Inquiries based on the reviews have skyrocketed. U-KOMI is now indispensable.

Kunitachi Shoten specializes in online sales of artisan-crafted leather goods, such as leather cases for iPhones and iPads. The company has been operating its online store since the 1990s, and after introducing a review tool a few years ago, communication with users—centered around reviews—has become much more active. We spoke with 遠藤様 of Kunitachi Shoten Co., Ltd. to learn about the background behind the implementation of U-KOMI and the results it has yielded.

Specializing in Online Sales of Artisan-Made Leather Goods

First, could you tell us about your business?

We are a company that specializes in the online production and sale of leather goods. Founded in 1995, we originally operated a physical store in Kunitachi City, Tokyo, but in 2001, we closed the store and transitioned to an online-only business model. Our artisans create and sell original leather goods, primarily for Apple products, such as leather cases for iPhones and iPads.

One advantage of direct sales is that, since there are no intermediaries, we can offer these leather goods at relatively reasonable prices.

Have you been selling leather goods for Apple products from the very beginning?

Yes, we’ve been making products for Apple devices from the very beginning. Back then, they were called PowerBooks rather than MacBooks, and we mainly produced and sold inner cases for them. We’ve been selling products for Apple devices since around the time Windows 95 was released and the internet began to spread.

Given this background, I get the impression that a relatively large number of our customers are Mac users in their 40s and older.

Were you originally a leather craftsman yourself, Mr. Endo?

I’m not a leather craftsman myself; I handle planning and design. The process is that I sketch out what I want to create, design it in Illustrator, then commission a craftsman to bring the product to life.

Operating an e-commerce business since the 1990s. We entrusted U-KOMI with everything from building the e-commerce site to implementing review tools—a one-stop service.

Have you been running the e-commerce business since the company’s founding in 1995?

Yes. At first, it was almost like a hobby, but since there were very few people doing e-commerce back then, we were featured in magazines and other media, which helped us gain recognition.

When did you start using the review tool? Could you also tell us about the background behind its implementation?

We introduced it a few years ago. The background was simply that more and more e-commerce sites were adding review features, so we felt we were just riding the wave of the times. Since I often check user reviews and feedback myself when shopping online, I thought it would be a good idea to have one.

With other review tools available, what was the deciding factor in choosing U-KOMI?

The main deciding factor was that we had already commissioned them to build our e-commerce site, so we felt it would be smoother to handle everything through a single provider rather than introducing a separate tool. We had considered using the optional features of our current Shopify cart system or introducing another review tool, but we ultimately decided it would be easier to rely on U-KOMI, which could handle everything from e-commerce development through to the review system.

Also, since I knew the CEO personally and was familiar with his character, the fact that I trusted him was a major reason for choosing U-KOMI.

Since implementing U-KOMI, we’ve seen an increase in inquiries driven by reviews, and we’ve maintained a high review acquisition rate.

Please tell us about the effects and your experience with U-KOMI.

We’ve started receiving many inquiries from customers who reference our reviews. For example, we get questions like, “The reviews say the XX model fits, but does the △△ model fit too?” or “The reviews mentioned the leather is stiff—how is it in reality?”We’ve even received reviews stating, “I purchased this after reading the reviews.” Reviews have become so essential that our business relies on them—they’re now indispensable. This significant increase in communication with customers is a major benefit. I was also worried about what to do if we received negative reviews, but I’m relieved that they’ve been relatively few.

Furthermore, our company has been using U-KOMI since its initial release, and when we switched our cart system last year, we were able to migrate the reviews smoothly. Our review collection rate has also remained at an average of about 10% from the time of implementation to the present.

Finally, could you share your future outlook and any requests you might have?

Moving forward, I’d like to use the custom features to gather user feedback. For example, I think it would be interesting to collect preferences regarding leather, colors, and sizing as a reference when creating products derived from existing ones. In fact, I understand that we can set custom questions for each product during the review process and use it as a survey feature, so I’d like to make use of that.

Additionally, it seems we can set up a flow to direct users from Instagram posts to the product page, so we’d like to consider using that as well. We hope to continue leveraging new features like these in the future.