Still fresh in our minds are the announcements made in 2017 by each of Japan's three major banks of their decisions to reduce the work load that corresponds to a total of 33,000 employees within the next ten years through the use of information technology. 8  The widespread use of smartphones and the expansion of e-commerce are also contributing to sluggish price rises.
Consumers can now easily refer to and compare a broad range of information on prices at the press of a button, and purchase goods and services even from a distance. It seems that these changes have increased consumers' responsiveness to prices, consequently somewhat accelerating price competition among firms.