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

KDDI and Lawson: Building an Ecosystem from a Base of Loyalty Points

KDDI Launches Tender To Buy Out Lawson (2651) - Still Far Too Cheap

Itochu and Donki Tie on Retail Media to Create Major New Revenue Stream

Lawson & KDDI: Not Just Because Japanese E-Commerce Is an Omnichannel Model

Retail Media: A Major New Income Stream Even for Wholesalers

The Next Step in Lawson's Big Boots Adventure - KDDI and MitCorp to Take It Private

Lawson (2651 JP): KDDI Corp (9433 JP) Pre-Conditional Tender Offer at JPY10,360

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)

<ul>
<li>The growth in retail media (brand advertising delivered in stores based on detailed customer data) continues to be one of the big trends in 2024.</li>
<li>Large retailers are keen to add this new revenue stream – and lots of brands want to advertise with them – and companies like Rakuten are offering this service directly.</li>
<li>For many retailers, they still need help from experts in advertising and data analysis to make it work, providing an opportunity for Hakuhodo among others.</li>
</ul>


The growth in retail media (brand advertising delivered in stores based on detailed customer data) continues to be one of the big trends in 2024.
Large retailers are keen to add this new revenue stream – and lots of brands want to advertise with them – and companies like Rakuten are offering this service directly.
For many retailers, they still need help from experts in advertising and data analysis to make it work, providing an opportunity for Hakuhodo among others.


Pan Pacific International Holdings (7532 JP)

Retail Media in Japan: More Revenue for Retailers, More Sales for Brands