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

Seven & I: Sogo Seibu to Close 30% of Remaining Stores

Convenience Stores: Saturation but Still Growth for Some

Japan Consumption Tax Hike: The Impact on Convenience Stores and Cosmetics

Seven & I’s Latest Structural Reforms: More Like Forced Changes than Structural Reforms

Seven & I Digital Setback as 7Pay Suffers Stillbirth Due to Management Bungling

Seven & I Opens Truly New Concept Mixing Convenience and Supermarket Range

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/seven-i-holdings-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:1041:1" rel="noopener">Seven &amp; I Holdings (3382 JP)</a> announced a large-scale restructuring exercise last month, with stores and even jobs due to be culled from across the group in an effort to cut costs and ensure profitability.The company has struggled to revitalise the poor performance at most of its subsidiaries, while record profits at Seven Eleven convenience stores allowed it to delay difficult decisions.This is no longer possible. With convenience stores at saturation and franchisees getting more demanding, Seven &amp; I is being forced to make changes. Next year it will change royalty fees so that stores get an average ¥500,000 a year more gross profit, while Seven &amp; I’s HQ will lose around ¥10 billion a year. Even then, some franchisees are not happy and just want to cut hours.Although more severe than previous culls, the latest round includes few ideas for new growth, and questions remain as to whether Ito-Yokado and other chains are really viable, even on a smaller scale.

Seven &amp; I Holdings (3382 JP) announced a large-scale restructuring exercise last month, with stores and even jobs due to be culled from across the group in an effort to cut costs and ensure profitability.The company has struggled to revitalise the poor performance at most of its subsidiaries, while record profits at Seven Eleven convenience stores allowed it to delay difficult decisions.This is no longer possible. With convenience stores at saturation and franchisees getting more demanding, Seven &amp; I is being forced to make changes. Next year it will change royalty fees so that stores get an average ¥500,000 a year more gross profit, while Seven &amp; I’s HQ will lose around ¥10 billion a year. Even then, some franchisees are not happy and just want to cut hours.Although more severe than previous culls, the latest round includes few ideas for new growth, and questions remain as to whether Ito-Yokado and other chains are really viable, even on a smaller scale.

Pan Pacific International Holdings (7532 JP)

Seven & I Holdings

Seven & I: Slash and Burn