Expert on Japan Retail and Consumer Markets, JapanConsuming

Michael Causton

Expert on Japan Retail and Consumer Markets

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)

What statistics are available suggest that Japan lags behind China, USA and the UK in terms of e-commerce penetration but this position overlooks the single-minded shift of retailing to integrate e-commerce with traditional retailing.
Japan still has much to offer customers in the high street and these physical stores are now being heavily supplemented through online channels. Already we’re seeing the role of some stores shift towards showrooms making management more efficient and meaningful.
Japan is set to see the e-commerce sector as big as 20% of retail sales by 2024 and many of the operational problems holding online retail back globally, such as last mile fulfilment, could well be solved first in Japan.
Amazon, Rakuten and Softbank/Z/Zozo dominate the market and this dominance looks set to continue but other players are growing too with some retailers also finally working out how to make e-commerce work.

What statistics are available suggest that Japan lags behind China, USA and the UK in terms of e-commerce penetration but this position overlooks the single-minded shift of retailing to integrate e-commerce with traditional retailing.
Japan still has much to offer customers in the high street and these physical stores are now being heavily supplemented through online channels. Already we’re seeing the role of some stores shift towards showrooms making management more efficient and meaningful.
Japan is set to see the e-commerce sector as big as 20% of retail sales by 2024 and many of the operational problems holding online retail back globally, such as last mile fulfilment, could well be solved first in Japan.
Amazon, Rakuten and Softbank/Z/Zozo dominate the market and this dominance looks set to continue but other players are growing too with some retailers also finally working out how to make e-commerce work.

Japanese E-Commerce Review 2020: Softbank/Z, Rakuten and Amazon to Dominate Further

Telco/Internet specialist

Kirk Boodry

Redex Research

As part of its recently held <a href="http://docomo-openhouse.jp/2020/en/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">open house on network R&amp;D</a>, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/ntt-docomo-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:1089:1" rel="noopener">NTT Docomo Inc (9437 JP)</a> has released a white paper on 5G evolution and 6G.  The key takeaways from DoCoMo’s report are teething issues with 5G as network launches start plus a rough sketch of what mobile networks will look like beyond 2030.  That NTT DoCoMo issued this report is interesting because it highlights its position as the mobile operator with by far the most robust R&amp;D capability globally and a key partner for equipment vendors in determining mobile technology evolution. Unfortunately, the benefits of leadership are hard to quantify. On one hand, DoCoMo will be the first to 5G in Japan but even new entrant Rakuten with no existing network today will have 5G capability in the next few years.

As part of its recently held open house on network R&amp;D, NTT Docomo Inc (9437 JP) has released a white paper on 5G evolution and 6G.  The key takeaways from DoCoMo’s report are teething issues with 5G as network launches start plus a rough sketch of what mobile networks will look like beyond 2030.  That NTT DoCoMo issued this report is interesting because it highlights its position as the mobile operator with by far the most robust R&amp;D capability globally and a key partner for equipment vendors in determining mobile technology evolution. Unfortunately, the benefits of leadership are hard to quantify. On one hand, DoCoMo will be the first to 5G in Japan but even new entrant Rakuten with no existing network today will have 5G capability in the next few years. 

NTT DoCoMo Flags up Its 6G Vision. Yes, that Is a Six!

'Quantamental' Japan Specialist, LightStream Research

Campbell Gunn

'Quantamental' Japan Specialist

ja research

ja research is an independent research platform focused exclusively on Japanese equities. Leveraging data and graphic analysis provided by Japan Analytics, we provide insights on small and medium-sized companies that have been ignored by the sell-side as well as challenging conventional wisdom on larger companies. We also offer analyst and corporate access, the latter with translation if required. 

<figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/106/452/original/2019-11-17_11-54-09.png?1573959284" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="106452"></figure><div class="content-caption">Source: Japan Analytics</div>4TH DOWN AND A FEW MORE TO GO - The latest quarterly results are now, with the exception of three large insurance companies are currently in the market and, to loosely paraphrase the under-rated Jesse Winchester's second album title, this is the fourth straight 'down' quarter with the prospect a few more to come. Operating Income has declined by 7.8% and Net Income by 18.8%, taking margins to 6.9% and 4.6%, respectively - declines of 84bps and 122bps. The market has celebrated these new two-year lows by rising to new two-year highs, leaving some to wonder what they are missing, other than yet more central bank liquidity. The trailing-twelve-month (TTM) price-earnings ratio is now 17 times, the highest since 5th February 2018, ten trading days after the long-term market peak.<figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/106/458/original/2019-11-17_12-49-55.png?1573962614" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="106458"></figure><figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/106/459/original/2019-11-17_13-10-47.png?1573963867" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="106459"></figure><div class="content-caption">Source: Japan Analytics</div>THE EARNINGS CYCLE HAS YET TO BOTTOM -  Our Results &amp; Forecast/Revision Score data series cover the last sixteen years of quarterly earnings and eleven years of forecasts and revisions and measure both results and forecasts but also their momentum, providing a better correlation with the market direction than past earnings.   The Forecast/Revision Score leads the Results Score by several months, and the market leads or lags depending on monetary and liquidity conditions. Although both Scores recovered in the last five days of results announcements, the Forecast/Revision Score of 0.45 reached on 8th November is the lowest such score in ten years and is suggesting that earnings have yet to bottom.<div class="content-highlight">WISHFUL THINKING? - The 'gap' between market expectations and actual and forecast earnings momentum is now wider than at any time since late 2014, shortly before the market peak of May 2015. Is this foresight or just wishful thinking? We tend to the latter interpretation.</div>In the DETAIL section below, we shall provide a full breakdown of the results and revisions announcements by Sector, Peer Group and company and offer brief comments on several recommended buys and sells.

Source: Japan Analytics4TH DOWN AND A FEW MORE TO GO - The latest quarterly results are now, with the exception of three large insurance companies are currently in the market and, to loosely paraphrase the under-rated Jesse Winchester's second album title, this is the fourth straight 'down' quarter with the prospect a few more to come. Operating Income has declined by 7.8% and Net Income by 18.8%, taking margins to 6.9% and 4.6%, respectively - declines of 84bps and 122bps. The market has celebrated these new two-year lows by rising to new two-year highs, leaving some to wonder what they are missing, other than yet more central bank liquidity. The trailing-twelve-month (TTM) price-earnings ratio is now 17 times, the highest since 5th February 2018, ten trading days after the long-term market peak.Source: Japan AnalyticsTHE EARNINGS CYCLE HAS YET TO BOTTOM -  Our Results &amp; Forecast/Revision Score data series cover the last sixteen years of quarterly earnings and eleven years of forecasts and revisions and measure both results and forecasts but also their momentum, providing a better correlation with the market direction than past earnings.   The Forecast/Revision Score leads the Results Score by several months, and the market leads or lags depending on monetary and liquidity conditions. Although both Scores recovered in the last five days of results announcements, the Forecast/Revision Score of 0.45 reached on 8th November is the lowest such score in ten years and is suggesting that earnings have yet to bottom.WISHFUL THINKING? - The 'gap' between market expectations and actual and forecast earnings momentum is now wider than at any time since late 2014, shortly before the market peak of May 2015. Is this foresight or just wishful thinking? We tend to the latter interpretation.In the DETAIL section below, we shall provide a full breakdown of the results and revisions announcements by Sector, Peer Group and company and offer brief comments on several recommended buys and sells.

🇯🇵 Japan • Results & Revisions Review - Wishful Thinking

As shown in Part I of our review, the apparel and fashion market contracted slightly last year and no single format was immune to the tougher trading environment – even the online channel.
However, retailers with fresh ideas and strong marketing to back them up continue to outperform, a reminder that the Japanese fashion market is perennially dynamic and adapts to new market realities. The winners include <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/workman-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:8467:1" rel="noopener">Workman Co Ltd (7564 JP),</a><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/ryohin-keikaku-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:2765:1" rel="noopener">Ryohin Keikaku (7453 JP)</a> and Baycrews.
This is Part II of a 2-part review of Japan's apparel and fashion markets. <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/japan-fashion-market-review-2019-part-i-a-stable-market-but-tougher-trading-all-round" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Part I of our review is here</a> and has a macro review of retailers by format in 2018-19 as well as sales rankings of the top 100 apparel retailers, market share trends by format and profitability rankings.

