[Topic 295] Can you name a reason why fans would want to talk about your company's products for 3 hours, other than their low price?
I happened to glance at a notebook from a 100-yen shop on my desk. What was once synonymous with "cheap and shoddy" has now become an essential part of daily life—or rather, an object of affection that people feel lost without.
Many business owners struggle with daily cash flow or the gap between them and employees who don't share their vision, feeling a lonely sense of urgency that their products are caught in a price war. By the time you finish reading this article, you should be freed from the "pain of lowering prices to sell" and wrapped in the excitement of creating value together with your customers.
Article Summary
Daiso Industries is ramping up product development and fan tours by leveraging its highly engaged fan community, "DAISO no Wa" (Circle of DAISO). As a first step, they released block-type toys that reflected fan feedback, with discussions that were scheduled for one hour extending to three, resulting in the realization of specific requests like "skin-tone parts." Even amidst rising prices, by fostering not just cheapness but an experiential value like a "treasure hunt" and brand attachment (fandom), they have secured the top spot in brand power within the retail industry. While facing the dilemma of speed inherent in a massive chain, they plan to accelerate "co-creation" with fans in areas like food products as well. (Source: Nihon Keizai Shimbun, June 19, 2026, "Daiso's Devoted Fanbase and New Ideas")
Three Key Points
The company turned the spontaneous behavior of "Daiso Patrols" (store hopping) into an official community mechanism.
They created a hit not through simple surveys, but through "gritty dialogue" that turned a one-hour meeting into a three-hour session.
They established a position as infrastructure (a companion) in customers' lives, serving as "parts to build their own lifestyle."
The "Customer Pain" Behind the News
For 25 years, I have been involved in the gritty work of handling complaints and improving sales on the front lines of small and medium-sized enterprises. From that experience, I can say that this news is not just a superficial story about how "Daiso is loved by fans and that's amazing."
What consumers are looking for now is not "cheap goods." In 2026, with rising prices, the pain consumers are truly feeling is the "emptiness of not feeling fulfilled even after paying money."
Daiso fans are not buying the convenience of a 100-yen item. They are enjoying the process of finding a "personal treasure" among over 50,000 products and sharing it with someone else. Because I was on the front lines of complaint handling, I understand this: customers are most enthusiastic when a company takes their complaints or requests "seriously and with grit." That grit, shown by discussing fan opinions for three hours, is the requirement for companies to be chosen in this era.
What customers are looking for is not a "perfect finished product," but "room for their own voices to shape it."
Practice: Things You Can Do on the Front Lines Starting Tomorrow
Small and medium-sized enterprises without the budget or resources cannot simply copy the mechanisms of Daiso Industries. You don't need to build a system. There is a "gritty step" I want you, as the president, to take starting tomorrow.
That is,to go and talk to the "three customers who have been using your products or services most enthusiastically in the last month" in person or over the phone yourself.is what I mean.
Please open a notebook and refer to the following "Kojima-style Framework."
Kojima-style: 3 Questions to Uncover Customer "Passion"
❶"When you first used our product, what were you actually dissatisfied with (what was difficult to use)?" (*By daring to ask about dissatisfaction, you switch on their true feelings.)
❷"Even so, what is the 'number one reason' you continue to use it without switching to another company?" (*Here lies your company's true asset that even you haven't noticed.)
❸"If we were to release a new product next, what kind of 'selfish request' would you want us to fulfill?"
The time for worrying about "how to sell" with employees in a conference room is over. Tomorrow, take a box of sweets and run to the customer who has the sharpest voice on the front lines.
A cheer from your presidential advisor
Finally, in the quiet of the dawn at the office, as you face the numbers alone, I leave you with this question.
"If all your company's products were to disappear from the market tomorrow, who are the customers who would shed tears and get angry, saying, 'Please don't go away?'"
Competing on features or price will always lead to a war of attrition. However, the story you have built together with your customers is something no competitor can imitate, no matter how much money they spend. Precisely because you are small, you should be able to connect deeply and intensely with every single fan.
There is no need to suffer in loneliness. Let us sweat together as we take that gritty, down-to-earth step forward.
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