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

Can Do to Double Stores in 5 Years – and Boost Profits Too

New Highs for Part-Time Wages a Worry for Japan's Retailers

100 Yen Shops to Hit ¥1 Trillion This Year but Seria's Model Squeezing Profits

Fixed Price 100 Yen Shops Bask in Growing Discount Economy in Japan

Yamada Denki: Selling Sofas with Consumer Electronics Is Much More Promising than It Might Seem

A Visit to Miniso Reveals Why It's Nibbling Market Share from Daiso, Uniqlo, Muji

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/12989" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:12989:1">Seria (2782 JP)</a> remains a robust 100 Yen shop business with one of the most disciplined store management systems in the business and an ever-expanding store portfolio.However, it faces problems, notably the labour shortage and higher wages, leading to lower operating profit.At the same time, same-store sales growth has palled in the last 18 months.These are hard issues to solve, especially for a retail model that depends on fixed, low prices. One of the solutions the sector is trying out is switching from a 100 Yen model to a variable fixed price model with ranges at ¥300 and above.While Seria has been the most disciplined retailer in the 100 Yen sector until now, its competitors are finally catching up, including Daiso Sangyo, which has triple the number of stores.

Seria (2782 JP) remains a robust 100 Yen shop business with one of the most disciplined store management systems in the business and an ever-expanding store portfolio.However, it faces problems, notably the labour shortage and higher wages, leading to lower operating profit.At the same time, same-store sales growth has palled in the last 18 months.These are hard issues to solve, especially for a retail model that depends on fixed, low prices. One of the solutions the sector is trying out is switching from a 100 Yen model to a variable fixed price model with ranges at ¥300 and above.While Seria has been the most disciplined retailer in the 100 Yen sector until now, its competitors are finally catching up, including Daiso Sangyo, which has triple the number of stores.

Seria Co Ltd

Slower Growth at Seria