Supermarket and convenience store sales – seen as important indicators in the Japanese market – remained consistent throughout the coronavirus pandemic, numbers from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry show. Supermarket sales were predictably emboldened by the crisis, but sales in convenience stores, a popular and ubiquitous choice for Japanese shoppers, also did not budge.
Department stores sales were affected by the crisis and sales plummeted from around $4 to $5 billion a month throughout 2019 to a low of $1.3 billion in April of 2020. In June, sales were back up to around $4 billion and stayed stagnant in July.
This chart shows total monthly sales in Japanese supermarkets, convenience stores and department stores in 2019 and 2020.
