It hurts to commit seppuku

There is something called the lipstick index, which was proposed by the former president of the Estee Lauder Group. It means that the sales volume of lipsticks will not decrease during the economic recession, but will actually increase in sales against the trend.

From an economic point of view, when the economy is in recession, consumers will reduce their purchases of bulk commodities, so they will have more "spare money" in their hands than in normal times, just in time to buy "cheap non-necessities" such as lipstick.

In fact, this is a substitution effect. Under normal circumstances, when people's income increases, they will buy more goods, and the demand for bulk commodities and luxury goods will also increase.

When the economy is depressed and incomes decrease, people's consumption will decrease. When people give up buying houses, cars, and luxury goods, "cheap non-necessities" such as lipstick will replace the original bulk commodities and luxury goods.

This creates a substitution effect.

Of course, this situation will only occur in economically developed countries. In developing countries, consumers are still satisfied with daily necessities such as food and clothing. Only developed countries with rich materials will consider lipstick.

Not only lipstick, but also products such as foundation, perfume, nail polish, stockings, etc. will also see great sales during the economic recession.

For example, during the subprime mortgage crisis in 2008, luxury goods companies were in a difficult situation, but the sales performance of perfumes was particularly impressive. In 2009, the sales growth rate of high-end perfumes priced at more than 100 US dollars in the United States was 7%.

If you look carefully, these so-called "cheap non-necessities" are actually women's products.

This is a very interesting phenomenon. Whenever there is an economic recession, women tend to dress themselves up more glamorously, and the sales of various products targeted at women increase instead of falling.

Beauty equipment is obviously this type of product. When the Asian financial crisis hit Japan, the consumption situation in Japan fell off a cliff, but the sales of beauty equipment were not affected.

Later generations often say that the income of Japanese people has not changed in thirty years, which means that the income of Japanese people thirty years ago is the same as it is now.

Moreover, at that time, Japan had not expanded the scope of employment of temporary workers, and a large number of workers were employed on a lifelong basis. Calculated in this way, the overall salary of Japanese people at that time was actually higher than it is now.

After the future Koizumi cabinet took office, the Labor Dispatch Law was revised and passed, expanding the scope of temporary employment of temporary workers.

Although this has reduced labor costs in Japan and nominally increased employment opportunities, it has led to a decline in the overall income of corporate employees. Many Japanese who entered the workplace during the Koizumi cabinet were already in their forties by the time of the Tokyo Olympics.

Still a temporary worker.

In the 1990s, the income of the Japanese was really high, and after forty years of rapid development, the savings rate of Japanese families at that time was still acceptable. So even the newly launched micro-current face slimmer by Puppy Electric is priced at 15,000 yen

Yuan, for Japanese women, is still an acceptable range.

More importantly, the financial power of Japanese families is often in the hands of the hostess.

In most Japanese families, women do not have to work after they get married. Typically, men take charge of the house and women take charge of the house. The man is responsible for making money and the woman is responsible for spending money.

In Japan's consumer market, female consumers account for nearly 80%, which means that nearly 80% of Japan's products are bought by women. This proportion is the highest in the world.

Precisely because women control the financial power of the family, products specifically targeted at women are easier to sell.

…

Special Agent Kuwano walked into a Yamada Denki chain store. This is a relatively prosperous area in Tokyo, but the Yamada Denki store is a bit bleak. The clerks are staring at each other inside, and there are no customers at all.

"Has it always been like this today?" Special Agent Kuangye asked with a gloomy face.

The store manager next to him immediately replied: "This has been like this for the past month or so. There are very few customers. Even if many customers come to the store, they just take a look and then leave without looking like they want to buy."

Special Agent Kuwaye took a deep breath with some depression, and then he stood near the door, intending to experience it on the spot.

As expected, there were a lot of pedestrians coming and going on the road, but no one walked into Yamada Denki.

Across the road, there happens to be a drugstore. The situation of this drugstore is much better than that of Yamada Denki. Although it cannot be said to be crowded, there are still customers coming and going.

What makes Special Agent Kuwano feel even more jealous is that these customers basically enter the store empty-handed and come out with bags in hand, which means they purchased goods in the drug store.

Others could sell things, but he didn't have a single customer here. Special Agent Kuangye had mixed feelings in his heart. He subconsciously walked to the drug store opposite, intending to find out.

Manager Kuwaye walked into the drug store, and the clerk immediately bowed to say hello, then ignored Manager Kuwaye.

The clerk obviously felt that Kuangye, who was in charge of a big man, was not like customers who needed medicine and cosmetics, so he should give priority to Obasan who really wanted to buy something!

Special Agent Kuang Ye was also happy that no one paid attention to him. He stood aside and quietly observed.

At this time, the clerk was selling a microcurrent face slimming device to an Obasan.

"Microcurrent can stimulate the growth of collagen and elastic fibers, making the skin more elastic. It can also tighten the contours of your face and improve the lines of your face..."

After some introduction, Obasan spent 15,000 yen and bought this face slimming device.

"Can this little thing sell for 15,000 yen?" Executive Kuwano thought. He subconsciously stepped forward and asked, "Can I take a look at this product?"

The clerk was a little surprised and thought it was just a face-slimming device for women, why would you, a greasy old man, cause trouble?

However, based on the service concept of "customer first", the clerk handed the microcurrent face-slimming device to Specialist Kuwano, and then began to introduce it carefully.

"Which company produces this product?" Special Agent Kuwaye asked.

