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

Fast Retailing: Upbeat Consensus Unlikely to Be Met in 2QFY21

Japan Sports Retail in Flux as Mitsubishi Ditches Himaraya

Fast Retailing: Longs Should Consider Taking Profits, Shorts Should Wait

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

Gravity Works As WeWork Doesn't; Now Plan B

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

Fast Retailing looks like finally having the potential to become number one.Like other Japanese apparel retailers, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/fast-retailing-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:751:1" rel="noopener">Fast Retailing (9983 JP)</a> faces challenges over the coming six months but its discipline and forward planning bode well for improving returns.It is overseas markets where its real opportunity and challenges lie but Uniqlo looks like having more traction globally than ever before, fast becoming a true global retailer.While disciplined supply chain management and product development help, there is one ingredient above all that looks set to help it compete at the top of the rankings: at last it has a coherent, meaningful – and increasingly global – brand.Today, Uniqlo is regarded as an innovator not through design but through fabric development, using its access to Japan’s myriad textile and technology businesses to adapt new inventions to apparel and accessories.This coherent branding means Fast Retailing looks set to take on Inditex and H&amp;M for leadership at the top of the global apparel rankings.On the profit side, while Fast Retailing has for long been a profit machine compared to its Japanese peers, it has always lagged companies like Inditex because of its insistence of maintaining store stock levels. It is now working to rationalise this policy with significant implications for future profitability.The following is an in-depth review of Uniqlo from a brand, merchandising and marketing perspective.

Fast Retailing looks like finally having the potential to become number one.Like other Japanese apparel retailers, Fast Retailing (9983 JP) faces challenges over the coming six months but its discipline and forward planning bode well for improving returns.It is overseas markets where its real opportunity and challenges lie but Uniqlo looks like having more traction globally than ever before, fast becoming a true global retailer.While disciplined supply chain management and product development help, there is one ingredient above all that looks set to help it compete at the top of the rankings: at last it has a coherent, meaningful – and increasingly global – brand.Today, Uniqlo is regarded as an innovator not through design but through fabric development, using its access to Japan’s myriad textile and technology businesses to adapt new inventions to apparel and accessories.This coherent branding means Fast Retailing looks set to take on Inditex and H&amp;M for leadership at the top of the global apparel rankings.On the profit side, while Fast Retailing has for long been a profit machine compared to its Japanese peers, it has always lagged companies like Inditex because of its insistence of maintaining store stock levels. It is now working to rationalise this policy with significant implications for future profitability.The following is an in-depth review of Uniqlo from a brand, merchandising and marketing perspective.

Fast Retailing

Uniqlo: The Toyota of Clothing