As Japan was hit by record temperatures this summer, supermarket chain Maruyasu introduced what it called mōsho-warior “extreme heat discount,” to attract buyers who are reluctant to step out of their homes into the blazing sun.
On days when Yahoo! Weather’s maximum temperature forecast for each of the seven Maruyasu stores in Tokyo and neighboring Saitama Prefecture exceeded 35 degrees Celsius at 9 a.m., the stores offered discounts based on the last digit of the temperature — a price reduction of 5% if it was 35 degrees Celsius; 7% if it was 37 degrees Celsius, and so on.
“We started the same campaign this summer to help stem the decline in customer traffic,” said Yukiko Matsui, one of the two founders of the company, which sells discounted products that are near their expiration dates or have damaged packaging in an effort to reduce food waste.
