BEIJING: Japan’s Lawson Convenience Store has plans to increase its store count to 10,000 in China by the end of 2025, up from 6,330 at the end of 2023, as consumption in the country gradually recovers, one of its local executives say.
Tokita Takashi, general manager of Lawson’s branch in Shenyang, capital of Liaoning province, said the Tokyo-based firm has been continuously increasing its investment in the Chinese market.
The goal of 10,000 stores in China by the end of 2025, including 1,000 stores in Shenyang and Dalian, is just one milestone.
Takashi said: “Since the opening of the first Lawson store in Shenyang in 2019, Shenyang Lawson has established over 300 stores in 10 cities within Liaoning province by the end of 2023, as the engine of consumption in China is further revved up.
“Lawson has been continuously innovating its products and services while joining forces with local brands in Shenyang, a city that’s representative of Northeast China and boasts significant resource advantages and concentrated costs, leveraging the latter’s local market experience.
“This has further unleashed the potential of Lawson’s brand and supply chain advantages, jointly propelling Lawson’s rapid development in the region.”
The rapid expansion and success, according to Lawson, came on the back of its flexible expansion strategy, improved profitability, breakthroughs in the lower-tier market and clear strategic objectives.
China’s retail sales of consumer goods, a major indicator of the country’s consumption strength, climbed 7.2% year-on-year in 2023, reaching 47.15 trillion yuan, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Consumption, the main driving force for economic growth, is expected to maintain decent growth in the next stage as there are many favourable conditions to support its continuous recovery, said Kang Yi, head of the NBS.
China’s consumption potential is still huge, said Kang, adding that the super large market with a population of over 1.4 billion, the steady advancement of urbanisation and the upgrading of consumption structure have provided broad space for the growth of consumption. — China Daily/ANN
