Japanese Market News

Convenience stores have become an essential part of the everyday lives of people living in Japan. Starting out as a store for one-stop shopping for food and everyday necessities, these stores evolved to places where customers can pay utility bills, send packages and faxes, make photocopies, and do ATM transactions. However, the market has reached a point where convenience stores need to provide more to differentiate themselves from their competitors. In order to appeal to a wider variety of customers, some convenience stores have ventured into the 100-yen shop business where all or parts of their products are sold either at 100 or 99 yen. Many of these stores are also selling small portions of fruits and vegetables for the same price targeting singletons. Furthermore, some convenience stores are focusing their energies towards serving the growing number of health conscious urbanites and especially women. Natural Lawson, a part of the second largest convenience store chain Lawson Inc., is one example as these stores specialize in organic foods and natural products. On the other hand, Famima!!, which is part of the third largest convenience store chain Family Mart, is an example of a convenience store providing health and style with its selection of gourmet soups, sandwiches, pastas and everyday import items from around the world. ampm enta and Happily are the most recent examples of these specialty convenience stores by am/pm Japan, another one of the largest convenience store chains in Japan. ampm enta focuses on DVD rentals and books, while Happily sells items targeting women such as cosmetics, health foods, etc.