Expert on Japan Retail and Consumer Markets, JapanConsuming

Michael Causton

Expert on Japan Retail and Consumer Markets

Real Insight on Japanese Consumer Markets

JapanConsuming

JapanConsuming is a specialist research firm producing intelligence on Japanese retail and consumer markets. Founded in 2000, JapanConsuming has become the leading provider of insights on Japanese retailers and consumer trends to retailers, brands, government agencies and investors. As well as a highly regarded monthly report on the market, JapanConsuming produces in-depth reports on retail sectors, seminars on key trends and telephone consulting to investors on trends and retailers.

JapanConsuming was founded by Michael Causton and Roy Larke. 

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<ul class=""><li>E-commerce sales grew just under 10% in 2016 at the most conservative estimate, and we expect double digit growth for at least the next five years.</li><li>E-commerce will be Japan’s largest single retail channel by 2025. It overtook convenience stores to become the second biggest after supermarkets and GMS in 2015.</li><li>While Japan lags behind other major markets like China, the US and UK in terms of e-commerce share of overall retailing, definitions differ, and for mobile shopping, Japan is by far the most advanced market – and luckily for merchants in Japan, smartphone shoppers spend as much as seven times more than average shoppers online. </li><li>Fashion has been the biggest driver of e-commerce in the last five years, other than digital services, but it is food that is likely to see the biggest online growth surge going forward, presaging a major upheaval in food distribution.</li><li>All this growth places a significant burden on courier firms, but solutions are being worked out, and because of the country’s dense population clusters, Japan could become, while not the biggest e-commerce market, quite possible the most efficient. </li></ul>

E-commerce sales grew just under 10% in 2016 at the most conservative estimate, and we expect double digit growth for at least the next five years.E-commerce will be Japan’s largest single retail channel by 2025. It overtook convenience stores to become the second biggest after supermarkets and GMS in 2015.While Japan lags behind other major markets like China, the US and UK in terms of e-commerce share of overall retailing, definitions differ, and for mobile shopping, Japan is by far the most advanced market – and luckily for merchants in Japan, smartphone shoppers spend as much as seven times more than average shoppers online. Fashion has been the biggest driver of e-commerce in the last five years, other than digital services, but it is food that is likely to see the biggest online growth surge going forward, presaging a major upheaval in food distribution.All this growth places a significant burden on courier firms, but solutions are being worked out, and because of the country’s dense population clusters, Japan could become, while not the biggest e-commerce market, quite possible the most efficient. 

E-Commerce in Japan 2017-2022: Relentless Expansion Means Upheaval in Consumer Goods Distribution

Equity Bottom-Up

<ul class=""><li><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/321" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:321:1">Laox Co Ltd (8202 JP)</a>, a Japanese retailer majority owned by <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/9178" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:9178:1">Suning Commerce Group Co A (002024 CH)</a>, has agreed with <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/26993" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:26993:1">Locondo Inc (3558 JP)</a>, an online shopping mall operator, to purchase Shaddy, a very traditional gift marketing firm with 3,000 affiliate stores.</li><li>Laox and Locondo started talking about collaboration a year ago and last month formalised a wide ranging agreement on sales and product development. </li><li>The acquisition of Shaddy is being carried out through a new fund called L Capital set up by the two companies, and Locondo suggested further acquisitions may take place. </li><li>M&amp;A is essential to Locondo if it is to grow to sufficient volume to escape the shadow of Start Today’s Zozotown and the major general malls, Rakuten Ichiba and Amazon Japan.</li></ul>

Laox Co Ltd (8202 JP), a Japanese retailer majority owned by Suning Commerce Group Co A (002024 CH), has agreed with Locondo Inc (3558 JP), an online shopping mall operator, to purchase Shaddy, a very traditional gift marketing firm with 3,000 affiliate stores.Laox and Locondo started talking about collaboration a year ago and last month formalised a wide ranging agreement on sales and product development. The acquisition of Shaddy is being carried out through a new fund called L Capital set up by the two companies, and Locondo suggested further acquisitions may take place. M&amp;A is essential to Locondo if it is to grow to sufficient volume to escape the shadow of Start Today’s Zozotown and the major general malls, Rakuten Ichiba and Amazon Japan.

Why Are Laox and Locondo Buying Shaddy, a Traditional Gift Direct Marketer?

Japan

V-cube, Inc. provides platforms and software for visual communication methods such as video conferencing.

CAVE Interactive CO., LTD. is a wireless and mobile information content provider.  The Company mainly provides entertainment contents such as music and games through mobile and telecommunication service companies.  Cave also develops gamesoftware.

Hotto Link Inc. offers various tools to monitor and analyze social media. The Company also provides financial information.

GALA INCORPORATED manages community site, Gala Friend, on the Internet.  The Company provides businesses marketing and risk information collected from its web site.  Gala also creates and manages community sites for businesses.  The Company also provides marketing services through electronic mail.

