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. 

Equity Bottom-Up

<p>In 2002, Seiyu was saved by the foreign might of Walmart. Today it is about 25% smaller but over the same 20 years, it has gone from a ¥90 billion loss to an estimated ¥40 billion operating profit last year. Now, with the backing of its new majority owners, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/kkr-co-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:27333:1" rel="noopener">KKR &amp; Co Inc (KKR US)</a> and <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/rakuten-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:31:1" rel="noopener">Rakuten Inc (4755 JP)</a>, Seiyu has announced ambitious plans to become Japan’s largest online supermarket by 2025. This is increasingly likely thanks to Rakuten's new reach through its new joint venture with <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/japan-post-holdings-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:359:1" rel="noopener">Japan Post Holdings (6178 JP).</a> </p><p>Right now, online food retailing is a two horse race between Amazon and Rakuten, with Z Holdings nowhere in sight.</p>

In 2002, Seiyu was saved by the foreign might of Walmart. Today it is about 25% smaller but over the same 20 years, it has gone from a ¥90 billion loss to an estimated ¥40 billion operating profit last year. Now, with the backing of its new majority owners, KKR &amp; Co Inc (KKR US) and Rakuten Inc (4755 JP), Seiyu has announced ambitious plans to become Japan’s largest online supermarket by 2025. This is increasingly likely thanks to Rakuten's new reach through its new joint venture with Japan Post Holdings (6178 JP). Right now, online food retailing is a two horse race between Amazon and Rakuten, with Z Holdings nowhere in sight.

Seiyu: Back in the Mainstream Thanks to Rakuten

Latest News from the World’s Leading Innovators

Granite Bay Capital

An innovation focussed investment company

Granite Bay Capital is an innovation focussed investment company with a deep focus on the companies at the leading edge of innovation across major themes such as AI, ubiquitous computing, sustainability, automation and longevity.

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<p>Headline Developments Apple (AAPL) and Goldman Sachs (GS) are reportedly partnering to launch a buy now, pay later (BNPL) service through Apple Pay, according to Bloomberg .  The service will reportedly allow users to spread payments of their purchases across four interest-free payments every two weeks, or across several months with interest.</p>

Headline Developments Apple (AAPL) and Goldman Sachs (GS) are reportedly partnering to launch a buy now, pay later (BNPL) service through Apple Pay, according to Bloomberg .  The service will reportedly allow users to spread payments of their purchases across four interest-free payments every two weeks, or across several months with interest.

Equity Analyst - Asia Consumer Sector, Investory

Devi Subhakesan

Equity Analyst - Asia Consumer Sector

ASIA CONSUMER: INSIGHTS AND INVESTMENT IDEAS

Investory

Investory is a Singapore-based boutique independent equity research firm founded in January 2017 with a primary focus on consumption themes across Asia-Pacific.

We aim to generate investible ideas based on consumption trends and outlook. We screen our ideas on several parameters - product potential, long-term growth and management commitment being the most critical.  We follow a fundamental analysis approach in our stock selection process and are not restricted by market cap.

We aspire to grow into a leading source of unbiased research, free of conflict of interest, for investors yearning for independent and disciplined analysis. 

We also undertake bespoke research mandates to support our Institutional clients’ investment needs.

Our team comprises of professionals with extensive experience in the Asian equity markets, in areas ranging from research, servicing institutional clients and investment management.

Equity Capital Markets

<p>In this insight, we discuss how and why the growth outlook for the online food delivery sector in India is not as robust as online consumer retail - a fact that Zomato's buoyant valuations seem to overlook. Food delivery players like <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/zomato-media-pvt" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:28820:1" rel="noopener">Zomato (ZOM IN)</a> can tap into only a fraction of India's rising e-Comm user base in the next several years and hence are not the best plays on India's expanding online shopper base. India's low urbanization rate, restrictive social factors, and high level of income inequality limit the penetration rate for food delivery platforms like Zomato and thus impact their pace and potential for growth in the near-to-medium term <strong>vis-a-vis</strong> online retail tech platforms. <strong>Investors need to be cognizant of these restrictive macro factors while assessing this IPO's investment worth and valuation assumptions.</strong></p><p>Zomato's IPO has received the regulator's approval and is priced at Rs72 - 76 indicating a steep increase in valuation versus its last round of fundraising in February 2021. At the upper-end, Zomato will now be valued at USD8Bn+ versus USD5.2 Bn in Feb 2021. We suspect the street's excitement over this USD1.2 Bn+ IPO is likely driven by bullish growth expectations based on India's expanding online user base as well as the brand's high visibility and recall. <strong>We believe upcoming IPOs in the online retail sector like <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/flipkart-online-services-private-limited" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:31076:1" rel="noopener">Flipkart, </a><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/nykaa-e-retail-pvt-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:33469:1" rel="noopener">Nykaa E-Retail </a>could offer a more direct investment opportunity to ride the growth in India's rising online spending.</strong></p><p>Our earlier report <strong><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/zomato-s-usd-1bn-ipo-india-foodtech-s-lead-play-striking-when-the-market-is-covid-hot" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="insights:50874" rel="noopener">Zomato's USD 1Bn IPO: India Foodtech's Lead Play. Striking when the Market Is COVID-Hot.</a></strong>discussed Zomato's business basics.</p><section class="figure"><figure class="editor-figure mceNonEditable"><img src="https://static-prod.smartkarma.com/images/media/000/217/484/original/Screenshot+2021-07-08+at+6.24.44+PM.png?1625741192" class="editor-image img-responsive" data-smartkarma-image-id="217484"></figure></section>

