Expert on Japan Retail and Consumer Markets, JapanConsuming

Michael Causton

Michael is co-founder and partner at 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 and seminars on retail sectors and consumer trends, as well as telephone consulting/meetings with investors. 

All of JapanConsuming's team are bilingual and bi-cultural, and the company's research sources are:

Direct meetings with retailers, wholesalers, distributors, trade body staff, govt., marketing firms, academics etc.
Govt. data
Trade association data
Trade Press across all consumer sectors
Unique Network of buyers/managers/marketing staff at retail, as well as wholesalers and trading firms.
Editors/Journalists at publishing houses and PR/Ad firms.


JapanConsuming was founded by Michael Causton and Roy Larke. 

Michael Causton set up and ran a consumer distribution business in Tokyo for 10 years and developed this into a business responsible for annual imports to Japan of several billion Yen, at the same time building up an inside knowledge of how Japanese distribution works and developing a network of contacts across the industry. Seeing the lack of quality market intelligence on Japanese markets, he co-founded JapanConsuming in 2000. He divides his time between Japan and Europe/US consulting for companies, governments and investors, including providing talks, seminars, and webinars as well as writing reports and books.

Expert on Japan Retail and Consumer Markets

Japan's Department Stores: Elitism Rules and There's Profit in It

Japan's Fashion Sector 2023: Recovery Complete for Some as the Sector Looks Forward

50% of Sales at Isetan-Mitsukoshi Flagships from Top 5% of Customers

Iwataya Opens Lounge S - A New Space for the Truly Wealthy

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

Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd / Equity Bottom-Up

<ul>
<li>Isetan Shinjuku has always outperformed competitors by a large distance but the store’s management is intent on widening this gap further. </li>
<li>The key will be a focus on premium customers with ever more granular data sets to personalise marketing. 68% of sales now come from cardholders, compared to 50% in 2018.</li>
<li>While dependence on just a few stores makes <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/isetan-mitsukoshi-holdings-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:18871:1" rel="noopener">Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd (3099 JP)</a> vulnerable to downturns – such as the loss of tourist traffic – these stores are also resilient.</li>
</ul>


Isetan Shinjuku has always outperformed competitors by a large distance but the store’s management is intent on widening this gap further. 
The key will be a focus on premium customers with ever more granular data sets to personalise marketing. 68% of sales now come from cardholders, compared to 50% in 2018.
While dependence on just a few stores makes Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd (3099 JP) vulnerable to downturns – such as the loss of tourist traffic – these stores are also resilient.


Isetan-Mitsukoshi: ¥300 Billion from Just One Store