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

Yaoko: A Difficult 2021 Coming for Japanese Supermarkets

2nd Emergency Means New Opportunities for Supermarkets

Department Stores and GMS: A Bit Better than Expected in CY2020

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/1419" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:1419:1">Yaoko (8279 JP)</a> is one of the best supermarket operators in Japan, with a loyal customer base thanks to the chain's relentless efforts to improve merchandise, deli areas and above all deliver good value.
It is also popular with investors for its consistently improving sales and profits. It just posted its 29th straight annual profit increase, making it Japan's most profitable supermarket retailer by operating profits.
And all because it adheres to a fairly simple, market-orientated philosophy of meeting the needs of customers for each individual store. It does a very good job of keeping its store employees happy too.
It is now looking to deliver both more value to its customers and add more profit by setting up a new trading company to greatly expand direct procurement and import processes.
The supermarket is looking for partners around the world that will help with sourcing, and who can meet regulatory and quality levels suitable for the Japanese market. Given the growth in imported foods and beverages in the last five years, and their popularity with Japanese, Yaoko is likely to see a surge in business from the move.

Yaoko (8279 JP) is one of the best supermarket operators in Japan, with a loyal customer base thanks to the chain's relentless efforts to improve merchandise, deli areas and above all deliver good value.
It is also popular with investors for its consistently improving sales and profits. It just posted its 29th straight annual profit increase, making it Japan's most profitable supermarket retailer by operating profits.
And all because it adheres to a fairly simple, market-orientated philosophy of meeting the needs of customers for each individual store. It does a very good job of keeping its store employees happy too.
It is now looking to deliver both more value to its customers and add more profit by setting up a new trading company to greatly expand direct procurement and import processes.
The supermarket is looking for partners around the world that will help with sourcing, and who can meet regulatory and quality levels suitable for the Japanese market. Given the growth in imported foods and beverages in the last five years, and their popularity with Japanese, Yaoko is likely to see a surge in business from the move.

Yaoko: How to Achieve 29 Straight Years of Profit Growth

Yaoko Co Ltd

Yaoko: How to Achieve 29 Straight Years of Profit Growth