Stationery and Office Supplies Market in Japan: Key Research Findings 2017
Research Outline
- Research period: From October to December, 2017
- Research target: Companies in the business of stationery and office supplies
- Research methodologies: Face-to-face research by the expert researchers, surveys via telephone/email, and literature research
What are Stationery and Office Supplies?
The stationery and office supplies in this research indicate the following 27 items classified into three categories: 1) Writing instruments (pencils, fountain pens, water-based ballpoint pens, oil-based ballpoint pens, mechanical pencils, water-based marker pens, and oil-based marker pens); 2) Paper products (notebooks, school notebooks, pocket schedulers, envelopes, albums, loose leafs, and report pads); 3) Office supplies (files, adhesive tapes, stamps/seals, sticker labels, glues, blackboards, correction products, cutters, staplers, erasers, scissors, electronic stationery including label writers, and electronic dictionaries). Gel-ink ballpoint pens are included in water-based ballpoint pens.
Summary of Research Findings
- Domestic Stationery and Office Supplies Market for FY2016 Leveled off at 469,200 Million Yen
The domestic stationery and office supplies market in FY2016 has kept similar size as the previous fiscal year to achieve 469,200 million yen, based on the shipment value at manufacturers. Some products in writing instruments that had contributed to expand the entire market for the past several years have begun quietened down, so that they were not enough to expand the market though they managed to cover the shrinking markets of paper products and office supplies.
- Market of Mechanical Pencils Invigorated due to Multiple Purchase Demand
The market size of mechanical pencils (including both pencil bodies and refill leads) in FY2016 rose by 3.3% to attain 15,500 million yen, based on the shipment value at manufacturers. Because enhancement in developing mechanical pencils by leading manufacturers, the market has invigorated with higher-functioned or value-added products and with wider range of choices in lead diameters, which has encouraged the consumers to buy multiple products at one time.
- Fountain Pen Market Maintained its Stable Demand, Though Products in Mid-to-High Prices Have Challenges in Supplying
The fountain pen market size in FY2016 based on the shipment value at manufacturers has declined by 0.6% to 4,650 million yen. Although the market has stably established and increased the users, some fountain pens, mainly those mid-to-high-priced ones that require many hand processes have some challenges in terms of supply.
- Figure 1: Transition of Domestic Market Size of Stationery and Office Supplies
- Figure 2: Transition of Domestic Market Size of Mechanical Pencils
- Figure 3: Transition of Domestic Market Size of Fountain Pens
