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. 

Equity Bottom-Up

<ul>
<li>Adastria's growth has been sporadic in recent years as it adjusts to maturity and saturation in core apparel markets.It has diversification projects but these will take time to develop.</li>
<li>It thinks it can find faster growth by franchising and licensing with already well-known brands, starting with Forever 21.</li>
<li>It also has a new business providing apparel collections to General Merchandise Retailers, starting with Izumi.</li>
</ul>


Adastria's growth has been sporadic in recent years as it adjusts to maturity and saturation in core apparel markets.It has diversification projects but these will take time to develop.
It thinks it can find faster growth by franchising and licensing with already well-known brands, starting with Forever 21.
It also has a new business providing apparel collections to General Merchandise Retailers, starting with Izumi.


Adastria Signs Forever 21, New Growth Through Licensing?

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

The following is an in-depth review of Japanese retail in the last 18 months covering all the main formats and categories, providing a quick way to see an overview of all the key trends and winners and losers in Japanese retailing now and going forward.FY2020 was an anomaly and one that businesses everywhere will want to forget and never repeat. There was more than enough pain among Japan’s top retailers last year, but equally some formats did surprisingly well given the circumstances.For most, work-from-home was the single most important factor in determining a chain’s fortunes. City-centre stores and shopping centres offering mostly discretionary shopping have been hit hard, as have convenience stores.But those chains selling essentials, healthcare, electronics and, most importantly, food, all saw their fortunes improve. The pandemic has also revealed the strong, dynamic players and exposed the weaker ones. Oh, and everyone needs to be online.

The following is an in-depth review of Japanese retail in the last 18 months covering all the main formats and categories, providing a quick way to see an overview of all the key trends and winners and losers in Japanese retailing now and going forward.FY2020 was an anomaly and one that businesses everywhere will want to forget and never repeat. There was more than enough pain among Japan’s top retailers last year, but equally some formats did surprisingly well given the circumstances.For most, work-from-home was the single most important factor in determining a chain’s fortunes. City-centre stores and shopping centres offering mostly discretionary shopping have been hit hard, as have convenience stores.But those chains selling essentials, healthcare, electronics and, most importantly, food, all saw their fortunes improve. The pandemic has also revealed the strong, dynamic players and exposed the weaker ones. Oh, and everyone needs to be online.

The Polarising Pandemic in Japanese Retail

All leading supermarkets saw sales improve in FY2020 as shoppers stayed away from competing formats and profits also surged.However, while the changes confirmed stability among the largest companies and a handful of medium-sized chains, the sudden surge in profits among low-margin chains could be short-lived once shoppers become more mobile again and return to other options for their food needs.The gap between the best and rest will widen, spurring consolidation as the leaders grab more market share in new territories.

All leading supermarkets saw sales improve in FY2020 as shoppers stayed away from competing formats and profits also surged.However, while the changes confirmed stability among the largest companies and a handful of medium-sized chains, the sudden surge in profits among low-margin chains could be short-lived once shoppers become more mobile again and return to other options for their food needs.The gap between the best and rest will widen, spurring consolidation as the leaders grab more market share in new territories.

Leading Supermarkets Have a Great Year but Gap Widens Between Best and Rest

<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/izumi-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:13173:1" rel="noopener">Izumi Co Ltd (8273 JP)</a> is Japan’s largest retailer in the South and, at least until 2018, was the last GMS to maintain a growth trajectory. Now, with the popularity of the <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/cosmos-pharmaceutical-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:3797:1" rel="noopener">Cosmos Pharmaceutical (3349 JP)</a>  discount food chain eating into Izumi’s profits in Kyushu and the same lack of enthusiasm for the GMS format also spreading as it has elsewhere, Izumi last month announced a wide-ranging and ambitious plan to reinvent itself over the next five years. Izumi’s alliance with <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/seven-i-holdings-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:1041:1" rel="noopener">Seven &amp; I Holdings (3382 JP)</a> will also grow in importance.
These plans include expansion online and investment in discount retailing. The problem with the former is that there are already many more and better organised competitors and in the latte, Izumi has no experience in the kind of supply chain expertise required to build a discount retail business of any scale.
While Izumi has been one of the few well-run GMS operators in the past five years, there is increasing concern that it will fall victim to pressures from discounters on one side and e-commerce competitors on the other.

Izumi Co Ltd (8273 JP) is Japan’s largest retailer in the South and, at least until 2018, was the last GMS to maintain a growth trajectory. Now, with the popularity of the Cosmos Pharmaceutical (3349 JP)  discount food chain eating into Izumi’s profits in Kyushu and the same lack of enthusiasm for the GMS format also spreading as it has elsewhere, Izumi last month announced a wide-ranging and ambitious plan to reinvent itself over the next five years. Izumi’s alliance with Seven &amp; I Holdings (3382 JP) will also grow in importance.
These plans include expansion online and investment in discount retailing. The problem with the former is that there are already many more and better organised competitors and in the latte, Izumi has no experience in the kind of supply chain expertise required to build a discount retail business of any scale.
While Izumi has been one of the few well-run GMS operators in the past five years, there is increasing concern that it will fall victim to pressures from discounters on one side and e-commerce competitors on the other.

Izumi Focus on Food and Online Should Improve Margins

Monthly sales data for GMS chains and department store branches was withheld last year as companies were reluctant to reveal just how bad things were. For most GMS chains, however, it turns out CY2020 was a great year and for food supermarkets, the shift to buying more fresh food could endure beyond the pandemic. Department stores did poorly but there were some striking differences in performance between stores.

Monthly sales data for GMS chains and department store branches was withheld last year as companies were reluctant to reveal just how bad things were. For most GMS chains, however, it turns out CY2020 was a great year and for food supermarkets, the shift to buying more fresh food could endure beyond the pandemic. Department stores did poorly but there were some striking differences in performance between stores. 

Department Stores and GMS: A Bit Better than Expected in CY2020

Japan

IZUMI CO., LTD. operates shopping centers mainly in the Chugoku area, selling food products, clothing, and household utensils.  The Company also operates real estate business and credit card services.

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Izumi Co Ltd (8273 JP)

Adastria Signs Forever 21, New Growth Through Licensing?

Adastria has suffered from inconsistent growth recently as it adjusted to maturity and the pandemic but has come up with two new growth ideas:...

Michael Causton

The Polarising Pandemic in Japanese Retail

A complete review of the Japanese retail sector in the last 18 months, format by format, category by category, providing key trends and winners &...

Michael Causton

Leading Supermarkets Have a Great Year but Gap Widens Between Best and Rest

Japanese supermarkets had a great year in 2020 thanks to Covid. However, the gap in performance is widening and more consolidation can be expected.

Michael Causton

Izumi Focus on Food and Online Should Improve Margins

Izumi has been one of the few decent performers among GMS retailers in the past five years but now looks under increasing pressure - despite new...

Michael Causton

Department Stores and GMS: A Bit Better than Expected in CY2020

A review of the 2020 performance of Japanese GMS chains and department stores. There is more growth for food-based GMS retailers but department...

Michael Causton

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