e-Commerce

December 2001

The comparative level of transactions using JCB credit cards on e-commerce Web sites in November 2001 increased by 25.7 percent compared with the previous month, according to a survey conducted by Nikkei Market Access in cooperation with JCB Co., Ltd. The value of transactions that showed a consecutive decline as of the end of September and October has recovered to a relatively higher level of 879 against the figure based on 100 for April 1999. It is the second-highest level to the highest recorded in August 2001. On the other hand, the number of transactions increased by 14.6 percent in November 2001 compared with the previous month. It was a two-digit growth that reached the relative value of 1,324, exceeding last month's record to reach the highest level in the past. The growth rate, however, is not as high as that of the value of transactions.

Table: Japan's Online Trade in Value and Transactions Using JCB (November, 2001)

* Relative values calculated relative to the April 99 settlement period as the datum (base index 100) (1) Each monthly period refers to transactions processed up to the 15th of the month, JCB's cut-off date. The actual date of these transactions differs among JCB members, because the merchandise requires time for ordering, shipping, and the cooling-off period. For those reasons, most transactions occurred 1-2 months before the cut-off day. (2) In addition to payments done by entering JCB credit card numbers via Web sites, online transactions charged to JCB cards include payments by Secure Electronic Transaction (SET) protocol, and by the "Smash" method offered by the So-net Internet access service. Payments by fax or phone using a credit card are not included. (3) With JCB's cooperation, Nikkei Market Access provides e-commerce market indexes -- data that primarily relates to the use of e-commerce by individual consumers. Payments by credit cards account for about 30 percent of transactions in Japan's e-commerce market targeting individual consumers. According to JCB, it has slightly less than a 30-percent share of credit card payments at e-commerce sites. ( December 26, 2001, Nikkei Market Access)