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

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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)

Japan Consumer discretionary / Thematic (Sector/Industry)

Retailing in Japan is about to enter a period of unprecedented change – the biggest disruption in its history. The causes are threefold: population contraction, the labour shortage and e-commerce.
Most advanced markets face one or, at most, two of these pressures but Japan faces all three at the same time and, in terms of population and labour much sooner and more extremely than any other major country.
Retailers and brands in Japan are already beginning to respond and the next 10 years will see the emergence of a retail sector transformed by new solutions in productivity and efficiency.
Although e-commerce will take priority, physical shops will still have a place and in some ways be more relevant than before – and be a lot more profitable.
As well as this Insight on the causes and implications of these changes, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/winners-and-losers-in-japanese-retailing-in-the-next-5-10-years" target="_blank" rel="noopener">we also have a separate Insight on the Winners &amp; Losers in retailing in the years to come</a>.

Retailing in Japan is about to enter a period of unprecedented change – the biggest disruption in its history. The causes are threefold: population contraction, the labour shortage and e-commerce.
Most advanced markets face one or, at most, two of these pressures but Japan faces all three at the same time and, in terms of population and labour much sooner and more extremely than any other major country.
Retailers and brands in Japan are already beginning to respond and the next 10 years will see the emergence of a retail sector transformed by new solutions in productivity and efficiency.
Although e-commerce will take priority, physical shops will still have a place and in some ways be more relevant than before – and be a lot more profitable.
As well as this Insight on the causes and implications of these changes, we also have a separate Insight on the Winners &amp; Losers in retailing in the years to come.

Pan Pacific International Holdings (7532 JP)

Japanese Retailing: The Big Disruption – and Opportunity – in the Next 5 Years