How No-Code/Low-Code is Transforming E-Commerce Development: The Frontlines of Digitalization for SMEs and Local Governments

1. Market Growth and Current Landscape

Japan’s no-code/low-code development market is projected to surpass ¥100 billion by 2025—more than double the 2021 market size. With a CAGR of 14.0%, adoption is expected to accelerate, particularly among SMEs and municipalities. As of 2024, there are 229 no-code/low-code platforms available, covering a wide range of applications such as business tools, e-commerce sites, and operational efficiency apps.

2. Benefits and Cost-Saving Potential of No-Code/Low-Code

2.1. Development Cost and Time Reduction

Compared to traditional full-scratch development, no-code/low-code tools can reduce total development costs by 30–70%.For example, building an e-commerce site using no-code typically costs ¥800,000–¥3 million and takes 2–4 months. In contrast, full-scratch development often exceeds ¥10 million and takes 6–12 months or longer.

Cost savings also extend to labor—eliminating the need for full-time engineers or costly outsourcing can reduce expenses by over ¥1 million per engineer per month. Moreover, the ability to perform updates and feature additions in-house greatly reduces operational and maintenance costs.

2.2. Improved Operational Efficiency and Flexibility

No-code platforms typically offer drag-and-drop interfaces and templates, allowing non-engineers to build and launch websites and apps rapidly. During operation, visual editors make layout or content changes easy, enhancing responsiveness to internal or customer-driven needs.

3. SME Success Stories and Measurable Impact

3.1. Key Business Cases

• Nakatsu Furniture: Rebuilt its e-commerce site using Bubble, reducing outsourcing coordination, restoring inquiry levels, and significantly improving efficiency.

• Manufacturer A: Used PowerApps to internalize ERP management, cutting monthly maintenance fees from ¥250,000 to ¥50,000 and improving production efficiency by 15%.

• Wholesaler B: Migrated inventory management to Airtable, saving ¥280,000 per month and reducing overstock by 20%.

• Other Cases: One company using low-code ERP reported 70% cost savings, 3× operational efficiency, and 90% shorter incident response time.

3.2. Development Speed Gains

• LIMNO Inc.: Developed over 20 internal apps within two months using the no-code platform “Platio,” accelerating its DX journey.

• CELF and SasukeWorks: Over 1,000 companies use these platforms to create apps for shift scheduling, inventory control, budgeting, and more—quickly and without full development teams.

4. Local Government Initiatives and Outcomes

4.1. Kitakyushu City

Trained all 2,400 employees in no-code development. In FY2022, 136 systems were built in-house, saving 35,667 labor hours annually and cutting ¥10 million in printing and paper costs.In the public health office, no-code apps helped reduce daily support staff for COVID-19 case management from 100 to 15.

4.2. Shimotsuma City (Ibaraki Prefecture)

Declared itself a “No-Code City.” Reduced the time to create council reports from 1 hour to 10 minutes. Weekly training programs built internal expertise, enabling full-scale AI integration across departments in under two years.

4.3. Iwamizawa City (Hokkaido)

Partnered with IT vendors to digitize internal reporting and citizen inquiry workflows using tablets and cloud tools. Resulted in better internal communication and greater employee satisfaction—even among staff less familiar with IT.

4.4. Utsunomiya City (Tochigi Prefecture)

Implemented a unified electronic application system that reduced inquiry volume by 40%, increased FAQ views by 2.3×, and shortened task completion times by 63%.

5. Future Outlook and Challenges

As of 2025, 47% of businesses have yet to adopt no-code/low-code due to a lack of skilled personnel or budget concerns. However, increased training and support programs are expected to boost adoption moving forward.

A growing variety of platforms—such as Bubble, Shopify, BASE, STORES, kintone, and PowerApps—now offer tailored solutions based on organization size, use case, or industry.

6. Conclusion

No-code/low-code development enables major reductions in cost and time, enhances operational agility, and facilitates digital transformation even for small teams. Measurable benefits include up to 70% cost savings, thousands of hours in labor saved, and 90% shorter incident response times. As adoption expands, these tools will play an increasingly central role in Japan’s digital infrastructure—for both public and private sectors.