What you won’t experience anywhere else in the world of convenience retail can be found in Japan. These unique characteristics will be on full display next month at the NACS Convenience Summit Asia in Tokyo.
During a recent NACS Convenience Matters podcast, Mark Wohltmann talked about what attendees will see and hear during the event, which takes place February 25-27.
Wohltmann, the director of NACS Global, touched on the unique food offers and the role convenience stores play in the daily lives of Tokyo’s residents—as well as what retailers around the globe can learn from c-stores in the city of 37 million.
“If you look behind the scenes at how things work and operate, it's amazing how much they [Japanese retailers] think about detail and want to make sure that everything is 100% correct,” said Wohltmann.
Convenience stores— konbini —did not exist in Japan a little over 50 years ago. The country’s first c-store was a 7-Eleven store in Tokyo’s Toyosu district. Today, there are about 8,000 c-stores in Tokyo known for their high-density locations and high-quality fresh foods and sushi.
In fact, the quality of food in Japanese convenience stores is so outstanding that many people prefer to eat convenience store food over traditional restaurant options, especially people with small apartments or no kitchens—just a microwave.
"In Tokyo, you have a convenience store on every street corner. There are three or four major brands that split the market," said Wohltmann, adding that when he traveled to the city, “I mainly ate convenience store food all the time because it is just so good."
Other unique aspects of convenience stores in Japan:
- Operational excellence: Japanese convenience stores are renowned for their attention to detail, ensuring everything is 100% correct.
- Frequent deliveries: Each day c-stores receive numerous daily deliveries to ensure fresh stock, especially in urban areas where customers shop stores multiple times a day.
- Store size: Stores are typically around 1,000 square feet.
- Fueling: Unlike many other countries, most fueling sites in Japan don’t have a convenience store attached.
Hear more from Wohltmann on the Japanese convenience store landscape in “How Japan Is Reshaping Convenience Retailing.”