A feature interview series with Shopify merchants.
Sumidaya is a liquor retailer headquartered in Higashihiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture, operating eight stores. Its online store is run entirely by its manager, Yoko Hironaka.
On social media, her approach is "say a little, without saying too much" and "make sure it's not all just talk about sake." Behind what looks, at a glance, like a casual and approachable stream of posts lies careful thought about how to connect the liquor business to the world of entertainment and deliver an enjoyable shopping experience.
The phrase "e-commerce with warmth" is the crystallization of the day-to-day communication Hironaka has built up, step by step, through trial and error. And that approach is only possible because she isn't afraid of individual-centered branding, and puts her own true self front and center.
In this second part, we go even deeper into her social media strategy centered on X, how she runs things using Shopify, and what comes next.
(Sumidaya Online Store Manager Yoko Hironaka)
You can read Part 1 of the interview here: [Store Interview, Part 1] Becoming the Shop Chosen for "Who You Buy From": A Liquor E-Commerce Business Built on Personal Branding and Entertainment
Turning Individual-Centered Branding into Trust: Building an E-Commerce Site People Choose
—— In the e-commerce industry today, platforms like Amazon in particular show a clear trend toward high-volume, low-margin selling. For a liquor shop dealing in commodity products like sake, I'd imagine price competitiveness tends to be seen as especially important. What kind of value do you focus on in e-commerce, Hironaka?
Yoko Hironaka (hereafter "Hironaka") I think my experience from my days as a physical-store manager comes into play here — but the single biggest benefit for a customer really does depend on the person. Some people care a lot about price, and some don't. For instance, there are people who'd rather buy from Sumidaya's site even if it's a few hundred yen more than Amazon, because it feels safer to them.
With us, whenever someone buys online, we always include some kind of little extra — a small sake-related item, or a little booklet, that sort of thing. I want people to feel a bit of excitement when they open the package, so it's not just "the product arrived" — nothing more. A lot of people end up buying because of that small joy, or because of the story behind a particular sake.
Rather than presenting every product the same way, I change how I communicate depending on what I want to sell right now.
—— With hundreds of products, changing how you present each one with real care is impressive.
Hironaka No, no, it's nothing that elaborate (laughs). It's more that when I'm registering a product and think, "oh, this is interesting," I add a bit of a personal touch.
—— Going forward, is there anything you're particular about, or careful of in your branding, to keep growing your online sales?
Hironaka There's no special commitment behind it — I just keep doing things this way because it's what feels most natural to me. If the people working with me carry that same energy, that same feeling of wanting to make customers happy, then I really want them to step forward and put themselves out there too.
(Various ideas for delighting customers, such as perks for those who pre-order)
Social Media Strategy for an Era Where Conversation Itself Is Marketing
—— Do you put out all your information about new products on X, rather than through a somewhat closed channel like an email newsletter?
Hironaka That's right. I think the single best thing about X is that every conversation is completely open. For example, if someone asks, "what's the alcohol percentage on this sake?" I'll answer, "it's 15%," but I'll also add information like, "it's made this way," or "it pairs well with this kind of snack."
At a glance it looks like a one-on-one exchange, but since all my followers can see it, it's actually customer service delivered to many people at once. Quite a few people tell me, "I saw that exchange the other day and got curious, so I bought it."
—— Looking at your X account, it really seems like you reply carefully to every single reply. Is that something you're doing deliberately as a strategy?
Hironaka I've never done anything as a deliberate strategy, honestly. Before I started using X, I was actually not good with social media at all. Back when I was managing the physical store, I found out that someone had posted on an internet forum something like, "that shop's got a flamboyant manager," and since I wasn't sure what to make of it, I ended up replying to everything under my own name. That caused a stir — "the person themselves showed up!" But there wasn't any real malice in it, so I just kept replying to everything.
I've carried that same spirit over to X — replying whenever something comes in has just become a habit. I'm genuinely happy whenever I get a message, so I try to reply as much as I can, though lately I've been falling a bit behind... But I do read every single one properly!
(An X profile that lets you feel Hironaka's personality)
—— So your in-person customer-service style carries straight over into social media.
Hironaka I've always had people strike up conversation with me on the shop floor, so I think that same atmosphere just comes through. In the end, I do it because I want to keep laughing myself. I love laughing in that easygoing way, but that's not something you can do unless the people around you are laughing too. So I want my customers to laugh along too.
—— Do you have anything like a personal rule for what you post?
Hironaka I've decided one thing for certain: never say anything negative. Things like "today was rough" or "something annoying happened" — I make sure not to put that out there.
What I stand for is "let's put smiles on faces across Japan with sake, together." So I want both myself and the people watching to be smiling. And for that, being positive matters more than anything else.
Not Technique, but Ordinary Conversation: Turning X into a Channel for Growth
—— Is it fair to say that how you run X today has become an important marketing tool?
Hironaka In terms of building awareness, yes, I consider it very important. That said, the algorithm has been shifting a little at a time recently. When you post a link, it clearly gets shared around a lot less than it used to. So even if I post a product link saying "please buy this!", impressions barely move at all.