In this insight, we discuss how and why the growth outlook for the online food delivery sector in India is not as robust as online consumer retail - a fact that Zomato's buoyant valuations seem to overlook. Food delivery players like Zomato (ZOM IN) can tap into only a fraction of India's rising e-Comm user base in the next several years and hence are not the best plays on India's expanding online shopper base. India's low urbanization rate, restrictive social factors, and high level of income inequality limit the penetration rate for food delivery platforms like Zomato and thus impact their pace and potential for growth in the near-to-medium term vis-a-vis online retail tech platforms. Investors need to be cognizant of these restrictive macro factors while assessing this IPO's investment worth and valuation assumptions.Zomato's IPO has received the regulator's approval and is priced at Rs72 - 76 indicating a steep increase in valuation versus its last round of fundraising in February 2021. At the upper-end, Zomato will now be valued at USD8Bn+ versus USD5.2 Bn in Feb 2021. We suspect the street's excitement over this USD1.2 Bn+ IPO is likely driven by bullish growth expectations based on India's expanding online user base as well as the brand's high visibility and recall. We believe upcoming IPOs in the online retail sector like Flipkart, Nykaa E-Retail could offer a more direct investment opportunity to ride the growth in India's rising online spending.Our earlier report Zomato's USD 1Bn IPO: India Foodtech's Lead Play. Striking when the Market Is COVID-Hot.discussed Zomato's business basics.

Zomato IPO: Floating High Above Sector Reality. Not a Linear Play on India's Rising EComm User Base

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements, Aequitas Research

Sumeet Singh

Head of Research, IPOs & Placements

IPOs and Placements coverage across Asia Pacific

Aequitas Research

We cover all listing across the Asia Pacific along with follow-up placements. As of Dec 2020, our team had covered 539 IPOs with a hit rate of 73.5% and 685 placements with a hit rate of 66.8%.

We combine fundamental bottom-up views with our proprietary quantitative framework to provide a holistic coverage across new listings and placements. Our coverage includes pre-IPO notes before the deal is launched, follow-up analysis once the deal is live and post-listing trading analysis as well.

<div><p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/dingdong-maicia" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:33461:1" rel="noopener">Dingdong Maicia (DDL US) </a>(DM), a groceries on-demand e-commerce company, aims to raise up to US$357m via a US listing. It is backed by Tiger Global, General Atlantic and Softbank.</p></div><div><p>Dingdong Maicai is an on-demand e-commerce company in China which provides users and households with fresh produce, meat and seafood and other daily necessities via its self-operated frontline fulfillment grid. As of 1Q21, DM had 6.9m monthly transacting users, who had placed 69.7m orders during the quarter. Its FY20 gross merchandise value was RMB13bn, representing a 10%+ market share for the on-demand ecommerce fresh groceries and daily necessities market.</p></div><div><p>In our earlier notes, we have looked at the background and performance the company:</p></div><div><ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"><p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/dingdong-maicai-pre-ipo-increasing-market-share-fast-growth-but-no-signs-of-profit" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dingdong Maicai Pre-IPO - Increasing market share, fast growth but no signs of profit</a></p></li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/dingdong-maicai-vs-miss-fresh-pre-ipo-one-clear-winner" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dingdong Maicai Vs Miss Fresh Pre-IPO - One Clear Winner</a></li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/dingdong-fresh-food-competition-in-and-outside-of-frontline-warehouse" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dingdong (叮咚买菜): Fresh Food Competition in and Outside of Frontline Warehouse</a></li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/dingdong-maicai-pre-ipo-thoughts-on-valuation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dingdong Maicai Pre-IPO - Thoughts on Valuation</a></li>
</ul></div><div><p>In this note we will run the deal through our ECM Framework and talk about deal dynamics.</p></div>

Dingdong Maicia (DDL US) (DM), a groceries on-demand e-commerce company, aims to raise up to US$357m via a US listing. It is backed by Tiger Global, General Atlantic and Softbank.Dingdong Maicai is an on-demand e-commerce company in China which provides users and households with fresh produce, meat and seafood and other daily necessities via its self-operated frontline fulfillment grid. As of 1Q21, DM had 6.9m monthly transacting users, who had placed 69.7m orders during the quarter. Its FY20 gross merchandise value was RMB13bn, representing a 10%+ market share for the on-demand ecommerce fresh groceries and daily necessities market.In our earlier notes, we have looked at the background and performance the company:
Dingdong Maicai Pre-IPO - Increasing market share, fast growth but no signs of profit
Dingdong Maicai Vs Miss Fresh Pre-IPO - One Clear Winner
Dingdong (叮咚买菜): Fresh Food Competition in and Outside of Frontline Warehouse
Dingdong Maicai Pre-IPO - Thoughts on Valuation
In this note we will run the deal through our ECM Framework and talk about deal dynamics.

