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: Department Stores 2018: a core elite takes flight from the rest Japanese Department stores bounced back last year, and in some regions had a party, with sales at stores in Osaka up 6.6%. Overall, of course, sales for the sector continued to contract due to closures and further conversion of space to tenancies, but […]
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 […]
FOCUS: The State of Play in Japanese Retailing & Consumer Markets: Retail Results for FY2016: growth in the middle Lack of growth in retailing aside, most major retailers had another strong year in FY2016, but nothing near the clean sweep of 2015. A number of sectors fell back, partly due to stagnant ideas, particularly at […]
FOCUS: Vend me please, I’m Japanese Vending machines are so widely accepted here that even luxury brands sometimes make use of them. In April Chanel’s Ginza Six store introduced a new, high end lipstick vending machine, with each item dispensed with its own branded Chanel bag. Another overseas brand, Coca Cola, is also the largest […]
FOCUS: Home Fashion market expands within sluggish consumer economy IKEA Japan opened an online store last month, much earlier than expected, and partly in response to its first ever year of negative growth. This is good news for the Swedish retailer, but it may not be enough. The original momentum of its early years suggested […]
FOCUS: EC Success: best practices in selling online in Japan Kurt Salmon carried out its second Annual Digital Fulfilment Study in late 2016, not only providing a snapshot of the operational capabilities of Japan’s e-commerce retailers, but also offering insights into where Japan stands in comparison with other major markets. There are also some key […]
FOCUS: Fashion: The biggest e-commerce category – and still growing fast Our recent focus on e-commerce (JC1701) showed just how rapidly the sector is growing in Japan, catching up with other advanced markets, and in some ways surpassing them, especially in mobile e-commerce where Japan is now a global leader. One of the main drivers […]
