Uniqlo's Japanese comp sales dipped in May

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jun 2, 2021

Fast Retailing’s Uniqlo interrupted a fairly strong record of rising Japanese same-store sales during May as the company recorded a 0.6% drop year-on-year. That said, total sales did manage to increase by 3.6%. Both figures included online sales.

The company said that the small dip in same-store sales came as the state of emergency in Japan encouraged people to stay indoors more. That was despite fewer of its stores being temporarily closed due to the pandemic compared to the previous year when the Covid crisis was at its height.

While Japan has been less affected by the pandemic than many countries in Europe, it has been seeing a rising tide of infections lately and the government wants to make sure that the situation doesn't get out of hand. That’s especially the case with the Tokyo Olympics imminent.

But as well as circumstances beyond its control, the retailer also said that its sales struggled somewhat “due to insufficient product-related newsworthy elements and information sharing”.

However, customer numbers stayed fairly robust, although those consumers who were spending were buying less per transaction.