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

2nd Emergency Means New Opportunities for Supermarkets

Japan Retail Full Review 2020-2021: Some Retail Sectors Outperform in a Pandemic

Oisix Thrives in Crisis, Ties with Ootoya

Oisix Ra Daichi: The Fastest Online Grocery Shopping

Megane Super: Shops on Wheels Are the Future

Convenience Stores: Diversification and a Fight for Share as Familymart Delists

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 Food and staples retailing / Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<p>Just a month after <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/meganesuper-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:14070:1" rel="noopener">Meganesuper (3318 JP)</a> said it was switching from opening new physical stores to mobile ones, other retailers are following suit. With Covid-19 infections reaching new records in Japan in December, taking the shop to the consumers is looking like an attractive option, rather than hoping that a few might make it out to stores,  and a visiting store-in-a-truck should help less mobile customers too. </p>

Just a month after Meganesuper (3318 JP) said it was switching from opening new physical stores to mobile ones, other retailers are following suit. With Covid-19 infections reaching new records in Japan in December, taking the shop to the consumers is looking like an attractive option, rather than hoping that a few might make it out to stores,  and a visiting store-in-a-truck should help less mobile customers too. 

Mobile Shops and Flexible Delivery