Purchase restraint resulting from the consumption tax rate increase and exclusion from the cashless rebate program

「In domestic sales, PayPay Mall (Yahoo! Shopping), au Wowma! and LOHACO performed strongly, exceeding the previous year. However, Rakuten Ichiba and our own online store fell below the previous year due to the impact of the consumption tax increase, exclusion from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s Cashless Point Rebate Program, the unusually warm autumn and winter, sluggish sales of products from major national-brand manufacturers, and delays in the launch schedule for private-label collaboration products.」

「Although there was temporary front-loaded demand following the consumption tax rate increase, growth was weak. In addition, reduced purchasing due to the subsequent decline in demand, consumers’ growing preference for saving, and the impact of natural disasters including typhoons and torrential rain resulted in a persistently difficult environment. Sales through domestic websites exceeded the previous year’s results, but fell slightly short of the plan due to the subsequent decline in demand after the tax increase and sluggish order growth resulting from exclusion from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s “Cashless Point Rebate Program.”」