Reporting and analysis on retail, e-commerce, and consumer trends in Japan, updated continuously by our newsroom.
Japan is the biggest foreign investor in Vietnam in terms of pledged investment capital in January-August. In the first eight months of this year, pledged investment from Japanese companies reached $7 billion, nearly 29 percent of the total foreign investment…
The deployment of smart vending technologies will surge in the Asia-Pacific as high-tech unmanned retail continues to attract major investment. The demand for technology-driven frictionless retail experiences, combined with cheap production costs and limited…
Uniqlo Canada has announced four new stores, almost doubling its retail footprint within the country. COO of Uniqlo Canada Yasuhiro Hayashi said the company was encouraged by the warm welcome the Japanese fast-fashion chain has received to date. “We are…
Retail sales in Japan have reportedly risen for the ninth straight month year on year, reflecting the importance of private consumption to the world’s third largest economy. However while the news has prompted enthusiasm in the Japanese central bank, claiming…
Marimekko Japan has relaunched its popular flagship store in Tokyo. The Finnish design and fashion retailer’s revamped store, located in a standalone building in the fashionable Omotesando district, is one of the most important Marimekko stores globally given…
Apple just opened its latest Japanese store in Kyoto, the first outlet to open in the city by the U.S. tech company. Located in the heart of Kyoto’s main shopping corridor, a queue of customers stretched 10 blocks down Shijō Dori on Saturday to visit the…
An expanding Asian store network has helped New York jeweller Tiffany & Co achieve strong sales increases in the first half of this year. Tiffany sales in Asia-Pacific soared 28 per cent in the second quarter, to US$301 million and by the same rate in the…
Japanese snack store Okashi Land is planning to open a self-service outlet in Mong Kok. The unmanned store, which opens on September 5 in Gala Place, has been undertaken in partnership with Guangzhou unmanned convenience-store startup EasyGo. It will stock…
Japanese retailer Uniqlo has rolled out its exclusive Love & Mickey Mouse Collection by British graphic designer and illustrator Kate Moross. The 32-year-old, who was in town two weeks ago for a live mural drawing performance at Uniqlo Orchard Central and a…
Japanese retail group Aeon has lead a US$111 million funding round in US bulk grocery delivery business Boxed. Besides the cash injection, Aeon and Boxed will share knowledge and experiences on issues such as logistics, robotics and AI data, helping to…
Japanese apparel giant Fast Retailing is eyeing massive expansion in Asia-Pacific. The Uniqlo Southeast Asia and Oceania store network is set to double by 2022 to about 400 stores, Fast Retailing’s group senior VP Satoshi Hatase said in an interview. The…
Fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto has launched a global e-commerce website. The English-language site will trade using US dollars and present a variety of brands (each featured with their own page and lookbook) represented by the label, including online-only…
South Korean internet service company Naver has invested in Malaysian retail aggregator iPrice. The firm intends to invest an undisclosed amount to fund iPrice’s expansion into the Indonesian market and to improve its platform towards a better user…
Parisian fine jewellery house Chaumet has opened its The Worlds of Chaumet exhibition in Tokyo. The exhibition, held in the Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, presents a broad overview of the history and work of the heritage jewellery brand, emphasising its ties…
Japanese beauty giant Shiseido Group has revealed strong sales revenue boosted by travel retail in its mid-year results. Shiseido sales reached ¥532.6 billion (US$4.8 billion), with ¥47.66 billion ($430.56 million) net income attributable to the business…
Japanese discount retailer Don Quijote says it wants to buy Walmart’s Seiyu department store business in Japan. But Walmart still claims it is not for sale. Despite widely published reports, that Walmart was approaching potential buyers for the unit, the US…
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