Japan - A Modern Retail Superpower [Hardcover]

Japanese distribution was long seen as archaic and difficult to understand, but today that has changed. Domestic firms stretching across all retail formats and categories have taken control of channels and now lead the consumer market from the front. They are now so advanced that the very best are bursting out of the Japanese market and operating across Asia and even as far as Western Europe. Through case studies and concrete examples, this book provides the most detailed analysis of retailing in Japan ever written; it is the definitive guide to how Japan has changed and what to expect in the future.INTRODUCTION Japan's Retail Market in Context PART 1: THE BACKGROUND TO JAPANESE DISTRIBUTION The Japanese Consumer Market Development of Modern Retailing in Japan Wholesaling and Sogo Shosha PART 2: OLD RETAILING: GENERAL MERCHANDISERS Department Stores General Merchandise Retail Chains Food Supermarkets Convenience Stores PART 3: NEW RETAILING: SPECIALISTS Introduction to Speciality Merchandise Retailing in Japan Apparel Retailing Drivers of Retail Specialization Other Speciality Retailers PART 4: FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS Internationalization of Japanese Retailers CONCLUSION Japan: A Modern Retail SuperpowerROY LARKE is Professor of Marketing at ESADE School of Business, Barcelona, Spain, and at the University of Marketing and Distribution Sciences, Kobe, Japan. He has lived and worked in Japan since 1985, where he teaches retailing and consumer behaviour in Japanese to Japanese students. He publishes regularly in academic journals both Japanese and English and is a recognized authority on the Japanese market. In addition to Japan: A Modern Retail Superpower, he wrote Japanese Retailing (Routledge, 1994), the first definitive guide to the Japanese retail market written by an insider. He has also published two books in Japanese on e-learning and other issues related to pedagogy in Japan. He currently splits his time between Japan andl