Reporting and analysis on retail, e-commerce, and consumer trends in Japan, updated continuously by our newsroom.
With a bright exterior and unusual menu, the world’s first official PPAP cafe opens in Tokyo tomorrow. PPAP? That stands for Pen Pineapple Apple Pen, a music video by Japanese comedian Kosaka Daimaou’s stage character Piko Taro. It made its debut on YouTube…
Japan’s NTT DoCoMo grew its net profit for the six months ending in September by 27.8% to 405.41 billion yen ($3.87 billion), on the back of a 3.3% increase in revenue to 2.29 trillion yen. DoCoMo attributed the revenue growth in part to recovery of telecoms…
While Asia Pacific millennial consumers shop online, only physical stores and particularly shopping centres give them the experiences and social elements they want, says a new report. Millennials shop online an average of 4.7 days a month, but visit shopping…
Luxury goods and apparel giant Kering has reported a 10.5 per cent global rise in revenues in the latest quarter, with luxury sales up 11.3 per cent and sports and lifestyle brands up 9.3 per cent. Most significantly, at a time its peers are battling falling…
Apple is on a research & development spree! The company has announced a bunch of new R&D centers over the past few months, and R&D spendings have skyrocketed. This time, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that the company plans to open a new center in Japan during…
BMW is recalling 154,472 vehicles registered in the United States and Canada for a fuel pump problem that could cause stalling, according to a filing with U.S. safety regulators and BMW. BMW told regulators that no injuries have been reported. Since 2014, the…
Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp on Wednesday said it was recalling a total of about 5.8 million cars at home and abroad over potentially faulty air bag inflators made by Takata Corp. The recall, which includes the Corolla and the Vitz subcompact hatchback model…
TV shopping firm QVC Japan is leveraging Verint Workforce Optimization in its in-country contact centers to drive operational improvements, as well as enhance the quality of calls and productivity of its customer service agents. QVC is also using and…
Nissan Motor Co has decided to sell its entire stake in Japanese auto parts maker Calsonic Kansei Corp to U.S. private equity firm KKR &Co as part of a $3.8 billion takeover, the Nikkei daily reported, without citing its sources. KKR then will try to buy the…
Japanese department store Tokyu Hands plans to boost its overseas sales, which now contribute 1 per cent of overall sales. Overseas income for its latest year totalled about 800 million yen (US$7.69 million). A third store is opening next month in Singapore,…
Food enterprise ST Group has launched Japanese-style Hokkaido Baked Cheese Tart outlets in Australia. Using a traditional recipe involving three cheeses from Japan’s dairy heartland of Hokkaido, the tarts have already been introduced in Brunei, Indonesia,…
Group net sales grew by 1.3 per cent for cosmetics and wellbeing products retailer L’Occitane International for the six months ended September 30 This figure was at constant exchange rates, being 0.9 per cent at reported rates – both an improvement from the…
A Starbucks Reserve Roastery Japan will open in Tokyo’s Nakameguro district in 2018. Starbucks Coffee Company says the 1200 sqm space will be in an upscale neighborhood known for its boutiques and art galleries. It will offer customers an immersive coffee…
The data may be a little dated, but Asian cities are holding their own in the retail rent rankings. New York’s Fifth Avenue still tops the list with an average rent of US$3500 per sqft per year. Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay is cemented in second place at $2399…
Apollo Tyres is setting up Europe’s largest greenfield plant in Hungary with an investment of 475 million euros to produce nearly 62 lakh tyres for passenger cars and heavy commercial vehicles per annum. The facility at Gyongyoshalasz, located less than 100…
Cambodia has its first quick-service drive-through restaurant with the opening of a Carl’s Jr burger outlet in Phnom Penh, being run by TH F&B Co. Carl’s Jr Cambodia has been franchised by California-based CKE Restaurants Holdings, the parent company of…
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