Tokyo, 21 January, /AJMEDIA/
Convenience store sales in Japan rose 3.7 percent from a year earlier to a record 11.2 trillion yen in 2022, helped by the first increase in customer visits in four years amid eased COVID-19 restrictions, an industry body said Friday.
The same-store sales of seven major convenience store operators grew for the second consecutive year, thanks to robust sales of items such as boxed lunches, rice balls, frozen food products and soft drinks, according to the Japan Franchise Association.
The number of customer visits was up 0.9 percent at 15.8 billion, though the figure was still short of the pre-pandemic level in 2019.
Together with the higher number of shoppers, sales growth was driven by a record average spending per customer of 711.50 yen, an increase of 2.8 percent.
An official at the association said that the record sales reflect consumer behavior of seeking to buy before prices rise for more products.
Sales were boosted as buying daily necessities in bulk at one location, which became popular under the coronavirus restrictions, has become a long-term trend, according to the association.
The gain in sales was also contributed to by the National Travel Discount program, started by the government in October to help revamp domestic tourism, the association said, adding that convenience stores have developed and offered new products that cater to the increased turnout.
In December alone, sales were up 3.9 percent from the same month in 2021 at 1 trillion yen on high demand for Christmas-related food items such as cakes and chicken.
The number of the overall convenience stores in Japan stood at 55,838 at the end of 2022, falling for the first time since the end of 2019.