These days I try to avoid links as much as possible, and add images instead — and posts where I'm actually exchanging replies with followers are still the ones that tend to grow the most.
But I don't think this is really about technique — it's about whether what's visible looks like an ordinary conversation between people. So I don't really try to hack the algorithm.
—— So being able to show that ordinary conversation is precisely your strength.
Hironaka For instance, if someone naturally has a lot of friends in everyday life, or a lot of acquaintances, or is just well-liked — I think it's best for that person to simply be themselves online too. After all, they're liked exactly as they are.
On the flip side, someone who "doesn't really have that many friends normally" or "tends to make a lot of enemies" shouldn't just show themselves as-is — maybe they should try playing a slightly different character instead.
—— That's an interesting perspective. For you, is what people see on social media exactly who you really are?
Hironaka Yes, that's right. So I'll crack jokes, and sometimes off-color humor too. These days, though, various companies, manufacturers, and serious-minded people have started following, so there was a period when I thought, "saying something weird really does carry some risk."
But if you're scrolling X and a liquor shop just says "today's sake specs are such-and-such," that's not exactly interesting, is it? When people actually open X, it's not because they want to know sake specs — they come thinking, "is there anything fun going on?" If a liquor shop turns into nothing but a specialist who only ever talks about sake, I don't think people keep watching.
Even I, personally, stop paying much attention to experts in other fields if all they ever post is highly technical material. So I think just posting what I honestly think is something other liquor shops can't do, and it also fits who I am.
(Posts that go beyond just sake, including some that get a quiet chuckle)
Speed Builds Search Rankings: Sumidaya's Approach to SEO
—— This is a Shopify store you built entirely from scratch. What do you think Shopify's strengths are?
Hironaka One thing is that its SEO is really strong. For instance, if you search "Kakubin case," our site comes up near the top. If you run a Shopify store solidly for several years, Google's trust in it naturally builds up. On top of that, I feel like having even a small bit of uniqueness makes it easier to rank near the top. For example, searching "Attack on Titan black label" can also bring our site up near the top.
In today's SEO, being the first to list a product before anyone else really matters. If you list it first and it gets bought first, that alone makes it easier to rank near the top. Once you get a top ranking, your search position doesn't tend to drop for a while after that. So we put a lot of emphasis on getting things out faster than anywhere else. The moment a product goes up, we notify people through our email newsletter and LINE, and once the first few orders come in, we can end up ranking near the top within just a few hours.
—— A lot of sake products have a fixed release date or on-sale date across the board. How do you handle that?
Hironaka When pre-release information comes out, I try to respond as quickly as I possibly can. Even at times when most people have already finished work for the day, I can use that window to prepare and publish, and I think that's one of my real strengths.
Of course, I talk it through carefully with the sales rep beforehand, and we share the risks and the rules before I do anything. There's no clearly defined rule covering every case, so in the gray areas, I make the call myself. That's exactly why customers who want to buy something before anyone else choose Sumidaya.
—— That's the kind of thing other businesses would struggle to copy, even if they tried.
Hironaka I think so too. Even if you know about it, actually being able to follow through on it is a different matter entirely. I'm only able to do it because I put everything I have into it, time-wise.
(The online site also has a chat feature that Hironaka herself handles personally)
Running Shopify Solo, Even Without an Engineering Background
Beyond her ingenuity on social media, Hironaka single-handedly handles everything for the Sumidaya online store, including its build and ongoing operation. Her approach of steadily making improvements while getting the absolute most out of Shopify as a tool offers a glimpse of one ideal model for solo entrepreneurs and small teams alike.
—— Did you build the store yourself from the very beginning too?
Hironaka At first I had an outside agency handle it, but it didn't turn out the way I'd imagined, so partway through I rebuilt it myself. I installed a paid theme called Impulse, and I've also added whatever apps I actually need.
—— Do you also handle adding new features yourself, like searching for apps?
Hironaka Yes. For instance, the other day I wanted to add breadcrumb navigation. At first I went looking for an app, but when I tried tweaking a bit of code using ChatGPT and Shopify's Sidekick, I ended up just getting it done myself. Sidekick is really good. With ChatGPT, the answers often stay pretty surface-level, but Sidekick actually digs into the code and tells you specifically things like, "this part can't be done."
For now, I'm handling the entire Shopify store completely on my own. But honestly, with Sidekick around, I feel like there's almost nothing you couldn't do.
—— Thank you. As Shopify keeps evolving, it feels like stores like yours — run with flexibility, built up step by step through your own words and actions — will only become more valuable going forward.
Without a large budget or a large staff, Sumidaya's online store has built its own distinctive style of e-commerce that balances warmth with speed. Behind it lies a long stretch of days in which Hironaka kept flexibly taking on new challenges, all while making full use of her own authentic self.
Not merely selling sake, but shaping something by weaving in the sheer enjoyment of communicating with people, using Shopify as the tool to bring it all together.
What Sumidaya Online is aiming for is a form of e-commerce that puts smiles on faces across Japan through sake, together. Every single post, every word, and every action from Hironaka is turning that ideal into reality.
