Consumption restraint due to rising prices for everyday necessities and food

「Consumers remained strongly focused on protecting their household finances amid price increases, particularly for food, and the outlook for personal consumption remained uncertain as consumers continued to favor frugality and selective purchasing.」

「Rising product prices due to inflation lifted the company’s average spend per customer to 101.1% of the previous interim period, but customer numbers fell to 98.1% and same-store sales came to 98.7%.」

「売上高は継続的な食品の値上げに伴う消費者の節約志向の一層の高まりによる買い控えの影響から、当初の計画を下回って推移しました。」

「In the supermarket industry, the operating environment remains challenging as food prices have continued to rise due to higher costs, including labor, logistics and energy, as well as surging raw material prices and the weaker yen, further strengthening consumers' preference for lower prices and frugality.」

「In the supermarket industry, rising prices, including persistently high rice prices and surging vegetable prices since last summer, have heightened consumers' focus on economizing and protecting household finances, among other effects」

「Customers' increasingly strong focus on saving and tendency to defer purchases due to prolonged high prices」

「On the other hand, resource and raw material prices remain elevated due in part to unstable global conditions, and the outlook remains uncertain.」

「Higher product prices have changed customers' purchasing behavior. While visits have tended to be spaced farther apart, the number of items purchased and the amount spent per visit increased.」

「Inflation has also put both average spend per customer and average spend per item on an upward trend.」

「Product price increases resulting from surging energy costs and higher raw material prices have continued, while the resulting increase in consumers' efforts to protect household finances amid price increases and inflation has led to continued declines in customer traffic and purchase frequency.」

「Price increases for products, driven by surging energy and raw material costs, continued. Until March and April, consumers made bulk purchases before the price increases, but as restrictions on movement related to COVID-19 were eased, consumers notably increased their opportunities to eat out and go out, resulting in a substantial decline in demand for meals prepared at home.」

「However, from October, after the state of emergency was lifted, opportunities to go out and eat out increased as foot traffic picked up, intensifying the declining trend in the number of store visitors. In addition to the backlash from exceptional demand for home consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic in the previous year, average spend per customer remained sluggish as consumers became more focused on protecting their household finances due to soaring gasoline and kerosene prices and other factors, resulting in revenue falling below the same period of the previous year.」

「As consumers became more focused on protecting their household finances and economizing due to concerns about the future,」

「As consumers became more focused on protecting their household finances due to the consumption tax hike, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was added,」

「In responding to stronger consumer efforts to protect household finances due to the consumption tax increase, the impact of the novel coronavirus disease on the consumer environment was also added」

「Sales fell below the previous fiscal year's level amid weak sales in the produce and meat divisions due to lower market prices, weak seasonal sales in the apparel division due to unsettled weather, and a growing inclination to economize because of concerns about the future, including the consumption tax increase and issues surrounding pensions and retirement funds.」

「With consumers becoming more inclined to economize due to concerns about the future, including the consumption tax hike and issues concerning pensions and retirement funds, revenue fell below the previous year's level,」

「With consumers becoming more inclined to economize due to concerns about the future, including the consumption tax rate increase scheduled for October and issues concerning pensions and retirement funds, revenue fell below the previous year, resulting in lower revenue but higher profit.」

「However, sales fell below the previous fiscal year's level, partly because consumers became more inclined to economize following the effects of natural disasters such as typhoons, torrential rains and earthquakes, as well as successive increases in electricity and gas rates and the prices of everyday food items.」

「However, sales fell short of expectations as consumers became more concerned about protecting their household finances and more inclined to economize, owing to the effects of the torrential rains in July 2018 and other factors, successive increases in electricity and gas rates and the prices of everyday food items such as bread, cheese and natto, and rising gasoline and kerosene prices.」

「In addition to the impact of the July 2018 heavy rains and successive price increases for electricity and gas, everyday food products such as bread, cheese and natto, and gasoline, consumers became increasingly focused on protecting their household finances and economizing. As a result, securing revenue and gross profit proved extremely difficult.」

「In addition to successive price increases for electricity and gas and everyday foods such as bread, cheese and natto, consumers became more focused on protecting their household finances and economizing due to factors including higher gasoline prices. Amid lower purchase frequency and intensifying competition, securing revenue and gross profit resulted in a very difficult outcome.」