1、ab1 September 2025Global ResearchJapan Retail SectorOnline shopping taking hold:Japans e-commerce market at 15.2trn in 2024,share of market flatSummaryThe Ministry of Economy,Trade and Industry on 26 August released its market survey on e-commerce(link,Japanese only).We have summarised the market en

2、vironment of the retail sector,including e-commerce in Japan,together with the current commercial statistics(also see our report Retail Sector:Where Did Consumers Shop in 2024?(Preliminary Figures)”,published on 31 January.E-commerce market size:The scale of the EC market(BtoC EC sales in goods area

3、s)surpassed 13trn for the first time in 2021 and increased 3.7%yoy to 15.2194trn in 2024,increasing 543.4bn yoy and generally in line with our forecast of 15.4098trn.In 2024,by business format,department store sales were up 6.3%yoy and drugstore sales were up 6.9%yoy,benefitting from the Covid pande

4、mic running its course,economic normalisation,and demand from foreign visitors to Japan.Sales at convenience stores and supermarkets increased 1.2%and 2.7%,respectively.Therefore,in terms of sales growth rate in 2024,EC was lower than department stores and drugstores.EC share of core retail sales va

5、lue:The total value of retail sales in 2024 was 167.179trn(+2.5%yoy).Excluding fuel retailing(15.847trn)and automobile retailing(17.614trn),core retail sales value increased 3.4%yoy to 133.718trn.As a result,the market share of EC in core retail sales value(EC conversion rate)was 11.4%,flat yoy,as s

6、ales at physical stores have been recovering due to the Covid pandemic ending(Figure 12 0 2 4 c o r e r e t a i l ma r k e t s h a r e a n d s i z e b y f o r ma t,Figure 2C o r e r e t a i l ma r k e t s h a r e b y s t o r e f o r ma t).Share of the top 3 companies:Within the EC market,Amazon Japa