IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/boj/bojwps/wp22e11.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

An Assessment of Online Consumption Trends in Japan during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Author

Listed:
  • Jouchi Nakajima

    (Bank of Japan)

  • Masato Takahashi

    (Bank of Japan)

  • Tomoyuki Yagi

    (Bank of Japan)

Abstract

Online consumption in Japan has increased significantly since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, many issues remain unclear, such as what kind of households have increased their online consumption and whether the increase in online consumption is temporary or highly persistent. In this paper, we provide an empirical analysis of online consumption trends during the pandemic, using (i) granular tailor-made data from the Survey of Household Economy by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications and (ii) aggregated figures computed from transaction data from "Money Forward ME," the personal financial management service provided by Money Forward, Inc. Our empirical results based on these datasets up to December 2020 show that online consumption in Japan increased among a wide range of age and income groups, that many households engaged in online consumption for the first time during the pandemic, and that most of these households continued to engage in online consumption. While it should be noted that the results are based on a limited observation period, they suggest that the increase in online consumption likely is highly persistent. If such changes in household behavior are indeed highly persistent, they may have important implications for Japan's economy.

Suggested Citation

  • Jouchi Nakajima & Masato Takahashi & Tomoyuki Yagi, "undated". "An Assessment of Online Consumption Trends in Japan during the COVID-19 Pandemic," Bank of Japan Working Paper Series 22-E-11, Bank of Japan.
    • Handle: RePEc:boj:bojwps:wp22e11
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.boj.or.jp/en/research/wps_rev/wps_2022/data/wp22e11.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alberto Cavallo, 2017. "Are Online and Offline Prices Similar? Evidence from Large Multi-channel Retailers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(1), pages 283-303, January.
    2. Michiru Kaneda & So Kubota & Satoshi Tanaka, 2021. "Who spent their COVID-19 stimulus payment? Evidence from personal finance software in Japan," The Japanese Economic Review, Springer, vol. 72(3), pages 409-437, July.
    3. Tomoyuki Yagi & Kakuho Furukawa & Jouchi Nakajima, 2022. "Productivity Trends in Japan - Reviewing Recent Facts and the Prospects for the Post-COVID-19 Era -," Bank of Japan Working Paper Series 22-E-10, Bank of Japan.
    4. David Bounie & Youssouf Camara & John Galbraith, 2020. "Consumers’ Mobility, Expenditure and Online-Offline Substitution Response to COVID-19: Evidence from French Transaction Data," Cahiers de recherche 14-2020, Centre interuniversitaire de recherche en économie quantitative, CIREQ.
    5. Yoon J. Jo & Misaki Matsumura & David E. Weinstein, 2019. "The Impact of E-Commerce on Relative Prices and Consumer Welfare," NBER Working Papers 26506, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Sara Calligaris & Chiara Criscuolo & Luca Marcolin, 2018. "Mark-ups in the digital era," OECD Science, Technology and Industry Working Papers 2018/10, OECD Publishing.
    7. Nao Sudo & Kozo Ueda & Kota Watanabe, 2014. "Micro Price Dynamics during Japan's Lost Decades," Asian Economic Policy Review, Japan Center for Economic Research, vol. 9(1), pages 44-64, January.
    8. Tsutomu Watanabe & Yuki Omori, 2021. "Online Consumption During and After the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from Japan," CARF F-Series CARF-F-524, Center for Advanced Research in Finance, Faculty of Economics, The University of Tokyo.
    9. Tsutomu Watanabe & Yuki Omori, 2021. "Online Consumption During and After the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from Japan," Working Papers on Central Bank Communication 035, University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Economics.
    10. Emi Nakamura & Jón Steinsson, 2008. "Five Facts about Prices: A Reevaluation of Menu Cost Models," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 123(4), pages 1415-1464.
    11. Austan D. Goolsbee & Peter J. Klenow, 2018. "Internet Rising, Prices Falling: Measuring Inflation in a World of E-Commerce," AEA Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Association, vol. 108, pages 488-492, May.
    12. Seisaku Kameda, 2022. "Use of Alternative Data in the Bank of Japan's Research Activities," Bank of Japan Review Series 22-E-1, Bank of Japan.
