Intensifying Retail Competition and Reallocation of Management Resources

「In the food supermarket industry, our group’s business domain, the operating environment remains uncertain due to the continuing impact of high prices, which are increasing price sensitivity and affecting consumption, intensifying competition across industries, business formats and regions, and rising labor and other costs.」

「Although growth in financial assets and rising wages are supporting consumption, the retail industry remains in difficult conditions due to high prices and soaring labor costs resulting from increasingly severe labor shortages. Industry activity is intensifying through expanded food handling by drugstores, the growing strength of discount formats, cross-format entry into the fresh-food sector including by major online retailers, and an expansion in M&A.」

「Although improvements in the income environment and rising product prices are supporting earnings, the operating environment remains uncertain due to cautious personal consumption, intensifying competition across industries and business formats, and rising labor and other costs.」

「Although earnings remained firm due to rising product prices, the operating environment remains uncertain due to intensifying competition across industries and business formats and rising labor and other costs.」

「Although growth in financial assets and rising wages are supporting consumption, the retail industry remains in difficult conditions due to high prices and increasingly severe labor shortages. Industry activity is intensifying through the expansion of food offerings by drugstores, the growing strength of discount formats, and cross-format entry into the fresh-food sector, including by major online retailers.」

「Although accumulated household savings during the COVID-19 pandemic and rising wages are supporting consumption, the retail industry remains in difficult conditions, with concerns over deteriorating corporate earnings, high prices, declining demand for eating at home following the review of responses to COVID-19, and weaker consumer sentiment. Industry activity is also intensifying through cross-format entry into the fresh-food sector, including by major online retailers.」

「In the food supermarket industry, our group’s business domain, the operating environment is becoming increasingly challenging due to intensifying competition across industries and business formats, rising procurement prices for raw materials, and rising costs including water, utility and fuel expenses.」

「Demand for eating at home generated by the COVID-19 pandemic has begun to level off, while competition across industries and business formats is intensifying and various costs, including utility costs, are soaring. The operating environment is becoming increasingly challenging.」

「With personal income growth sluggish and the recovery in consumer sentiment limited, price competition is intensifying, online retail and food delivery are expanding, takeout and delivery by restaurants and other businesses are growing, competition across industry boundaries is intensifying, and various costs, including labor and raw-material costs, are rising. The operating environment is becoming increasingly challenging.」

「Amid these economic conditions, demand for eating at home generated by the COVID-19 pandemic remains, although signs of a slowdown have emerged. With the recovery in personal income and consumer sentiment limited, online retail and food delivery are expanding, competition across industry boundaries is intensifying, and various costs, particularly labor costs, are rising, making the operating environment increasingly challenging.」

「The retail industry remains in difficult conditions, partly due to the impact of the consumption tax increase, while industry activity is intensifying through stronger competition over loyalty-point rewards accompanying the spread of cashless payments and cross-format entry into the fresh-food sector, including by major online retailers.」

「In the food supermarket industry, our group’s business domain, headwinds such as market contraction due to population aging and decline, over-storing caused by the aggressive store-opening strategies of various companies, rising labor costs due to labor shortages, and rising logistics costs have intensified. Meanwhile, as discount formats have expanded amid stagnant income, drugstores have expanded their food offerings, online retail has expanded, and online and physical stores have become integrated. The business environment has continued to undergo major changes, and competition among companies has become increasingly intense.」

「In the food supermarket industry, our group’s business domain, headwinds such as market contraction due to population aging and decline, over-storing caused by the aggressive store-opening strategies of various companies, rising labor costs due to labor shortages, and rising logistics costs have intensified. Meanwhile, as discount formats have expanded amid stagnant income, store formats, including urban small-format stores, have diversified, online retail has expanded, and online and physical stores have become integrated. The business environment has continued to undergo major changes, and competition among companies has become increasingly intense.」

「In the food supermarket industry, our group’s business domain, the business environment has continued to undergo major changes. In addition to the developments described above, headwinds such as market contraction due to population aging and decline, over-storing caused by the aggressive store-opening strategies of various companies, rising labor costs due to labor shortages, and rising logistics costs have intensified, while the boundaries between business formats, including convenience stores and drugstores, have narrowed. Store formats, including urban small-format stores, have diversified, online retail has expanded, and online and physical stores have become integrated. Competition among companies has become increasingly intense.」

