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Rakuten fighting hard as Amazon Japan becomes No. 2 retailerThe big online malls continue to grow at higher rates than[...]

Footwear sales rebound in weakened sectorFootwear sales plummeted during Covid, except for sports and hiking shoes, with a deleterious impact[...]

Giftee: digital gifting surges for consumer businessesThe gift market has contracted in recent years as corporate and formal gift giving[...]

Domestic tourism surges back to life as inbound traffic rises The long awaited lifting of restrictions on inbound tourists in[...]

Inflation at 30 year high The CPI hit 3% in September, excluding fresh food and adjusting for consumption tax. Prices[...]

Itochu signs Forever 21, American Eagle returns alone Two major US apparel retailers are returning to the Japanese market for[...]

E-commerce 2021-22: another high growth year E-commerce sales of physical goods jumped nearly 9% in FY2021. Although this was well[...]

Sale of Sogo Seibu imminentInitial reports suggest that Fortress Investment, part of the Softbank group of funds, is now the[...]

Big apparel looks for new relevanceThe two leading apparel firms, World and Onward, posted largely negative results for 2021 although[...]

Big retailers resist price pressure As more suppliers announce price increases, larger retailers are turning to discount campaigns to establish[...]

Widespread price rises at retail and wholesale With energy costs still rising and ongoing supply-chain issues exacerbated by the re-emergence[...]

Household expenditure increases in 2021 and more of it online The latest figures show that, even though incomes fell for[...]

Seven & I to sell Sogo Seibu Department Stores Numerous reports indicate that Seven & I is preparing its Sogo[...]

Cainz takes on Nitori with Tokyu Hands takeover Iconic retail chain, Tokyu Hands, is to be acquired by Cainz, Japan’s[...]

Baycrews grows online sales to 50% of turnoverBaycrews is showing how it’s done. It is tying stores and online to[...]

Zozo launches OMO platform, opens first pop-up store Zozo is getting physical: it will open its first popup physical store[...]

Online fashion sales soarContraction in apparel consumption aside, fashion retailers and brands have made dramatic strides to pull in customers[...]

Muji: a ¥3 trillion brand by 2030?Ryohin Keikaku fired a broadside at Uniqlo last month when it confirmed not only[...]

Shrinking, ageing Japan but a growing solo marketThe latest Census confirms the ongoing fall in total population across most of[...]

Apparel groups respond to crisis2020 was an annus horribilis for the apparel sector, and particularly for wholesale-centred firms. The good[...]