Japan

Floor polish is not a standard product for many of the younger generation. It might have been used by the older generations, but this custom has not continued strongly. It is very time-consuming and tiring to use on a regular basis. Another reason…

Dishwashing was one of the large home care categories that grew well in current value terms in 2020. Increased time spent at home during the pandemic led to greater frequency of consumption of food and drinks at home, which led to increased frequency…

Like other home care categories, after seeing exceptional growth in 2020, driven by COVID-19, bleach also saw a drop in its current value sales in 2021, which continued in 2022. In spring 2020, some consumers were very concerned about the pandemic…

The impact of COVID-19 continued into 2022, as states of emergency and quasi-states of emergency announced to prevent the spread of COVID-19 continued in major cities such as Tokyo and Osaka until the end of March 2022. However, with the easing of…

Despite the expectation of marginal retail volume decline in 2022, after an exceptional year of growth in 2021, a dishwasher is still amongst the top three “must-haves” for households with busy lifestyles, typically those with children and both…

Apparel accessories experienced a strong current value decline in 2022, mainly due to an unstoppable decline in demand for fashion masks (included under other apparel accessories). Nevertheless, business items such as ties and belts recovered…

Consumer foodservice in Japan finally saw double-digit growth in current value sales in 2022, after it suffered declines for two consecutive years as quasi-states of emergency and states of emergency were implemented several times throughout 2020 and…

Home seclusion was a trend throughout both 2020 and 2021. In 2020, people were forced to stay at home due to COVID-19, especially in April and May, when the state of emergency, a soft lockdown with few legitimate punishments, was declared by the…

Home insecticides in Japan saw double-digit growth in 2020 in both volume and current value terms. As home seclusion expanded and rooted from early 2020, people realised that they needed to invest more in bug prevention, especially with the increased…

Facial tissues, comprising boxed facial tissues and pocket handkerchiefs, witnessed a significant drop in demand in 2020, due to home seclusion as a result of the pandemic. Usage of facial tissues was therefore limited, as the population was less…

Vending machines have a large presence in Japan and have been part of local culture for decades. The pandemic resulted in a strong sales decline for vending in 2020 followed by a low decline in 2021 due to restrictions and lower footfall in…

Value sales of convenience stores, the only category within convenience retailers in Japan at the end of the review period, were on an upward trend prior to the emergence of COVID-19. After a sudden decline in 2020 due to the pandemic and subsequent…

In 2020, air care saw stronger retail volume and current value growth than in the previous few years, as COVID-19 emerged and spread in Japan. This was mainly for two reasons. One was a trend led by home seclusion – to make the home a better place in…

The impact of COVID-19 continued in 2022, as the states of emergency and quasi-states of emergency announced to prevent the spread of the virus continued in Tokyo, Osaka, and other major cities until the end of March 2022. However, womenswear showed…

There was a time when functions meant value in appliances. Microwaves were first released around 1960 in Japan, beginning with business use and expanding to consumer use. At the time these were considered super premium products and were not…

Since the pandemic emerged in Japan, sales through supermarkets spiked due to consumers spending greater time at home, including the adoption of remote working. While there was a stronger return to the workplace in 2022, hybrid working models became…

The retail industry in Japan performed well in 2022, with current value sales already fully recovering to pre-pandemic levels the previous year. However, this differed across the channels, with overall value sales through retail offline remaining…

Despite prolonged time spent at home in Japan during the pandemic, value sales through hypermarkets declined compared to a positive performance by supermarkets in 2020. This decline continued in 2021 and 2022, as many local consumers generally favour…

For more than a decade, stick vacuum cleaners saw continuous growth by taking sales from cylinder vacuum cleaners, since Dyson made it clear that cordless stick types could work as well, as or even better, than cylinder types in terms of usability.…

In 2022, Japan has begun to see less impact from the COVID-19 pandemic. It might have been a slower and weaker recovery compared with most of the world, but the situation improved from 2021. 2020 was a year of panic and heavy home seclusion. The…