The Japanese’ online retail reach of 86 per cent is among the highest in the world – some nine per cent ahead of other countries.

That’s according to the new study of comScore which also says that Japan’s online population now exceeds 73.6 million. Japan is also home to a 102 million strong mobile audience and a fast growing smartphone segment with a penetration rate above 34 per cent now, it says.

comScore also says that Japanese online audience skews significantly older with only 34 per cent of Japanese audience are under 35 and those aged 55 and above make up twice the share of the global average.

The study also found out that comparison shopping is drawing a large audience among Japanese where as the category is led by Amazon, Rakuten and Yahoo.

With the platform shift in full swing, businesses will be challenged in the coming year to stay ahead of consumers’ usage curve and deliver them with the content they want, when and where they want it, comScore said.

It says that it will be imperative to maintain revenue streams in the core digital channels while capturing market share and monetising emerging channels.

“Doing so will require businesses to get even smarter in how they scale their content to other platforms by developing integration strategies that deliver unique offerings to advertisers,” it says.