Reporting and analysis on retail, e-commerce, and consumer trends in Japan, updated continuously by our newsroom.
Japanese retail sales rose less than expected in December, government data showed on Monday, unwelcome news as the Bank of Japan meets to set monetary policy. Retail sales rose 0.6 percent in December from a year earlier, below the median market forecast for…
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Japan’s biggest bank, agreed to buy a 20 percent stake in Philippine lender Security Bank Corp. for 36.9 billion pesos ($773 million) as it deepens its expansion in Southeast Asia. Security Bank accepted MUFG’s offer to buy…
Mitsubishi UFJ Lease & Finance Company Limited (MUL) has announced its subsidiary in Indonesia, MULI, has opened a branch in Bandung, in a bid to capture new business as the country’s economy improves. The Bandung Branch is MULI’s second branch in Indonesia…
Production on new Wii U sets has ended, according to Nintendo’s Japanese website. A pagedetailing the models of the console that are currently in production indicates that the final two sets have been discontinued, officially marking the end of the system’s…
Japanese department-store sales dropped 2.4 per cent in November from a year earlier on a same-store basis, down for the ninth consecutive month. Overall sales at 234 outlets run by 81 companies stood at ¥525.7 billion (US$4.6 billion), the Japan Department…
While Japanese retailer Seven & I, which owns the 7-Eleven brand, has seen sales sliding, it plans to triple its network of supermarkets and department stores in China. The company aims to capitalise on the high growth in Sichuan province to grow its general…
Speciality stores operator SSI Group has signed a joint venture deal with a Japanese company to bring the Muji retail brand to the Philippines. SSI Group, through its wholly owned subsidiary Stores Specialists Inc. (SSI), entered an agreement with Japan’s…
Specialty retailer SSI Group has signed a JV agreement with Japan’s Ryohin Keikaku in a bid to boost the Muji household supplies brand in the Philippines. SSI Group’s board of directors has approved the JV between its wholly owned subsidiary Stores…
As it turns around and heads toward profitability again, Australian fast-food chain Pie Face has plans to expand into Japan and South Korea. Its receiver flags the hot-pie business will be sold soon, but it has left behind a trail of destruction: secured debt…
The drastic slowdown of the Chinese duty-free shopping phenomenon known as bakugai (“buying explosion”) continues to hit Japanese tax- and duty-free retailers, with several companies having sharp revenue falls in recent months. As a result of the slowing…
Aeon, a Japanese e-commerce group, has launched aeoneshop. The website began its operation on January 1, 2017, mostly distributing the products from Japan and the ones bearing Topvalu, an Aeon’s private band. In Vietnam, nearly 1,000 products bear the brand.…
Viet Nam Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex) on Monday signed a strategic co-operation agreement with Japanese firm Itochu, witnessed by PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe in Ha Noi. Itochu is expected to help Vinatex make a change in…
McDonald’s has reportedly invited bids for a “significant stake” in its McDonald’s Japan unit. The Wall Street Journal has quoted “people familiar with the matter” saying the company is looking for buyers for up to 33 per cent of the shares, from its nearly…
SuperGroup was a clear winner last Christmas as it benefitted from the weak pound and the opening of net nine new stores in the 10-week Christmas period helping to boost revenue to £162.1 million. SuperGroup’s conventional approach to discounting, with a…
Japan’s Takata is expected to plead guilty to criminal wrongdoing as early as Friday as part of a $1 billion settlement with the U.S. Justice Department over its handling of air bag ruptures linked to 16 deaths worldwide, sources said. The settlement includes…
Both consolidated revenue and profit rose for apparel retailer Fast Retailing Group in the first quarter of its latest fiscal year – the three months to November 30. Consolidated revenue rose 1.6 per cent year-on-year to reach ¥528.8 billion (U$4.6 billion),…
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