| Retail Sales In Japan’s Supermarkets Dipped in April |
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| Tuesday, 17 June 2008 | |
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Japanese supermarket sales registered a decline of 0.8% in April 2008 for the first time in three months of 2008 due to rising costs of essential commodities like food and fuel. The sales in Japanese supermarkets that have been running for the past one year (April 2007- March 2008) dropped by 0.8% in April 2008, for the first time in Q1 of 2008, according to the Japan Chain Stores Association, as reported by Forbes. The association revealed that in April 2008, Japanese supermarkets earned 1.09 Trillion Yen ($10.6 Billion) in retail sales. Japanese supermarket sales had been declining over the past two years till January 2008, before rebounding in February-March 2008. In February 2008, the retail sales went up 1.9% and March 2008 recorded 1.4% rise. But the sales of foodstuff, the key category in superstores in Japan, surged because of escalating costs as it was an essential commodity. The Japanese retail sector’s fall in April 2008 resulted from poor expenditure on domestic items as cost of daily used commodities spiraled owing to rising inflation. The recession was another major cause for decreased superstores sales in Japan during April 2008, mainly due to spiraling fuel prices. Moreover, Japanese masses were also apprehensive of expending too much on clothes and other stuff as prices of essential items like food were very high. Another reason for drop in the Japanese supermarket sales was the lesser number of weekends in the April 2008 against last April (2007). People couldn’t get sufficient time for shopping because one Sunday was less than in April 2007. However, the sales of retail products in Japan were projected to record slow sales in May 2008 as well due to mounting prices of food, making it harder for financial policies to sustain the nation’s economy, said Fukushiro Nukaga, Japan’s Finance Minister, as reported by Bloomberg on May 23, 2008. According to a Research Analyst at RNCOS, “The present unfavorable economic condition hit the retail sales at Japanese Chain stores. Japanese retail industry can offer new deals like rebate plus free gifts on the non-food items and can also offer better services and advertising to increase the retail spending and to attract customers.” Related Market Research Reports: Booming Retail Sector in UAE Opportunities in Asian C-store Market Vietnam Retail Analysis (2008-2012) |
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