"It's PUPPY electrical appliances." The clerk replied politely.

In Japan, Puppy Electric uses the English name "PUPPY", which also looks a bit foreign. This is also a common method used by Chinese companies to expand abroad. Ordinary Japanese people will not think of a Chinese brand when they see a trademark with English subtitles.

Special Agent Sanye pondered for a moment, then shook his head: "I have never heard of this brand. Where is this company?"

"Here is the description of the place of origin." The clerk had no choice but to hand the instructions to Kuwano.

Special Agent Kuang Ye took the instructions and took a closer look. A surprised expression appeared on his face: "China? Is this a Chinese brand?"

"It does say that it is made in China. But don't worry, the quality of this product is good, and we are responsible for the after-sales service." The clerk explained quickly.

Special Agent Kuwano suddenly remembered that Section Chief Kobayashi had mentioned before that he wanted to sell new products, and the so-called new products were Chinese brand beauty equipment that had been sold in drug stores. And he had also said that he would rather commit suicide.

We also don’t sell Chinese brand products.

Thinking of this, Special Agent Kuang Ye asked: "How is the sales volume of this product?"

"The sales volume is still very good, and many customers buy it. Moreover, this product is endorsed by Takuya Kimura, so it is very popular with customers!" the clerk said, pointing to the poster of Takuya Kimura next to it.

Special Agent Kuwano nodded silently: "It seems that this is the product that Section Chief Xiaolin was talking about!"

…

In the evening, Special Agent Kuangye returned home dragging his exhausted body.

"I'm back!" Special Agent Kuang Ye shouted from the entrance.

Soon, Mrs. Sanye came out, took the briefcase from Special Agent Sanye, and asked at the same time: "Are you back? The meal has been prepared and the bath water has been put away. Do you plan to eat first or not?"

Take a shower first?”

"Take a shower first, and then prepare a bottle of beer for me." Special Agent Kuwaye said.

For Japanese people, taking a bath every day is a must. After taking a bath, eating and drinking a glass of beer is probably the most enjoyable time for many Japanese office workers every day.

After dinner, Special Agent Kuwaye watched TV for a while, then walked directly into the bedroom and lay down with a tired look on his face.

Soon, Mrs. Sanye also walked in after finishing the housework, but Mrs. Sanye was not empty-handed. She was holding a face-slimming device and rolling it on her chin.

Special Agent Kuang Ye saw this face slimming machine at a glance, and he was shocked. Even his wife bought this face slimming machine, which is enough to show that the sales of this product are very good.

However, when his wife bought a Chinese brand product, Manager Kuwaye was still very unhappy. The next second, Manager Kuwaye asked coldly: "What is that in your hand?"

"This is a face-slimming device, a beauty device for women. You don't understand." Mrs. Kuwano replied.

"How much did it cost?" Special Agent Kuangye asked again.

"It's not expensive, only a few thousand yen." Mrs. Kuwano replied with a blush on her face. She obviously didn't want to tell her husband the real price, lest she be accused of spending money indiscriminately.

"Thousands of yen? Improbable, right? Beauty equipment used by women is generally more expensive." Executive Kuwano suddenly sounded questioning.

"I seem to have remembered wrongly, it was over ten thousand." Mrs. Sanye said guiltily.

"15,000 yen, just over 10,000 yen?" Executive Kuwano said angrily.

Mrs. Kuwano didn't expect that her husband actually knew the price of the face slimmer. After a brief moment of panic, she immediately changed the subject.

I saw Mrs. Sanye smile instantly, then pull down the collar of her pajamas to expose as much of herself as possible. Then she came closer to Mr. Sanye and asked: "Dear, look at my face, is it okay?"

Much smaller?"

…

In the conference room of Yamada Denki, a board meeting is taking place.

Mr. Noboru Yamada, the founder of Yamada Denki and also the president of Yamada Denki, is sitting in the middle. Next to him is Mr. Koji Miya, the other founder.

Miya Koji is Yamada Noboru’s brother-in-law and also the vice chairman of Yamada Electric.

These two people are regarded as the core of power of Yamada Denki. Others on the board of directors are the only ones who follow their lead.

Yamada Denki was founded in the early 1970s. At first, Noboru Yamada and Koji Miya dominated the world. Later, when Yamada Denki became bigger, they began to boldly recruit new people to the board of directors and management. It was at that time that Commissioner Kuwano entered Yamada.

Electrical.

In the administrative structure of Yamada Denki, Mr. Kuwano is considered to be the most powerful person under the president. However, Mr. Kuwano does not have much say in the board of directors.

The people sitting in the conference room now are all the bosses of Mr. Kuwaye, and Mr. Kuwaye also needs to report to them.

Due to the outbreak of the financial crisis, Yamada Electric's sales data are not good, and profits are far less than last year.

When such data is reported to the board of directors, other directors are naturally very dissatisfied.

Ever since, a series of questions rang out, and even the president, Noboru Yamada, who had always trusted him, cast some questioning glances.

Fortunately, Yamada Noboru still gave the commercial manager a chance to explain, and he said: "In recent years, the work of the commercial manager Kuwano has been very good, and the profits of our Yamada Electric have also been greatly improved.

But our sales this year have been very poor, and our profits have dropped significantly. Specialist Kuwano, do you have anything to explain to the board of directors?"

Executive Kuwano immediately said: "Dear directors, the sharp decline in sales this year occurred in the last two months. This was caused by Japan's economic downturn.
To be continued...