「In the food supermarket industry, our group’s business domain, the business environment has continued to undergo major changes. In addition to the developments described above, headwinds such as market contraction due to population aging and decline, over-storing caused by the aggressive store-opening strategies of various companies, rising labor costs due to labor shortages, and rising logistics costs have emerged, while the boundaries between business formats, including convenience stores and drugstores, have narrowed. Store formats have diversified, online retail has expanded, online and physical stores have become integrated, and major companies have entered the food-delivery business. As a result, companies are facing fiercer competition than ever.」

「In the food supermarket industry, our group’s business domain, the business environment has continued to undergo major changes. In addition to the developments described above, headwinds such as market contraction due to population aging and decline, rising labor costs due to labor shortages, and rising logistics costs have emerged, while the boundaries between business formats, including convenience stores and drugstores, have narrowed, store formats have diversified, online retail has expanded, online and physical stores have become integrated, and major companies have entered the food-delivery business. As a result, companies are facing fiercer competition than ever.」

「In the food supermarket industry, our business domain, the business environment has continued to undergo major changes. In addition to these developments, headwinds such as market contraction due to population aging and decline, rising labor costs due to labor shortages, and rising logistics costs have emerged, while the boundaries between business formats, including convenience stores and drugstores, have become less distinct, store formats have diversified, online retail has expanded, online and physical stores have become integrated, and major companies have entered the food-delivery business. As a result, companies are facing fiercer competition than ever.」

「In the food supermarket industry, our group’s business domain, the business environment has continued to undergo major changes. In addition to these developments, headwinds such as market contraction due to population aging and decline, rising labor costs due to labor shortages, and rising logistics costs have emerged, while the boundaries between business formats, including convenience stores and drugstores, have become less distinct, store formats have diversified, online retail has expanded, online and physical stores have become integrated, and major companies have entered the food-delivery business. As a result, companies are facing fiercer competition than ever.」

「Although personal consumption is gradually recovering, conditions in the retail industry remain difficult. While companies are making efforts to win customer support by expanding sales channels that stimulate new demand, including stronger online sales, new-format stores specializing in products tailored to health-conscious consumers, and mobile supermarkets, industry activity is intensifying through moves such as customer retention using shared loyalty cards and growing oligopolization accompanying capital and business alliances among major retailers.」

「In the food supermarket industry, our business domain, the business environment has been undergoing major changes. In addition to these developments, headwinds such as market contraction due to population aging and decline and rising labor costs due to labor shortages have emerged, while the boundaries between business formats, including convenience stores and drugstores, have become less distinct, store formats have diversified, online retail has expanded, online and physical stores have become integrated, and major companies have entered the food-delivery business.」

「In the food supermarket industry, our business domain, the business environment has been undergoing major changes. In addition to these developments, headwinds such as market contraction due to population aging and decline and rising labor costs due to labor shortages have emerged, while the boundaries between business formats have become less distinct, store formats have diversified, online retail has expanded, and online and physical stores have become integrated.」

「The operating environment for food supermarkets has become more challenging than ever, as discount stores, drugstores and convenience stores are intensifying their offensive, mainly through price reductions, while competition to attract customers across industry boundaries is also intensifying, including the entry of online retailers into fresh-food delivery.」

「In the retail industry, companies are working to improve their sales capabilities by promoting everyday low pricing (EDLP) for essential goods, strengthening sales promotions, and developing products that balance quality and price, while responding to consumers' persistent desire to economize and seeking to enhance customer satisfaction. In terms of capital investment, they have been making active investments to differentiate themselves from competitors, including opening new stores, refurbishing existing stores, and opening stores based on new concepts. In addition, moves aimed at business growth and survival, including reallocating management resources through the closure of unprofitable stores and pursuing business alliances and business integration, continue to gain momentum.」

「Moves to close unprofitable stores and otherwise reallocate management resources, as well as efforts to survive through business alliances and business integration, have continued to gain momentum.」

「While investing actively in new stores and remodeling to compete successfully with other retailers, the industry is also seeing continued moves to reallocate management resources, including closing unprofitable stores, and to pursue alliances and business integrations as companies seek to survive.」