convenience stores of their choice within 24 hours. Lawson and FamilyMart also provide similar services.
Compared with food and daily necessities, books and magazines in convenience stores belong to the "second category of goods" consumed by customers. Many of them are bought by the way. Even if many bookshelves are installed in the corners and occupy a small space, they are still convenient The store increases the risk of remaining inventory. In contrast, with online sales, consumers can directly receive the products they want in the convenience store without the need for additional inventory space provided by the convenience store. While optimizing sales, it will also increase customer satisfaction invisibly.
Compared with ordinary books and magazines, the adult magazines that have been discontinued this time have certain characteristics. However, from the perspective of the operating model of Japanese convenience stores and the needs of consumers, it may not be far from the complete disappearance of the book corner in Japanese convenience stores in the future.
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