Market Overview

In FY2023, the domestic retail market for bags and purses grew by 25.0% year over year to 1,691.1 billion yen. The reclassification of COVID-19 as a Class-5 disease under the Infectious Disease Act, which lifted activity limitations and drove a recovery in demand. The market size surpassed the preceding fiscal year level thanks to the increase in inbound tourist demand. However, it is important to point out that an increase in the unit price of goods, which was caused by the rising costs of fuel and raw materials, also contributed to the expansion. In addition, FY2023 saw a rise in the sales of imported brand bags, Japanese brand suitcases, “Made in Japan” brand bags (those that particularly highlight their Japanese origins), as well as a rise in popularity of collaboration products featuring anime characters.

Noteworthy Topics

Travel Bag Retail Market

The travel bag retail domestic market in FY2023 increased 52.2% year over year to 212 billion yen. Travel bag demand is split by users, with domestic customers preferring small-sized bags that are suitable for boarding flights to nearby nations and inbound tourists buying large-sized bags to carry home souvenirs they bought while in Japan. With the rise of foreign tourists to Japan, the travel bag industry is anticipated to keep rising.

Future Outlook

The domestic bags and purses retail market is projected to reach 1,985.5 billion yen in FY2024, a 17.4% increase over the previous fiscal year. A market driver is the further expansion of inbound demand (demand from foreign visitors to Japan). Wealthy domestic consumers and foreign tourists continue to be the main customers for imported brands. For domestic products, sales of suitcases will be dominant. Meanwhile, concerns remain about the purchasing behaviors of local Japanese consumers, as higher expenses could lead them to avoid shopping.

Research Outline