    13. Austan D. Goolsbee & Peter J. Klenow, 2018. "Internet Rising, Prices Falling: Measuring Inflation in a World of E-Commerce," NBER Working Papers 24649, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Vivian Chu & Tatjana Dahlhaus & Christopher Hajzler, 2023. "Digitalization: Prices of Goods and Services," Discussion Papers 2023-27, Bank of Canada.
    2. Chung, Jamie, 2023. "The spillover effect of E-commerce on local retail real estate markets," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    3. Patrick Bajari & Zhihao Cen & Victor Chernozhukov & Manoj Manukonda & Jin Wang & Ramon Huerta & Junbo Li & Ling Leng & George Monokroussos & Suhas Vijaykunar & Shan Wan, 2023. "Hedonic prices and quality adjusted price indices powered by AI," CeMMAP working papers 08/23, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    4. Kozo Ueda & Kota Watanabe & Tsutomu Watanabe, 2021. "Household Inventory, Temporary Sales, and Price Indices," CARF F-Series CARF-F-520, Center for Advanced Research in Finance, Faculty of Economics, The University of Tokyo.
    5. Tomoyuki Yagi & Kakuho Furukawa & Jouchi Nakajima, 2022. "Productivity Trends in Japan - Reviewing Recent Facts and the Prospects for the Post-COVID-19 Era -," Bank of Japan Working Paper Series 22-E-10, Bank of Japan.
    6. Aitor Lacuesta & Pau Roldan & Darío Serrano-Puente, 2020. "Effects of e-commerce on prices and business competition," Economic Bulletin, Banco de España, issue 4/2020.
    7. Cong Peng, 2019. "Does e-commerce reduce traffic congestion? Evidence from Alibaba Single Day shopping event," CEP Discussion Papers dp1646, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    8. Doris Ritzberger-Grünwald & Fabio Rumler, 2019. "Challenges for measuring inflation in a digital world from a monetary policy perspective," Monetary Policy & the Economy, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank), issue Q3/19, pages 42-53.
    9. Scanlon, Paul, 2019. "New goods and asset prices," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(3), pages 140-157.
    10. Paul Dolfen & Liran Einav & Peter J. Klenow & Benjamin Klopack & Jonathan D. Levin & Larry Levin & Wayne Best, 2023. "Assessing the Gains from E-Commerce," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 15(1), pages 342-370, January.
    11. Alberto Cavallo, 2018. "More Amazon Effects: Online Competition and Pricing Behaviors," NBER Working Papers 25138, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Peng, Cong, 2019. "Does e-commerce reduce traffic congestion? Evidence from Alibaba Single Day shopping event," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 103411, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    13. Macias, Paweł & Stelmasiak, Damian & Szafranek, Karol, 2023. "Nowcasting food inflation with a massive amount of online prices," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 809-826.
    14. Yim, Sung Taek & Son, Jong Chil & Lee, Jiwon, 2022. "Spread of E-commerce, prices and inflation dynamics: Evidence from online price big data in Korea," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    15. Anderton, Robert & Jarvis, Valerie & Labhard, Vincent & Morgan, Julian & Petroulakis, Filippos & Vivian, Lara, 2020. "Virtually everywhere? Digitalisation and the euro area and EU economies," Occasional Paper Series 244, European Central Bank.
    16. Ha,Jongrim & Ivanova,Anna & Ohnsorge,Franziska Lieselotte & Unsal Portillo Ocando,Derya Filiz, 2019. "Inflation : Concepts, Evolution, and Correlates," Policy Research Working Paper Series 8738, The World Bank.
    17. Yoon J. Jo & Misaki Matsumura & David E. Weinstein, 2019. "The Impact of E-Commerce on Relative Prices and Consumer Welfare," NBER Working Papers 26506, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Marco Del Negro & Michele Lenza & Giorgio E. Primiceri & Andrea Tambalotti, 2020. "What's Up with the Phillips Curve?," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 51(1 (Spring), pages 301-373.
    19. Ko Munakata & Takeshi Shinohara & Shigenori Shiratsuka & Nao Sudo & Tsutomu Watanabe, 2023. "On the Source of Seasonality in Price Changes: The Role of Seasonality in Menu Costs," IMES Discussion Paper Series 23-E-07, Institute for Monetary and Economic Studies, Bank of Japan.
    20. Alex Nikolsko‐Rzhevskyy & Oleksandr Talavera & Nam Vu, 2023. "The flood that caused a drought," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 61(4), pages 965-981, October.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Online Consumption; COVID-19; Alternative Data;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:boj:bojwps:wp22e11. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Bank of Japan (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/bojgvjp.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.