Lawson, FamilyMart Post Sales Growth in March-Aug.

Tokyo, Oct. 15 (Jiji Press)–Major Japanese convenience store operators Lawson Inc. and FamilyMart Co. enjoyed sales growth in the March-August first half of their current business year, while Seven & i Holdings Co.’s sales declined, according to their recent earnings reports. Lawson and FamilyMart attracted customers, including through a campaign that increased the volume of their private label products, at a time when consumers are thrifty amid rising prices. The average daily sales at all Lawson stores reached 600,000 yen for the first time, thanks to growing sales of its private label products. Its first-half sales and profits hit record highs, partly due to the adoption of artificial intelligence for product ordering. FamilyMart saw strong sales of onigiri rice balls after featuring Major League Baseball star Shohei Ohtani in advertisements. However, its net profit dropped about 30 pct, due to the absence of profit from streamlining its Chinese operations, which it had booked a year earlier. Seven & i Holdings attributed its lower sales to a decline in gasoline sales at its overseas convenience stores. Its domestic convenience store business also continued to struggle. Still, its first-half net profit jumped 2.3-fold after logging a loss related to its withdrawal from online supermarket operations a year earlier. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]