Date : December 10, 2024
Japanese Convenience Stores: 50 Years of Evolution and the Next 50 Years (Mr. Hiroaki Watanabe, President, Yaramaika Marketing)
post date : 2024.11.26
It has been approximately 50 years since the birth of Japan’s three largest convenience store chains, 7-Eleven, Lawson, and FamilyMart, in the 1970s. In response to the diversifying needs of customers, convenience stores developed from being a convenient place to shop at to fulfilling a role as societal infrastructure, including as a place to pay taxes and utility fees, a site for ATMs, and a place to send and pick up packages. However, population decline has led to Japan’s convenience stores facing a shrinking domestic market, as well as an increasingly severe labor shortage, and the different companies are all working to determine what the next generation of convenience stores will look like.
The FPCJ has invited Mr. Hiroaki Watanabe, a marketing analyst and convenience store critic who worked for Lawson for 22 years, and president of Yaramaika Marketing, to discuss the current state of the convenience store industry in Japan and the challenges it faces, as well as future trends and possibilities.
Please note that you cannot physically attend this briefing, as it will be a Zoom webinar.
FPCJ supporting members and embassy representatives may also participate in the briefing as observers (admission free).
■Date: Dec 10 (Tue), 2024, 10:30-12:00 (Deadline for application: Noon, Mon, Dec 9)
■Theme: Japanese Convenience Stores: 50 Years of Evolution and the Next 50 Years
■Briefer: Mr. Hiroaki Watanabe, President, Yaramaika Marketing
■Language: Japanese, with consecutive English interpretation
As in our standard press briefings, there will be a Q&A session at the end.
*In principle, questions will only be accepted from members of the foreign press.
■Members of the Foreign Press:
Please send any questions for the briefer or topics you are interested in to cp@fpcjpn.or.jp by 12:00 on Monday, Dec 9.
As there will only be a limited amount of time to ask questions during the briefing, we will collect questions and provide them to the briefer in advance.
■How to Apply: Please refer to the email we sent.
*We will not be accepting applications by email.