Japanese Retailers Striving to Draw World Cup-Linked Demand

June 20, 2018

Tokyo- Many Japanese retailers are making efforts to boost sales through products linked to the ongoing World Cup soccer finals in Russia.

Major electronics retailer Bic Camera Inc. is offering discounts and extra reward points for purchases of superhigh-definition 4K television sets.

The promotion is aimed at "encouraging potential buyers" of 4K TVs, a Bic Camera official said.

Total sales of large TVs, including 4K models, in May-June are likely to increase some 30 pct from a year before on an all-store basis, the official said.

Kirin Brewery Co. launched a campaign in March to support the Japanese national team including through its mainstay beer product "Ichiban Shibori" featuring a limited package design.

Sales of those products in March-May almost doubled the company's target, a public relations official at Kirin Brewery said, adding that their performance "is stronger than expected."

Sogo & Seibu Co.'s flagship Seibu department store in the Ikebukuro district of Tokyo's Toshima Ward set up a World Cup section on its sales floor selling replica uniforms of the Japanese team and towels.

Its main customers are young people who plan to go to public viewings of World Cup matches. Sales of those items have been relatively sluggish, however, compared with those of goods for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

A public relations official at Sogo & Seibu attributed the weak sales to the consensus that the Japanese team "is unlikely to get through the group stage."

Japanese sponsor companies that use calendars with pictures of Japanese national team members and other goods for sales promotion are paying attention to the Japan's matches.

"In the past World Cup events, sales (of related items) expanded when the Japanese team won matches," an official of Credit Saison Co. said. Jiji Press