New Customer Acquisition and Repeat Business through Data Analysis and Social Media

「The number of new customers acquired through our own website and other channels during the second quarter of the current consolidated fiscal year fell 14% from the immediately preceding consolidated quarter. In the immediately preceding consolidated quarter, certain products showed strong initial sales immediately after launch and performed well, so the second quarter was affected by a reaction to that performance. Nevertheless, quarterly results since the fiscal year ending February 2025 show that the second quarter was the second-highest level after the immediately preceding consolidated quarter, and we continue to maintain strong new-customer acquisition capabilities.」

「Since the previous consolidated fiscal year, we have continued efforts to promote the use of AI, enhance training and build the necessary structure to create “good creative,” such as advertisements with high click-through rates and sales pages with particularly high conversion rates. As a result, the number of new customers acquired through our own websites and other channels during the consolidated fiscal year increased 18% year on year, marking an increase for 5 consecutive consolidated quarters.」

「Since the previous fiscal year, we have continuously worked to improve training, establish organizational structures and consider the use of AI in order to create “good creative,” including advertisements with high click-through rates and sales pages with particularly high purchase rates. As a result, during the second quarter from 1 June 2025 to 31 August 2025, the number of new customers acquired through our websites and other channels increased 10% from the first quarter from 1 March 2025 to 31 May 2025.」

「During the fiscal year, the number of new customers acquired increased through the overall strengthening of the customer acquisition division resulting from improved skills in the creative and advertising operations divisions, strong performance from newly launched initiatives, and the expansion of in-house advertising acquisitions through new methods such as video advertising and AI-assisted creative production. In particular, monthly new customer acquisitions in April 2023 reached a record high since the company’s founding, and new customer acquisitions for the fiscal year increased 77% year on year.」

「During the first quarter, the number of new customers acquired through our websites and other channels increased by 411% year on year and by 26% from the immediately preceding quarter. Acquisitions through our own advertising expanded as the overall customer acquisition division was strengthened through skill improvements in the creative and advertising operations divisions during the previous fiscal year, and newly launched initiatives performed well.」

「The profitability of advertising improved after the method for calculating the maximum CPO was returned to the previous method, resulting in the same level of new customer acquisitions with less advertising expenditure than in the second quarter.」

「We continuously place approximately 5,000 advertisements, segmenting them not only by advertising medium, advertising copy and keywords but also by various factors such as time of day, day of the week and age group, and calculate and manage CPO daily. Since such detailed and timely CPO management cannot be handled by outsourcing to an advertising agency, we manage it in-house using our proprietary “Analysis and Operations System for Advertising Optimization” (the “in-house advertising system”), developed to acquire new customers efficiently while controlling advertising expenditure.」

「During the fiscal year, ROAS, one measure of advertising investment efficiency, improved from 0.84 in the previous fiscal year to 0.98. ROAS measures the sales generated relative to advertising expenditure. For example, if ¥1 million is spent on advertising and generates ¥900,000 in sales, ROAS is 0.90. When ROAS is 1 or below, the initial purchase is unprofitable, but subscription purchases can become profitable as customers continue purchasing.」

「We have strengthened the customer acquisition structure by increasing staffing for personnel overseeing the drafting of product sales web pages and advertising copy and the selection of sales funnels, as well as personnel responsible for designing and creating concepts for product sales web pages, enabling appropriate time to be devoted to increasing new customer acquisitions. In addition, we have increased staffing for personnel who create advertising banners distributed through each media channel.」

「As part of these initiatives, we introduced a BI (Business Intelligence) tool, a system that collects information accumulated in various internal information systems, analyzes and processes it, and converts it into useful information to support the consideration of management strategies and rapid decision-making. This made it possible to view the overall status of advertising placements.」

「As part of these initiatives, we introduced a BI (Business Intelligence) tool, a system that collects information accumulated in various internal information systems, analyzes and processes it, and converts it into useful information to support the consideration of management strategies and rapid decision-making. This made it possible to view the overall status of advertising placements.」

「Although the new system enabled detailed data to be scrutinized, problems with its basic design made it difficult to analyze the overall picture. Malfunctions occurred, including repeated placement of some unprofitable advertisements and resulting unnecessary advertising expenditure, which reduced investment efficiency and led to lower profit. In response, we have temporarily suspended operation of the in-house advertising system and returned to our previous advertising operations, while implementing updates to enhance its functionality.」

「In June 2018, we began operating a newly developed proprietary “Analysis and Operations System for Advertising Optimization” (the “in-house advertising system”).」

「The introduction of scenario marketing has produced significant results in the way advertising is deployed. We analyze users’ circumstances, the competitive environment and the strengths of our products in greater detail than conventional advertising agencies can cover, then establish the product concept and appeal. Based on that concept, we align everything from advertising copy to materials enclosed with the product according to a consistent scenario, enabling us to deploy advertising with less variation than before. We also introduced scenario marketing at an early stage in the configuration of web advertising distribution, allowing precise targeting and advertising delivery only to the intended users.」

「However, based on progress through the nine months ended the third quarter, the company expects the efficiency of its new customer acquisition capacity to improve substantially more than anticipated, making it possible to achieve the sales level in the previous forecast with less advertising expenditure than planned. As a result, advertising expenditure during the third quarter is expected to be reduced substantially below the forecast, and profit at each stage is expected to exceed the previous forecast. Accordingly, the company decided to revise its forecasts for the fiscal year ending February 2018.」

「Against this backdrop, during the fiscal year, as in the previous fiscal year, we substantially increased staffing in the customer acquisition division and further strengthened our customer acquisition structure. Through measures such as promoting in-house advertising operations and strengthening initiatives involving new media, we achieved both a substantial increase in new customer acquisition capacity and improved efficiency. We continued to actively pursue the use of various online media for advertising, entering into successive agreements with new online advertising channels. As transaction volumes with major online advertising media increased, they established dedicated “Kitanotatsujin” account representatives within their organizations, enabling us to build deeper relationships and create an environment for more advantageous advertising operations than those available to general companies.」

「Against this backdrop, during the first quarter, as in the previous fiscal year, we substantially increased staffing in the customer acquisition division and further strengthened our customer acquisition structure. Through measures such as promoting in-house advertising operations and strengthening initiatives involving new media, we achieved both a substantial increase in new customer acquisition capacity and improved efficiency.」

「Among existing products, “Aikyrara” achieved a substantial increase in new customer acquisitions through Facebook advertising and also succeeded in increasing acquisitions through affiliate advertising, significantly boosting sales. The product also became available through the Taiwan branch in September 2016. Customer acquisition using Facebook and LINE was successful there as well, resulting in steady sales growth, and the Taiwan branch’s business is beginning to gain traction.」

「Among existing products, “Aikyrara” achieved a substantial increase in new customer acquisitions through Facebook advertising and also succeeded in increasing acquisitions through affiliate advertising. The product also became available through the Taiwan branch in September 2016. Customer acquisition using Facebook and LINE was successful there as well, resulting in steady sales growth, and the Taiwan branch is finally beginning to gain traction.」

「The effectiveness of advertising expenditure has improved following the establishment of specialized social media advertising methods using existing customer data. We are also strengthening in-house operations in collaboration with Facebook Singapore and transitioning to a structure that steadily increases sales and profit for each product while controlling advertising expenditure.」