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

Japan's E-Commerce Sector Increases Retail Share in 2018-19

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

Muji Expands Channels with Lawson and Major Online Malls

Yamada Denki: Selling Sofas with Consumer Electronics Is Much More Promising than It Might Seem

Fashion: Still the Biggest Japanese E-Commerce Category – and Still Growing Fast

Amazon Fresh Forces Catch-Up Scramble in Online Food Retailing in Japan

Still “Early Days” for the Last Mile Industrial Segment of the Real Estate Sector

Could There Be a Chink in Amazon’s Armour?: AI Readings

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 Consumer discretionary / Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<div class="content-highlight"><p>The Ministry of Economy, Trade &amp; Industry (METI)’s annual e-commerce survey confirms strong growth in 2017, up 9.5% on the previous year. Apparel remains the largest sector, while the highest growth was in furniture and interiors. Retail sales of merchandise accounted for more than half the total, and e-commerce penetration is still on course to break 10% of total retail sales in the next decade.</p></div><p>METI’s latest annual survey for e-commerce for 2017 was released in May. According to the report…</p>

The Ministry of Economy, Trade &amp; Industry (METI)’s annual e-commerce survey confirms strong growth in 2017, up 9.5% on the previous year. Apparel remains the largest sector, while the highest growth was in furniture and interiors. Retail sales of merchandise accounted for more than half the total, and e-commerce penetration is still on course to break 10% of total retail sales in the next decade.METI’s latest annual survey for e-commerce for 2017 was released in May. According to the report…

Japanese E-Commerce Breaks ¥16.5 Trillion in FY2017