Japan's supermarket sales rise for 2nd straight month amid pandemic

Source: Xinhua | 2020-07-23

Supermarket sales in Japan increased 3.4 percent in June from a year earlier, up for the second consecutive month, an industry body said Wednesday.

The increase was propelled by robust sales of food and furniture as many people continued to refrain from dining out and tend to remain indoors amid the COVID-19 epidemic.

According to the Japan Chain Stores Association, sales of food climbed 3.4 percent on a same-store basis.

The sales of furniture and electric appliances were up 22.3 percent and 10.7 percent, respectively, as items and equipment necessary for teleworking were bought.

On an all-store basis, sales at 10,806 supermarket stores run by 56 companies stood at 1.09 trillion yen (10.2 billion U.S. dollars) in June, the association said.

Same-store sales in the first half of 2020 grew 0.4 percent compared to a year earlier with brisk food sales, according to the association.

"Consumers have recently tended to stock up on food items and go to stores less often amid rising coronavirus infections," the association said. "It is too early to say sales have already hit bottom," it added.

Meanwhile, sales of clothing decreased 4.1 percent, as people tend to spend more time at home even though a state of emergency was fully lifted in late May.