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. 

Equity Bottom-Up

<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/line-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:22772:1" rel="noopener">LINE Corp (3938 JP)'s </a>new collaboration with Staff Start is a huge boost to the fledgling omnichannel service provider but also helps cement LINE's role at the heart of omnichannel customer services and Live Commerce. Given LINE's new role at the heart of <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/z-holdings-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:19603:1" rel="noopener">Z Holdings (4689 JP)'s </a>digital ecosystem, it is likely that Staff Start will be adopted across the group and maybe even become another subsidiary.Staff Start is a phenomenon. What started as a simple digital tool to help retailers post blogs online has become a full-service marketing platform used by more than 1,200 brands and retailers across fashion, food, home and sports, up from 700 two years ago.Staff Start has seen sales jump three-fold in the last year alone.The top selling shop staff manage sales of as much as ¥90 million a month, with a record for a single post of ¥13 million, so clearly a marketing method that works. Staff blogging has become a vital tool for many retailers, with one claiming 40% of direct online sales come from staff generated online content.The benefits of the deal will provide yet further challenges to rivals, especially <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/rakuten-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:31:1" rel="noopener">Rakuten Inc (4755 JP).</a>

LINE Corp (3938 JP)'s new collaboration with Staff Start is a huge boost to the fledgling omnichannel service provider but also helps cement LINE's role at the heart of omnichannel customer services and Live Commerce. Given LINE's new role at the heart of Z Holdings (4689 JP)'s digital ecosystem, it is likely that Staff Start will be adopted across the group and maybe even become another subsidiary.Staff Start is a phenomenon. What started as a simple digital tool to help retailers post blogs online has become a full-service marketing platform used by more than 1,200 brands and retailers across fashion, food, home and sports, up from 700 two years ago.Staff Start has seen sales jump three-fold in the last year alone.The top selling shop staff manage sales of as much as ¥90 million a month, with a record for a single post of ¥13 million, so clearly a marketing method that works. Staff blogging has become a vital tool for many retailers, with one claiming 40% of direct online sales come from staff generated online content.The benefits of the deal will provide yet further challenges to rivals, especially Rakuten Inc (4755 JP).

A Holdings

LINE Ties with Staff Start