Nikkei’s annual ‘Net Life’ survey for 2015 shows a downturn in spending online due to the overall expenditure cut backs over the past year. As Amazon has added new brands and sub-stores, more shoppers are moving away from domestic rival Rakuten, although Rakuten still comes out as number one in apparel and food sales online. […]
Japan’s network of 55,000 convenience stores, 80% of them run by just three companies, is an ideal delivery system for online sales. The growth in online retailing in general is a tremendous opportunity for domestic and overseas brands alike, with expanded market access and lower cost distribution options of particular interest to overseas firms. The […]
Lohaco, Askul’s online shopping site aimed at the general consumer market, is fast becoming a significant competitor for the likes of Amazon and Seven & I. Backed by Askul’s considerable experience in non-store retail, Lohaco took a further step this summer by introducing a major update to its smartphone shopping app. The app has been […]
Retail results for FY2014 show just how well corporate retailing weathered the impact of the consumption tax increase in April 2014. Market share for the largest companies continues to grow, as does the percentage of sales taken up by private brands, but dynamism is also reflected in the emergence of new success stories. These are […]
Yamato will launch an e-commerce package for retailers this month, leveraging its vast logistics base. The new service brings competition for Amazon and Seven & I, with rapid fulfilment to customers and backend support, while crucially helping Rakuten and other portals solve their problems with patchy merchant deliveries. Small merchants will even be able to […]
Lawson and Sagawa are launching a new joint venture next month that will eventually see Sagawa take over delivery services for 12,000 Lawson stores across the country. Even more significant, Sagawa will use the stores as small depots for its existing parcel delivery service, as well as delivering orders from stores direct to customers’ doors. […]
While traditional formats struggle with consumption tax increases, saturated markets, locational problems, and low consumer confidence, Japan’s budding e-commerce (EC) channel continues to grow rapidly. Despite the stereotype imagined by people who’ve never been here, Japan is not really the high-tech land where everyone has an engineering degree, doodles artistic works of manga over the […]
Start Today continues to close experiments which have failed to take off as hoped while prgressing with the upgrade of its core business. Above all it is focused on beating Amazon and other competitors in customer service, now extending free same day shipping to Kansai, a service which has helped boost membership in recent months. […]
Amazon Japan has launched a new sub-site selling private label products from 15 major retailers. The site brings together multiple sports, home centre and pet chains as well as drugstores and one supermarket. This is yet another sign of the growing popularity of retailer private brands. Amazon Japan opened a new online store in late […]
Apparel e-commerce is an intensely competitive business and getting tougher. This is making life harder than ever for the main catalogue businesses, helping explain Nissen’s decision to accept the embrace of Seven & I Holdings. Competition from big players in apparel e-commerce is intensifying. As well as the old catalogue firms and pure online players, […]
Seven & I Holdings has a problem. In FY2012, Seven Eleven still accounted for 81% of the group’s net profits. It’s not surprising then that the group’s chairman, Toshifumi Suzuki, is keen to find new alternatives. This is the main thrust to four separate acquisitions announced in December, with the long-term goal of creating the […]
