戦前期日本における通信販売の制度的基盤 : 代金引換郵便の意義と限界
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概要
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The purpose of this article is to examine the effect of cash on delivery service on the development of the mail order business in prewar Japan. C.O.D. was established as a postal service in 1896, and helped decrease the business cost incurred by time lags between the settlement and delivery of parcels. In addition, the fact that C.O.D. was provided as a governmental postal service was significant in three ways. First, a nationwide postal network was made available to users, including those in rural areas. Secondly, settlement and delivery was implemented without any problem. Thirdly, suppliers who dispatched goods via C.O.D were regarded as reliable dealers. Consequently, the mail order business was made available to all suppliers, regardless of their sales volumes, and developed rapidly, to the extent that by 1922, Japan rose to second in the world behind Germany in the number of C.O.D. parcels delivered in 1922 (no statistics are available for the US and UK). However, after 1923, the service experienced little growth, owing not only to such environmental factors as the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, the Showa financial panic of 1930, and the increase of retail outlets; but also because 1) it was impossible to prevent fraud on the part of unscrupulous businessmen peddling goods of inferior quality, due to the failure to implement an inspection system, and 2) the decision on the part of the postal service to end door-to-door delivery of C.O.D. parcels due to budget constraints. Consequently, the number of parcels returned to sender increased, burdening suppliers with the cost of postage and handling and the loss of a sale opportunity for the returned goods.
- 2009-09-20