Online shop creation service in Japan – a ready-to-sell store, free demo first

What "ready to sell" means for an online shop

Most new shops stall after design. Whether a visitor finds a product, trusts it and checks out without friction depends on the items below. Use them as a checklist before launch.

• Product pages: photos that show size and use, materials, care, stock and variants such as color and size
• Categories and navigation: any product within two or three clicks of the home page, with clear picks and new arrivals
• Payment: credit cards, convenience store payment, pay-later and wallet options that suit your customers
• Shipping: rates by region and size, a free-shipping threshold, delivery times shown up front
• Required notices: the Specified Commercial Transactions Act page (tokushoho), privacy policy, return terms
• Tracking: GA4 and conversion setup, so you know where sales come from

In Japan, the tokushoho page lists the seller's name, address, contact details, prices, shipping fees, payment timing and methods, delivery timing and return conditions. The rules, including how home-based sellers may present their details, are revised from time to time, so check the latest guidance from the Consumer Affairs Agency.

Build it yourself or outsource the shop?

BASE and Shopify let you open a store yourself by following the admin panel. With a small range and time to prepare photos and copy, starting on your own is a perfectly good option.

Outsourcing the build makes sense when any of these apply:

• The store is open but still uses the default theme and does not feel like your brand
• Your main work keeps you busy and product listings or shipping settings have been on hold for months
• You also sell in a physical shop or wholesale and need stock and prices to stay consistent
• You want to sell abroad and need English pages or foreign currency display
• You plan to bring traffic from ads or social media and want tracking and page structure right from the start

When comparing providers, look beyond the build price: can you update the shop yourself after launch, are the store and domain accounts in your name, and will the same person help you after launch? Typically in Japan, a small template-based shop costs in the range of a few hundred thousand yen, while custom features push budgets into the millions. For the business side of getting started, see how to start an online shop in Japan.

Choosing between BASE, Shopify and WordPress

Pick the platform by product count, how you sell and where you want to grow. The three common choices compare like this:

• BASE: you can start on a plan with no monthly fee and pay a fee when you sell. A good fit for makers and shops with a small range
• Shopify: a monthly plan with themes and apps to extend it. Strong for larger catalogs, regular sales campaigns and selling overseas in several languages and currencies
• WordPress (WooCommerce): runs your shop together with a blog or brand pages and is very flexible, with more maintenance – hosting, plugin and security updates

Fees and plans change over time, so check current prices on each service's official site. To start with minimal cost, read how to open an online shop for free; for tips on building with BASE, see BASE online shops.

How an online shop build runs and what to prepare

Typically, a small shop with up to a few dozen products can launch in about a month once materials are ready. The steps look like this:

• Sales plan: who you sell to, which products, at what price and how they are delivered
• Platform: choose BASE, Shopify or another option based on range, payment and overseas sales
• Design and structure: settle the home page, categories, product pages and brand story page
• Product listings: photos, descriptions, prices, stock, variants and shipping classes
• Payment, shipping and notices: payment provider review, shipping rates, tokushoho page and policies
• Test order and launch: place a real order from a phone, check emails and stock, then go live

It helps to have ready: your logo files, product photos, a list of prices, sizes and materials per product, your shipping approach and the domain you want to use. Phone photos work well when taken in good light against a consistent background.

Common stumbling blocks before and after launch

When a new shop gets no orders, the cause usually sits outside the design. Review these points before launch.

• Shipping costs appear only at the last checkout step, so people leave the cart
• Product descriptions are too short to picture the size or use
• Payment provider review takes longer than expected and the launch date slips
• Contact details and return terms are hard to find, so first-time buyers hesitate
• No plan for traffic after launch, so the shop gets almost no visitors

The usual mix for traffic is SEO, Google Shopping ads and Meta ads on Instagram and Facebook, matched to your products and budget. Deciding where to start before launch keeps the preparation focused.

How UNANOBO creates your online shop: a free demo first

Before you commit to anything, UNANOBO builds a free demo of your online shop using your brand and real products. You browse the home page and product pages on a computer and a phone, and decide whether to go ahead once the store feels right.

The process is simple: free demo, feedback, launch, growth. The founder handles every project personally, so you keep one contact from the first demo to marketing after launch. We recommend BASE, Shopify or WordPress at the demo stage, and the store and domain accounts are set up in your name. Everything runs by message, in Japanese or English.