Japan

The global recession of 2020 was milder than expected with global real GDP in 2020 contracting by 3.6%. The global economic outlook has substantially improved since the end of 2020. Global real GDP growth in 2021 is expected to be 5.3%. The global ...

In 2020, the COVID-19 crisis triggered a major economic downturn in Japan. Aggressive fiscal stimulus, accommodative financial conditions, relatively low unemployment, and growing external demand are set to support economic recovery over the medium ...

Surface care was the biggest beneficiary from the outbreak of COVID-19 when it came to home care. Even prior to COVID-19 most consumers in Japan displayed concern over good hygiene practices, but with the outbreak of the virus these concerns ...

The outbreak of COVID-19 in Japan had a significant impact on sales of home care products, with consumers feeling a heightened sense of concern over hygiene around the home. Not only that, but with many businesses switching to work-from-home ...

Due to COVID-19 consumers spent considerably more time at home during 2020 and as such used the toilets in their home more frequently. Given this increased usage the demand for toilet care naturally increased too, with this being reflected in the ...

Laundry detergents is the dominant area of laundry care, but while other areas witnessed stronger growth in 2020 due to COVID-19, these products saw sales stagnate. Laundry detergents is a mature category and there is little scope for generating ...

With consumers leading increasingly busy lifestyles, dishwashing had seen sales start to decline in the second half of the review period, with the category also suffering from maturity. However, with the outbreak of COVID-19 and the declaration of a ...

Due to COVID-19 consumers spent more time at home during 2020, with fewer opportunities to leave the home. As such, consumers focused not just on improving the cleanliness of their homes but also their ambience and smell, with consumers in Japan also...

Prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, the increasing emphasis on convenience and ease-of-use amongst time-starved consumers was having a negative impact on the development of bleach, with sales registering a significant decline in 2019. With ...

Like most areas of home care, the main growth driver of home insecticides in 2020 was the home seclusion created by COVID-19. With more time spent at home consumers were more aware of and more irritated by pests and so were more willing to purchase ...

Floor polish is the largest category within polishes in terms of value sales, with many Japanese homes having floors that benefit from polishing. Nevertheless, with consumers leading increasingly busy lives many people are looking to limit their ...

The outbreak of COVID-19 in Japan caused widespread concern with many consumers concerned about catching or spreading the virus. This resulted in a spike in demand for hygiene products such as face masks, hand sanitisers, soap, and retail tissue ...

While many retail channels struggled as a result of COVID-19, variety stores actually saw stronger growth. Like most channels, sales were initially impeded when the state of emergency was declared with many stores forced to close or reduce their ...

In response to the outbreak of COVID-19 the Japanese government took a range of measures including advising citizens against making unnecessary trips outside of the home. Concerned about catching or spreading COVID-19 most people stayed home, ...

Apparel and footwear specialist retailers struggled in 2020 as COVID-19 took its toll on sales. The closure of non-essential stores during the state of emergency limited sales opportunities for part of the year, but even as stores began to reopen ...

Normally when there is a natural disaster or emergency situation in Japan convenience stores benefit; however, the same was not the case in 2020 following the outbreak of COVID-19. A large factor behind this was that after the government declared a ...

Mobile e-commerce saw a sharp uptick in sales in April and May following the government’s declaration of a state of emergency. With non-essential stores mainly closed or operating on reduced hours, and with consumers asked to limit their movements ...

Supermarkets remains the largest retail format in Japan in terms of value sales, with it also remaining the dominant grocery retailers channel. Nevertheless, the channel had been under pressure towards the end of the review period, with value sales ...

COVID-19 had a mixed impact on retailing in Japan in 2020, although overall value sales declined as consumers curbed their spending in response to the crisis. Despite this, supermarkets, the largest channel in value terms, witnessed stronger growth ...

Even prior to the outbreak of COVID-19 vending had been under pressure, with value sales seeing a year on year decline throughout the review period. There were several factors behind this including the growing competition from convenience stores, the...