A ¥100 store located on the same floor as a ¥300 store is seen in Chuo Ward, Tokyo, in April 2022.
12:46 JST, May 19, 2024
The domestic market for ¥100 stores will surpass ¥1 trillion for the first time in fiscal 2023, up about 5% from the previous year to about ¥1.02 trillion, according to an estimate by Teikoku Databank, Ltd.
As high prices have made consumers more price-conscious, sales of daily necessities and miscellaneous items, among other frequently purchased items, grew mainly at ¥100 stores in fiscal 2023.
Teikoku Databank estimated based on the sales of ¥100 store operators such as Daiso Industries Co. and Seria Co. that the market size was ¥653 billion in fiscal year 2013 and has grown 1.6 times in ten years. The number of stores has also increased approximately one and a half times over the past decade, to approximately 8,900 in fiscal 2023.
Most items in ¥100 stores are manufactured abroad. The yen’s depreciation has worsened profitability and some products can no longer be sold for ¥100. As a result, the number of “¥300 stores” selling higher value products is increasing, with approximately 1,100 stores in fiscal 2023 – approximately 2.8 times the number in fiscal 2019, which was approximately 400 stores.
“Operators face a difficult decision whether to continue focusing on ¥100 products or expand their operations beyond that,” said a Teikoku Databank official responsible for the estimate.
