Current situation of e-commerce in Japan

The scale of Japan's e-commerce market will reach 14 trillion yen in 2022. Affected by the epidemic, 

the e-commerce market and its share have shown a clear upward trend. The three major e-commerce

 platforms (Rakuten, Amazon, and Yahoo) account for 70% of the market. Domestic manufacturers' 

advantageous categories such as furniture decoration, life and audio-visual appliances, computers 

and their peripheral products, and clothing account for 70% of the overall market, and the market 

size is growing rapidly.

Japan's return service process

Return application and confirmation

Consumers submit a return application on an e-commerce platform or an independent e-commerce

 website, providing the reason for the return and product information. The seller will decide whether

 to approve the return after review, and the return application that meets the policy will be accepted. 

Common reasons for return include damaged goods, inconsistent with the description, or quality 

problems.

Logistics arrangement

Once the return application is approved, the consumer will send the goods back to the designated 

return address. Usually, consumers need to return the goods to the seller or designated warehouse

through express companies (such as Japan Post, Sagawa Express, Kuroneko Delivery, etc.). For 

cross-border returns, sellers can choose to use international logistics companies such as DHL, FedEx, 

UPS, etc.

Return Receiving and Quality Inspection

After receiving the returned goods, the seller will conduct a quality inspection to confirm whether the

 goods are intact, whether the packaging is complete, and whether the reason for the return is true. 

If the goods meet the return policy, the subsequent process will continue; otherwise, the return may 

be refused or negotiated with the consumer according to the situation.

Refund or Exchange

Once the quality inspection is passed, the seller will arrange a refund or exchange according to the

 consumer's requirements. Refunds are generally returned to the consumer's account through the 

payment channel, and exchanges require re-shipment. The entire refund or exchange process is 

usually completed within a few days.

Main Challenges of Return Services in Japan

Handling returns in Japan, especially cross-border e-commerce returns, faces the following challenges:

High logistics costs: Japan's logistics costs are relatively high, especially for international returns, where 

the costs are more significant.

Strict quality inspection standards: Japanese consumers have high requirements for product quality and 

service, and the quality inspection standards for returned goods are very strict.

Diverse return needs: Sellers not only need to handle the return of goods, but also involve quality

 inspection, repairs, labeling and other links, and the entire process is relatively complicated.

In order to solve these problems, it is crucial to choose a professional return service provider.

U-Speed's return shipping solution in Japan

To help cross-border e-commerce sellers cope with the challenges of return shipping services in Japan, 

U-Speed provides a one-stop global return shipping solution. U-Speed's global return shipping uses the 

return shipping management system as a service platform, and its business covers 24 countries and 

regions on five continents around the world, providing professional and customized cross-border reverse

 logistics services for cross-border e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, eBay, AliExpress, Temu, Tiktok,

 Shein, and independent station sellers.

U-Speed provides sellers with the following services to ensure that Japan's return shipping issues are 

handled efficiently:

Multi-platform return and exchange reception

No matter which platform the seller uses (such as Amazon, AliExpress, etc.), U-Speed can provide them

 with a unified return and exchange reception service, greatly simplifying the operation process.

Return quality inspection and repair

U-Speed provides comprehensive quality inspection services for returned goods to ensure that the returned

 goods meet the standards. In addition, U-Speed can also provide repair and refurbishment services according

 to demand to help sellers reduce return losses.

Labeling and re-listing

For products that can be resold, U-Speed provides labeling and re-listing services to quickly re-list products

 and avoid inventory backlogs.

Local warehousing and transfer warehouses

U-Speed provides local warehousing services in Japan to help sellers store returned products and reduce cross-border

 return costs. At the same time, sellers can also use local warehouses for transfer warehouses to optimize inventory

 management.

Destruction and return to the country

For products that do not meet the requirements of secondary sales, U-Speed can assist in arranging destruction or 

returning the products to the country to ensure that every link in the seller's return process is properly resolved.

These services of U-Speed are particularly suitable for handling products in categories such as clothing, electronic

 products, household goods, toys, and maternal and child products, helping sellers effectively handle return issues

in the Japanese market and improve operational efficiency.