NIPPONIA

NIPPONIA No.19 December 15, 2001

Special Feature*

Japanese Convenience Stores--Numbers Say a Lot

Japan's convenience store industry brings in annual revenues of more than 6 trillion yen.
What is this huge market like? This page shows statistics and details to give you an inside look at the industry.

Sources: Results of a statistical survey conducted by the Japan Franchise Association, fiscal 2000; data from Seven-Eleven Japan Co., Ltd., and FamilyMart Co., Ltd.; websites of convenience store companies

Number of convenience store chains......58 (as of March 31, 2001) *
Total annual revenues......6,709,200,000,000 yen *
Total number of stores......38,274 (as of March 31, 2001) *

Seven-Eleven	_________________	8,602
Lawson	_________________	7,683
FamilyMart	_________________	5,773
SUNKUS	_________________	2,839
Circle K	_________________	2,465
am/pm	_________________	1,200
MINISTOP	_________________	1,347

(SUNKUS and Circle K merged in September 2000)

Average annual revenue per store......175,290,000 yen *
Average daily revenue per store......480,246 yen *
* Data for franchise chain stores only.
Number of items handled by a typical convenience store......approx. 2,800 to 3,000

Top 10 Product Types Sold

Source: Top 10 Sales Categories, published by Seven-Eleven Japan Co., Ltd. Data valid as of February 2001.

Seven-Eleven's Annual Revenues and Number of Stores in Japan

(Billon yen)

(Number of Stores)

^______Number of Stores ^______AnnualRevenues

A Day in the Life of a Convenience Store

6:00 a.m.	Morning deliveries (packaged meals, milk, etc.). Staff stock shelves and discard packaged meals whose shelf life has expired.
6:30 a.m.	Store manager arrives, checks the night's receipts, etc.
7:00 a.m.	Clerks A and B finish the night shift. Store manager and clerk C take their places. Steady stream of customers until after 9:00 a.m.
9:00 a.m.	Clerk D arrives for work. Manager checks inventory and sales, then places orders. Staff tidy shelves, replenish stock and clean, whenever time allows.
10:00 a.m.	Manager's spouse arrives for work, places orders, etc.
10:30 a.m.	Late morning delivery of packaged meals. Staff stock shelves.
11:00 a.m.	Deadline for ordering products online. Steady stream of customers until after 1:00 p.m.
2:00 p.m.	Manager and clerk C leave. Manager's spouse takes his or her place in store. Staff tidy shelves, replenish stock and clean, whenever time allows (About twice a month, manager meets chain representatives and attends business assessment meetings.)
4:00 p.m.	Clerk D leaves, and is replaced by clerk E.
4:30 p.m.	Late afternoon deliveries (packaged meals, milk, etc.). Staff stock shelves and discard packaged meals whose shelf life has expired. Steady stream of customers until after 5:00 p.m.
5:00 p.m.	Manager's spouse leaves, and is replaced by clerk F.
8:00 p.m.	Manager returns, checks the day's receipts, etc. The store is fairly busy until almost midnight.
11:00 p.m.	Clerks E and F leave, and are replaced by night staff clerks A and B.
11:30 p.m.	Manager leaves for the day.
1:30 a.m.	Magazines delivered. (Miscellaneous goods, processed foods and confectioneries delivered around the same time, one to three times a week.) Staff stock shelves, replenish stock and do a thorough cleaning, whenever time allows.
6:00 a.m.	Morning deliveries (packaged meals, milk, etc.). Staff stock shelves and discard packaged meals whose shelf life has expired. This cycle continues, day after day.

*A convenience store is typically operated by a manager and his or her family member(s), and staffed by five or six part-time clerks who generally work in six-hour shifts.

NIPPONIA