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

Donki Leads Food Discounting Boom in Japan

Yaoko: A Difficult 2021 Coming for Japanese Supermarkets

2nd Emergency Means New Opportunities for Supermarkets

Kobe Bussan Plans Diversification Beyond Supermarkets

Donki to Ignite Off-Price Retail Market in Japan

Japanese Drugstores: With Maturity Comes Marriage

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)

Japan Food and staples retailing / Thematic (Sector/Industry)

Lopia is a small unlisted supermarket chain but we cover this here to demonstrate the following that discount supermarkets have in Japan, pointing to further growth for listed companies in this sector such as <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/kobe-bussan-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:4701:1" rel="noopener">Kobe Bussan (3038 JP),</a> <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/pan-pacific-international-holdings-corporation" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:13475:1" rel="noopener">Pan Pacific International Holdings (7532 JP),</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/cosmos-pharmaceutical-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:3797:1" rel="noopener">Cosmos Pharmaceutical (3349 JP).</a>
With average sales growth of 18% a year since 2011, Lopia is a rising star. Alongside OK Super, another unlisted chain, Lopia has proven that aggressive and consistent low prices work in Japan, and that careful cost control can provide profits even at low margins. It is a chain to watch as it is likely to list at some point, with a target of ¥1 trillion sales by the end of the next decade.
Its success is also a worry for <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/aeon-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:3:1" rel="noopener">Aeon Co Ltd (8267 JP)</a>. Aeon has seen its share of food sales in the greater Tokyo region fall from 10.8% to 9.7%, overtaken by OK Super which increased from 8% to 10.9%, a jump of 2.9 points. Lopia is half the size of OK Super but has also grown from 1.2% to 2.9% in the same period, more than doubling its effective share. Aeon is <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/new-aeon-style-format-shows-hope-for-aeon-s-core-business" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fighting back</a> but still does not compete on price.

Lopia is a small unlisted supermarket chain but we cover this here to demonstrate the following that discount supermarkets have in Japan, pointing to further growth for listed companies in this sector such as Kobe Bussan (3038 JP), Pan Pacific International Holdings (7532 JP), and Cosmos Pharmaceutical (3349 JP).
With average sales growth of 18% a year since 2011, Lopia is a rising star. Alongside OK Super, another unlisted chain, Lopia has proven that aggressive and consistent low prices work in Japan, and that careful cost control can provide profits even at low margins. It is a chain to watch as it is likely to list at some point, with a target of ¥1 trillion sales by the end of the next decade.
Its success is also a worry for Aeon Co Ltd (8267 JP). Aeon has seen its share of food sales in the greater Tokyo region fall from 10.8% to 9.7%, overtaken by OK Super which increased from 8% to 10.9%, a jump of 2.9 points. Lopia is half the size of OK Super but has also grown from 1.2% to 2.9% in the same period, more than doubling its effective share. Aeon is fighting back but still does not compete on price.

Pan Pacific International Holdings (7532 JP)

Why Discount Works in Japan: Lopia, Tokyo’s ‘Low Price Utopia’ Triples Sales Since 2011