Dingdong Maicai Pre-IPO - It's Still like a VC Bet but Probably Worth It

<div>
<p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/dingdong-maicia" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:33461:1" rel="noopener">Dingdong Maicia (DDL US) </a>(DM), a groceries on-demand e-commerce company, aims to raise up to US$500m via a US listing. It is backed by Tiger Global, General Atlantic and Softbank.</p>
<p>Dingdong Maicai is an on-demand e-commerce company in China which provides users and households with fresh produce, meat and seafood and other daily necessities via its self-operated frontline fulfillment grid. As of 1Q21, DM had 6.9m monthly transacting users, who had placed 69.7m orders during the quarter. Its FY20 gross merchandise value was RMB13bn, representing a 10%+ market share for the on-demand ecommerce fresh groceries and daily necessities market.</p>
</div><div><p>In our earlier notes, we have looked at the background and performance the company:</p></div><div><ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"><p><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/dingdong-maicai-pre-ipo-increasing-market-share-fast-growth-but-no-signs-of-profit" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dingdong Maicai Pre-IPO - Increasing market share, fast growth but no signs of profit</a></p></li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/dingdong-maicai-vs-miss-fresh-pre-ipo-one-clear-winner" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dingdong Maicai Vs Miss Fresh Pre-IPO - One Clear Winner</a></li>
<li dir="ltr" aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/insights/dingdong-fresh-food-competition-in-and-outside-of-frontline-warehouse" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dingdong (叮咚买菜): Fresh Food Competition in and Outside of Frontline Warehouse</a></li>
</ul></div><div><p>In this note we will provide our earnings forecast and talk about valuations.</p></div>


Dingdong Maicia (DDL US) (DM), a groceries on-demand e-commerce company, aims to raise up to US$500m via a US listing. It is backed by Tiger Global, General Atlantic and Softbank.
Dingdong Maicai is an on-demand e-commerce company in China which provides users and households with fresh produce, meat and seafood and other daily necessities via its self-operated frontline fulfillment grid. As of 1Q21, DM had 6.9m monthly transacting users, who had placed 69.7m orders during the quarter. Its FY20 gross merchandise value was RMB13bn, representing a 10%+ market share for the on-demand ecommerce fresh groceries and daily necessities market.
In our earlier notes, we have looked at the background and performance the company:
Dingdong Maicai Pre-IPO - Increasing market share, fast growth but no signs of profit
Dingdong Maicai Vs Miss Fresh Pre-IPO - One Clear Winner
Dingdong (叮咚买菜): Fresh Food Competition in and Outside of Frontline Warehouse
In this note we will provide our earnings forecast and talk about valuations.

Dingdong Maicai Pre-IPO - Thoughts on Valuation

United States

Walmart Inc. operates discount stores, supercenters, and neighborhood markets. The Company offers merchandise such as apparel, house wares, small appliances, electronics, musical instruments, books, home improvement, shoes, jewelry, toddler, games, household essentials, pets, pharmaceutical products, party supplies, and automotive tools. Walmart serves customers worldwide.

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Walmart (WMT US)

Seiyu: Back in the Mainstream Thanks to Rakuten

Online is only 3% of food retail in Japan but this is about to change fast. Amazon leads in this race but Rakuten is about to catch up through...

Michael Causton

Weekly Innovation Review (WIRE) #40

Headline Developments Apple (AAPL) and Goldman Sachs (GS) are reportedly partnering to launch a buy now, pay later (BNPL) service through Apple

Granite Bay Capital

Zomato IPO: Floating High Above Sector Reality. Not a Linear Play on India's Rising EComm User Base

IPO valuations ignore that the growth outlook for the online food delivery sector in India is not as robust as online consumer retail. Projections...

Devi Subhakesan

Dingdong Maicai Pre-IPO - It's Still like a VC Bet but Probably Worth It

Dingdong Maicia (DDL US) (DM), a groceries on-demand e-commerce company, aims to raise up to US$357m via a US listing. It is backed by Tiger...

Sumeet Singh

Dingdong Maicai Pre-IPO - Thoughts on Valuation

Dingdong Maicia (DDL US), a groceries on-demand e-commerce company, aims to raise up to US$500m via a US listing. It is backed by Tiger Global,...

Sumeet Singh

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