Beaglee Inc. manages content platform business. The Company provides digital media including e-books and comics for smart phone and tablet users.

GMO Pepabo Inc provides web hosting services and internet solution services.

Cyberlinks Co., Ltd. provides cloud computing implementation, maintenance and operation services to distribution companies and governments agencies. The company also provides mobile network service and also operates mobile device stores.

Media Kobo, Inc. plans, develops, and produces Internet contents for fortune-telling websites.  The Company provides its contents for ISP (Internet Service Provider), portal site companies, and mobile communication service providers' websites.

Livesense Inc. operates various job search websites.  The Company also provides apartment rental information online.  Livesense provides consulting services with regard to web marketing as well.

J-Stream Inc. offers media content broadcasting services through Internet to content providers. The Company offers live streaming and on demand streaming services. J-Stream also provides a service to encode media content for Internet broadcasting purpose.

INITECH Co., Ltd. develops equipment and software for computer data security needs.  The Company also imports computers and computer related products such as network servers and software and retails them through direct marketing and licensed stores.  INITECH also provides data security consulting and maintenance services.

Sino-i Technology Limited, through its subsidiaries, operates information technology business and provides financial information and related services. The Company also develops and invests in properties, sells consumer packaged electronics products, and trades securities.  In addition, Sino-i Technology operates hotels and distance learning and application services.

BUGS Corporation provides online music service.  The Company also distributes digital music sources to other online music service providers.

Rev Asia Bhd is primarily involved in internet advertising, the magazine publication business and e-commerce. The Company also has regional exposure in operating an auto-selling portal through its subsidiary in Australia.

Esang Networks Co., Ltd. provides business-to-business (B2B) electronic commerce products and services.  The Company develops, markets, and supports steel products B2B market transaction.

Pacific Online Ltd provides Internet content in the Peoples Republic of China. The Company operates multiple portal sites that offers content that includes information technology product related content and automobile related content, personal computer games, womens lifestyle related topics, and parenting related issues.

Freelancer Limited operates within the online outsourcing industry, primarily through the company's websites from users posting outsourcing projects and crowdsourcing contests.

Korea Electronic Certification Authority, Inc. (CROSSCERT) provides personal E-mail security services, authentication service for E-commerce, enterprise authentication solutions, and PKI-based Time Stamping services.

XLMedia PLC, an online performance marketing company, attracts paying users from multiple online and mobile channels, and directs them to online businesses. It operates through Publishing, Media, and Partner Network segments. It owns approximately 2,000 informational Websites in 17 languages for gambling operators to attract online gaming players; creates and deploys online media campaigns across various languages and platforms; and manages a pool of affiliates through its proprietary systems, providing them with ongoing support and access to multiple operators. The company was formerly known as Webpals Marketing Systems Ltd. and changed its name to XLMedia PLC in 2008. XLMedia PLC was founded in 2008 and is based in Saint Helier, the Channel Islands. XLMedia PLC is a subsidiary of Webpals Enterprises Limited Partnership.

ULS Technology plc, through its subsidiaries, provides Web based services for brokers, solicitors, estate agents, lenders, mortgage networks and associations, conveyancers, and other customers in the United Kingdom. It develops and hosts eConveyancer, an online comparison platform for customers to obtain residential conveyancing quotations. The company offers its eConveyancer platform directly to distributors and customers. Its services also include Estateagent4me to find an estate agent to value and/or sell a property; Property Searches, a one stop shop for conveyancing solicitors for various searches; Energy Performance Certificates to select an assessor to obtain a residential or commercial property energy performance certificate; Will comparison to locate a solicitor to draft a will or lasting power of attorney; and an online electronic identity checks, including those required to comply with anti-money laundering regulations. In addition, the company offers compliance consultancy services for solicitors. ULS Technology plc was founded in 2003 and is based in Thame, the United Kingdom.

CROOZ, Inc. provides online recruitment and outsourcing services for information technology and Internet companies.  The Company also operates a search engine website and offers entertainment content and advertising services for cellular phones.

Price Gauge
52-week Range	0.00 - 0.00
Market Cap (USDm)	0.00
P/E	0.00
Dividend (Yield)	0.00

Crooz Inc (2138 JP)

E-Commerce in Japan 2017-2022: Relentless Expansion Means Upheaval in Consumer Goods Distribution

E-commerce sales grew just under 10% in 2016 at the most conservative estimate, and we expect double digit growth for at least the next five...

Michael Causton

Why Are Laox and Locondo Buying Shaddy, a Traditional Gift Direct Marketer?

Laox Co Ltd (8202 JP), a Japanese retailer majority owned by Suning Commerce Group Co A (002024 CH), has agreed with Locondo Inc (3558 JP), an...

Michael Causton

Price Gauge

52-week Range

Market Cap (USDm)

P/E

Dividend (Yield)