Sales in Japan
Unlike the French system, Japan does not work on the basis of regulated periods during which companies can offer global percentages of price reductions.Each of them fixes their discounts when she wishes, for example supermarkets each evening on fresh products.
On the other hand, during the traditional cut of the New Year, many Japanese brands offer massive sales coupled with promotional offers.Thus, during the first days of the year, the big channels in particular (since the more modest shops raise the foot these few days) sacrifice this seasonal tradition.
En savoir plus :Le nouvel an au JaponAlthough itered and rarely in recent years, the famous annual bonus of Salary-Men is pleasantly agreed with this period of discounts and allows the renewal of household appliances or even purchase-plaisir, the Japanese not celebrating (yet?) Christmasin this direction.
Fukubukuro, the "Lucky Bag"
But, in addition to the functioning of all classic sales, Japan naturally draws one of its usual specificities from which it has the secret, known as 福袋 Fukubukuro (literally, a "bag of luck") or "Lucky Bag"international name.Tradition would go back to the end of the 18th century, even if it is obviously difficult to trace it.
From January 1 and the next few days, customers crowd for 初売 Hatsuuri, the first sales of the year.Their star is obviously this famous surprise cover, because these bags are sometimes very limited editions: in the most popular stores, the Fukubukuro stock can evaporate from the first minutes!
Thus, it is not uncommon to find stores on the storefronts more or less long.To attract attention, special counters are planned, sometimes even on the sidewalk, with packaged assortments and ready in advance to chain sales.More rarely, it is possible to reserve or even order your bag on the internet 📶 in advance.
As with the outings of video game consoles 🎮 or the most anticipated smartphones, the tails sometimes take shape from the day before, and the press to come cheerfully interviews those who do not hesitate to wait an entire night in the cold to testtheir luck.Apple has long done these fatty cabbage, before stopping this habit in 2016.
Because Fukubukuro salt obviously lies in the fact that the bags hide their contents.For a 1st.000 (~ € 7.73) to several tens of thousands of yen, customers can then hope to leave with an assortment of products up to several times the amount invested.Muji, for example, does not hesitate to communicate on prizes of increased value!
At the beginning of 2019, JR Tokai puts itself on it for the first time with objects related to the train, some of which used by its staff.In his most expensive Fukubukuro (100. ¥ / ~ 773 €), we can even obtain a seat of the driver of Shinkansen 🚅!
Among the more popular sectors, we will cite fashion, high-tech or food.But in addition to the hope of making a good deal, the customer must accept that the content discovered is not necessarily to his taste.Because the opening is not always interesting: there are sometimes ends of stocks, unsold or goodies which we do not really know what to do afterwards.
The simplest, in case of doubt, remains to carry out a research on Twitter including the name of the coveted brand to see the annual trend of "quality" of the surprises in the surprise bag.But don't delay making your decision too much!
If the vast majority of brands play on the much appreciated lottery effect of the Japanese population, to avoid disappointed, some of them choose to transparently disseminate the content of their "bags of luck" (sometimes even in advance).In this case, is it still a Fukubukuro?
- Prev
- Next
