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

E-Commerce Wars in Japan: How Z Holdings Is Facing off Against Rakuten and Amazon

Mercari’s Relentless Innovation Opens Closets

KKR & Rakuten Ignite Online Food Battle with Seiyu Purchase

E-Commerce Efficiency Marches on in Japan

Rakuten - Pricing Response Has a Few Surprises but Coverage Remains the Issue

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 Retailing / Thematic (Sector/Industry)

The following is a review of the e-commerce sector in Japan and shows that online retailing looks set to become the biggest retail channel this year and to widen the gap with other channels sharply in the next five years.
Some categories already see more than 30% of sales online and even food will see e-commerce share double in the next five years, as will fashion.
The total amount being spent on net shopping has trended upwards significantly. A record was set in December 2019 where households spent more than ¥21,000 on average through net shopping, but households spent more than this in June and October 2020, and set a new record of ¥23,240 per household in November 2020.
The proportion of consumption expenditure accounted for by net shopping has risen rapidly. Until 2018, the figure was more or less static at 4%, rising to an average of 5.6% of expenditure in 2019. For the first eleven months of 2020, on average 6.5% of consumption shifted to net shopping, breaking 7% in May, June and November.
Many retailers have already invested heavily and worked hard to create true omnichannel retailing and, increasingly, the extent of activity online is a measure of success overall.

The following is a review of the e-commerce sector in Japan and shows that online retailing looks set to become the biggest retail channel this year and to widen the gap with other channels sharply in the next five years.
Some categories already see more than 30% of sales online and even food will see e-commerce share double in the next five years, as will fashion.
The total amount being spent on net shopping has trended upwards significantly. A record was set in December 2019 where households spent more than ¥21,000 on average through net shopping, but households spent more than this in June and October 2020, and set a new record of ¥23,240 per household in November 2020.
The proportion of consumption expenditure accounted for by net shopping has risen rapidly. Until 2018, the figure was more or less static at 4%, rising to an average of 5.6% of expenditure in 2019. For the first eleven months of 2020, on average 6.5% of consumption shifted to net shopping, breaking 7% in May, June and November.
Many retailers have already invested heavily and worked hard to create true omnichannel retailing and, increasingly, the extent of activity online is a measure of success overall.

E-Commerce Is Booming in Japan