A huge selection, from regular products to items never seen before

Always open, standing ready even in residential districts without other stores, a part of life in Japan... Snacks and sweet foods are readily available throughout the country, but the conbini lineup probably beats them all, taking up almost half the shelf space in an average-sized store.

The snacks and sweets on display fit into three categories: regular products, limited specials, and new items. The regular products include potato chips and chocolates, all long sellers everyone knows—some have been popular for generations. The limited specials are sold only for a certain period of time, or in certain areas. Many are seasonal, or reflect local tastes as specialty foods.

It is hard for a new product to become a regular on conbini shelves. Computerized systems quickly order in products that sell well, while slower items are soon banished. Not even 20% of all the snacks and sweets on the shelves are regular products. As for the rest, in some chains 20 to 30 types of products disappear on average every week, to be replaced by new ones.

Convenience stores are part of everyday life in Japan. They have a wide variety of snacks and sweets, from regular products like potato chips to cakes like you might find in a specialty bakery.

Taste you would expect from a specialty store, but cheaper

Over the last few years, the chilled desserts known as "Conbini sweets" have become popular. Their quality is quite close to what specialty shops offer, and yet they are relatively cheap.

"Conbini sweets" became the talk of the town around 2009. They began as desserts with a luxury appeal, at prices just a little bit higher than what one would expect at a conbini. So they succeeded in changing the impression of sweets sold in conbini, from "cheap, but you only get what you pay for" to "relatively inexpensive, and great to eat."

Some conbini chains have teamed up with culinary research experts and pastry chefs, developing items that will grab attention and present new tastes.

One reason "Conbini sweets" sell well is because the convenience stores have begun to attract so many different types of people. Before, the majority of customers were male, since the stores are open 24 hours and they sell ready-to-eat meals (including of course bento lunchboxes). But today just about everyone shops at conbini. To satisfy the preferences of female and elderly customers, too, more stores are shifting from snacks and sweets that emphasize quantity rather than quality (formerly the norm), to "Conbini sweets" that are smaller but taste better. Women tend to be more calorie-conscious, and conbini have recognized this, riding the popularity wave of traditional sweets. Except for ever-popular regular products like cream puffs, "Conbini sweets", too, end up disappearing every one to four months or so, to be replaced by new types.

Conbini closely mirror the enthusiasm Japanese people have for snacks and sweets. Every week, dozens of new snacks and sweets make their appearance on conbini shelves, all part of the unending exhibition of snacks and sweets in modern-day Japan.

Candies and chocolates are all neatly displayed. Products new to the market and popular items are placed at eye level, while sweet products or items with prizes for kids and cheap items are on lower shelves. This is the basic rule of thumb for confection displays in convenience stores.