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

Competition for Nitori: Online Furniture Sales Surge

Japan Retail: Essentials Strong in May but in June Even Discretionary Bounces Back

Japan Fashion Market Review 2019 Part II: Winners & Losers and Key Business Trends

Japan Fashion E-Commerce: Direct Investment by Retailers on the Rise

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/ryohin-keikaku-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:2765:1" rel="noopener">Ryohin Keikaku (7453 JP)</a> has had a busy few weeks. It is now trialling the sale of Muji product at three <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/lawson-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:1040:1" rel="noopener">Lawson Inc (2651 JP)</a> stores after ditching <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/familymart-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:320:1" rel="noopener">FamilyMart Co Ltd (8028 JP)</a>, its long-term partner, last year. Muji and Lawson will collaborate on the exact range and marketing but Lawson presents a major opportunity for Muji to expand its volume.
Muji also opened online accounts with <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/amazon-com-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:409:1" rel="noopener">Amazon.com Inc (AMZN US)</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/rakuten-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:31:1" rel="noopener">Rakuten Inc (4755 JP)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/askul-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:16807:1" rel="noopener">Askul Corp (2678 JP)'s </a>Lohaco in the last two months.
The new ideas will help keep Muji relevant in an e-commerce age and offset the loss of the small US business – which had anyway been operating at a loss.

Ryohin Keikaku (7453 JP) has had a busy few weeks. It is now trialling the sale of Muji product at three Lawson Inc (2651 JP) stores after ditching FamilyMart Co Ltd (8028 JP), its long-term partner, last year. Muji and Lawson will collaborate on the exact range and marketing but Lawson presents a major opportunity for Muji to expand its volume.
Muji also opened online accounts with Amazon.com Inc (AMZN US), Rakuten Inc (4755 JP) and Askul Corp (2678 JP)'s Lohaco in the last two months.
The new ideas will help keep Muji relevant in an e-commerce age and offset the loss of the small US business – which had anyway been operating at a loss.

Muji Expands Channels with Lawson and Major Online Malls