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

Shimamura to Fix Online Channel but Much More Work Is Needed

Shimamura Back on Track, Targeting Urban Centres

Shimamura Under Pressure as Sales Fall for First Time in 9 Years and Profits Slump

Zozo: The Underlying Operating Metrics Worry Us

ZOZO's Competitors: A Review of Japanese Online Malls Selling Fashion

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/shimamura-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:15213:1" rel="noopener">Shimamura (8227 JP)</a> had one of its toughest years last year, with sales falling and operating profit down 40%.
Efforts to rationalise its supply chains led to kickback from consumers unhappy about the more limited merchandise, but while the apparel chain is trying to fix this, the real concern is its bumbling first steps in e-commerce. This includes an exit from Zozotown which was not much of a surprise.
The apparel retailer says it is on track to claw back almost all the profit lost last year but its first-quarter results showed another drop in both sales and operating profits.

Shimamura (8227 JP) had one of its toughest years last year, with sales falling and operating profit down 40%.
Efforts to rationalise its supply chains led to kickback from consumers unhappy about the more limited merchandise, but while the apparel chain is trying to fix this, the real concern is its bumbling first steps in e-commerce. This includes an exit from Zozotown which was not much of a surprise.
The apparel retailer says it is on track to claw back almost all the profit lost last year but its first-quarter results showed another drop in both sales and operating profits.

Shimamura Hoping for Profit Revival but Don't Hold Your Breath