As shown in Part I of our review, the apparel and fashion market contracted slightly last year and no single format was immune to the tougher trading environment – even the online channel.
However, retailers with fresh ideas and strong marketing to back them up continue to outperform, a reminder that the Japanese fashion market is perennially dynamic and adapts to new market realities. The winners include Workman Co Ltd (7564 JP),Ryohin Keikaku (7453 JP) and Baycrews.
This is Part II of a 2-part review of Japan's apparel and fashion markets. Part I of our review is here and has a macro review of retailers by format in 2018-19 as well as sales rankings of the top 100 apparel retailers, market share trends by format and profitability rankings.

Japan Fashion Market Review 2019 Part II: Winners & Losers and Key Business Trends

The Ministry of Industry Affairs and Communications (MIC, the regulator) will submit changes to the Radio Law next year that allow the use of shared spectrum for 5G. By the mid-2020s, the MIC hopes to have 10 GHz of spectrum deployed, which would increase the amount of spectrum available for the industry by more than 3x whilst use cases like tele-medicine and autonomous driving have been cited as key applications requiring a wider spectrum deployment.  Specific bands have not yet been identified but shared spectrum is a component of global 5G standards and in that sense this is not a surprising development. Spectrum awards should be considered positive for the industry and proposed rule changes from the MIC are a step in that direction.

The Ministry of Industry Affairs and Communications (MIC, the regulator) will submit changes to the Radio Law next year that allow the use of shared spectrum for 5G. By the mid-2020s, the MIC hopes to have 10 GHz of spectrum deployed, which would increase the amount of spectrum available for the industry by more than 3x whilst use cases like tele-medicine and autonomous driving have been cited as key applications requiring a wider spectrum deployment.  Specific bands have not yet been identified but shared spectrum is a component of global 5G standards and in that sense this is not a surprising development. Spectrum awards should be considered positive for the industry and proposed rule changes from the MIC are a step in that direction.

Japan Mobile: Rule Changes for 5G Spectrum Sharing Should Enable a Further 3x Increase in Bandwidth

Japan

Rakuten Group, Inc. provides Internet services. The Company offers Internet finance services which including "Rakuten Card" and "Rakuten Bank". Rakuten Group also provides digital content services including electronic book services.

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Rakuten (4755 JP)

Japanese E-Commerce Review 2020: Softbank/Z, Rakuten and Amazon to Dominate Further

What statistics are available suggest that Japan lags behind China, USA and the UK in terms of e-commerce penetration but this position overlooks...

Michael Causton

NTT DoCoMo Flags up Its 6G Vision. Yes, that Is a Six!

As part of its recently held open house on network R&D, NTT Docomo Inc (9437 JP) has released a white paper on 5G evolution and 6G. The key...

Kirk Boodry

🇯🇵 Japan • Results & Revisions Review - Wishful Thinking

4TH DOWN AND A FEW MORE TO GO - The latest quarterly results are now, with the exception of three large insurance companies are currently in the...

Campbell Gunn

Japan Fashion Market Review 2019 Part II: Winners & Losers and Key Business Trends

As shown in Part I of our review, the apparel and fashion market contracted slightly last year and no single format was immune to the tougher...

Michael Causton

Price Gauge

52-week Range

Market Cap (USDm)

P/E

Dividend (Yield)

Japanese E-Commerce Review 2020: Softbank/Z, Rakuten and Amazon to Dominate Further

What statistics are available suggest that Japan lags behind China, USA and the UK in terms of e-commerce penetration but this position overlooks...

Michael Causton

NTT DoCoMo Flags up Its 6G Vision. Yes, that Is a Six!

As part of its recently held open house on network R&D, NTT Docomo Inc (9437 JP) has released a white paper on 5G evolution and 6G. The key...

Kirk Boodry

🇯🇵 Japan • Results & Revisions Review - Wishful Thinking

4TH DOWN AND A FEW MORE TO GO - The latest quarterly results are now, with the exception of three large insurance companies are currently in the...

Campbell Gunn

Japan Fashion Market Review 2019 Part II: Winners & Losers and Key Business Trends

As shown in Part I of our review, the apparel and fashion market contracted slightly last year and no single format was immune to the tougher...

Michael Causton

Japan Mobile: Rule Changes for 5G Spectrum Sharing Should Enable a Further 3x Increase in Bandwidth

The Ministry of Industry Affairs and Communications (MIC, the regulator) will submit changes to the Radio Law next year that allow the use of...

Kirk Boodry