FOCUS: Retailing 2030: The Big DisruptionRetailing in Japan is about to enter a period of unprecedented change – the biggest disruption in its history. The causes are threefold: population contraction, the labour shortage and e-commerce. Most advanced markets face one or, at most, two of these pressures but Japan faces all three at the same […]
FOCUS:Consumption Trends Review: higher wages good for value retail, luxury and, hopefully, the futureWages and salaries finally began to rise in 2017, and consumption expenditure picked up in 2018 but, at the same time, consumer confidence began to dip as households became increasingly wary about the appearance of long threatened price inflation. When prices did […]
FOCUS: Fashion e-commerce: two-tiersystem of malls and direct closing in on department storesFashion is already the largest single category online, but it also a sector that is developing rapidly. While the bulk of sales come from the leading malls, Amazon, Rakuten, Yahoo and Zozo, as well as a growing number of smaller malls, fashion retailers are […]
FOCUS THIS MONTH:E-commerce: digital to influence 45% of all retail sales by 2025E-commerce is set to account for 15% of retail sales in 2025, double the size of any other channel, and become the biggest channel for physical merchandise by 2023. However, recent research, which considers online sales in a store context, suggests that already […]
Japan going cashless in 2019, but households still keep a lot of Yen under the futon cashHeavily supported by the government, Japanese retailers are embarking on a shift to cashless payments and the number of different mobile payment services is growing rapidly. The speed of change is such that it is impossible to give more […]
FOCUSShopping Centres 2017-18: sales rise as mall development slows sharplyThe shopping centre market expanded in FY2017, increasing sales by 2.3%, despite jittery consumers. More investment in upgrading malls, the boost from inbound tourists, and higher food prices, all helped. The average growth among the top 100 was slightly more, up 2.6%. 2017 was the year […]
FOCUS: Convenience stores still innovating in saturated market The convenience store sector may have reached saturation but this has just encouraged the top three operators to speed up their quest to take over the remaining smaller chains, while pushing into regions where they have fewer stores. All had previously failed to come up with coherent e-commerce […]
FOCUS: Don Quijote: The future Aldi of Japan? Don Quijote will change its name to Pan Pacific International Holdings in February, reflecting both its growing number of brands, and to emphasise its plans to become a retailer with substantial operations across the Pacific Rim, including the US. At home, though, its recent acquisition of Uny, […]
FOCUS: Fashion Retailing 2017-18: cautious expansion as major formats consolidate Fashion retailers had a much better year in 2017 as the apparel and accessories market expanded 2.2% after two tough years of market contraction. Recent growth has mostly benefited the specialtystore and online sectors, but last year department stores also improved, and even the odd […]
FOCUS: Retail Ranking FY2017: strong performance across all formats as everyone pushes online The retail industry enjoyed another extremely good year in FY2017. There are now 79 companies with sales of ¥250 billion or more, including franchise operators and holding companies, and overall sales grew by 4.5%, ahead of the 1.9% growth in retail sales […]
Key stories in this month’s issue of JapanConsuming, the essential monthly analysis and data update on Japan’s retail & consumer markets: FOCUS: Who owns who in 2018: never have so many been owned by so few When your home country population is shrinking, and the number of active consumers falling even faster, there are just three options to […]
Key stories in this month’s issue of JapanConsuming, the essential monthly analysis and data update on Japan’s retail & consumer markets: Consumption Trends in 2017: more shopping but a lot of saving too Real expenditure levels are now 3% below the peak reached in 2009. This is despite a sharp rise in the cost of fresh food and […]
FOCUS: Fashion: still the biggest e-commerce category – and still growing fast Our recent focus on e-commerce (JC1801) showed just how rapidly the channel is growing in Japan. One of the main drivers of this growth has been fashion, with apparel the biggest category overall by value and one of the top two fastest growing […]
FOCUS Drugstores stealing major share in food, cosmetics, and household goods Drugstores are the one retail sector to show consistent growth over the past decade. It is fast becoming a key channel for mass market cosmetics, health and medical supplies, as well as all types of foods, with some chains now already selling enough food […]
FOCUS: 100 Yen shops bask in growing discount economy The continuation of the ‘Great Wage Squeeze’ over the past two decades means more households are finding it harder to make ends meet. The retail response has been slow but Japan’s 100 Yen Shops were helping out from the start, emerging as a major feature of […]
E-Commerce 2017-2022: Relentless expansion changing Japanese distribution forever E-commerce sales grew just under 10% in 2016 at the most conservative estimate, and most analysts expect double digit growth for at least the next five years. While Japan lags behind other major markets like China, the US and UK in terms of e-commerce share of […]
FOCUS: Shopping Centres 2016-17: sales stagnate as consumer slowdown bites and tenants retreat After sales growth of 7% in 2015-16 and 4% in the previous two years, the top 100 shopping centres posted sales down a fraction in 2016-17. The top selling SCs fared worse than the sector as a whole, which rose 0.8%. The […]
FOCUS: Convenience Stores in 2017: top three chains claim 90% of the market, still struggle with e-commerce Convenience stores are Japan’s largest single retail sector, and the most concentrated. With Familymart acquiring Circle K Sunkus last year, the leading three chains now account for more than 90% of all sales. Only two major questions remain […]
FOCUS: Fashion Retailing 2016-17: sector contracts but big growth for the value innovators 2016-17 was a much tougher year for the fashion/apparel industry. Renewed pressure on prices from growing low price chains and e-commerce, and ongoing tougher trading in regional areas, meant a culling of small regional stores, and depressed sales at department stores, resulting […]
FOCUS: Department Stores FY2016: pulling out the axe again After two years of reaping the benefits of optimism among the comfortably off and frenzied purchasing of luxury by tourists, 2016 was a much harder year for department stores. They faced a return to the tough challenges of eking out a profit from declining sales. The […]
