Ade Iasya – 17/417187/PEK/22750

Tugas Kelas Multinational Finance Angkatan 70

Due date: 14 Februari 2018

Discount retailing

A yen for cheapness

Can Japan’s biggest ¥100 chain continue its winning streak?

Print edition | Business

Oct 8th 2016| HIROSHIMA
IT HAS become a staple story in the local American press: a Daiso store opening near
you. Last month it was the turn of Plano, Texas, to get a branch of the Japanese chain of shops
where everything costs ¥100. (In America it actually charges $1.50 per item, giving it a
premium over the current exchange rate of 97 cents per ¥100.) The Plano store is the second
of 44 shops planned for the state. To date California has 49 branches.
America is far from alone. As well as its 3,000-odd stores in Japan, Daiso has 1,500-
plus outlets abroad. Its bargain range of products, from value-for-money bags to Japanese
“kawaii” or “cute” figures, are sold around the world, from countries in Latin America to the
Gulf states and throughout the rest of Asia. (As yet there are no ¥100 stores in Europe.)
This roll-out is orchestrated from a headquarters in the eastern suburbs of Hiroshima.
The building looks bland from the outside. But its interior is decked out in Daiso’s trademark
pink. One floor is abuzz with buyers examining packs of wet wipes and plastic toys; tables are
scattered with everything from children’s stickers to fancy-dress outfits. By the standards of
disciplined Japanese business, Hirotake Yano, who started the company in 1977, is unusually
open to experimentation. He says he is not a “cool” or “modern” manager; his gut feeling
guides most decisions. “I don’t have any clear vision or strategy,” he says. “I just like to try
things out.”
So far that has worked. Daiso dominates what analysts reckon is a ¥600-800 billion
($5.8 billion-7.7 billion) market in Japan and is the only ¥100 chain to have expanded abroad.
Company revenue was ¥396 billion in 2015; this year Kantar Retail, a consulting firm, projects
that will grow by over 6%. Daiso’s signature flat price is reliably attractive to Japanese
consumers worried about their country’s economic woes. The most popular items are batteries
and small household goods. Japan’s convenience stores, such as Lawson, a giant with over
12,500 stores at home, are trying to edge into the market with low-price ranges.
Similarly, Daiso’s initial expansion in America coincided with the 2007-08 financial
crisis and subsequent recession. But affordability is not the only ingredient in Daiso’s success.
“Daiso’s store experience is unique at a time when shoppers are becoming bored with constant
price wars,” says Sara al-Tukhaim, an analyst with Kantar Retail.
At home Daiso has far outstripped its Japanese competitors, including Seria, Watts, and
Can Do. Initial success has allowed it to build superior scale—it sells 50,000 items compared
with Seria’s 20,000, and its network of stores and warehouses is far larger. Not that rivals have
given up. Kosuke Narikiyo, an analyst with Nomura, a Japanese securities company, says Seria
has eaten some of Daiso’s market share by making its stores cleaner in design and more
spotless, and by using calmer colours such as light green. Takahiro Kazahaya, an analyst with
Deutsche Bank in Tokyo, says Seria’s profit margin is now higher than Daiso’s.
Seria’s boss, Eiji Kawai, says Seria’s use of data on purchases explains the difference
in margins as well as ranges. It eliminates 600 items that sell badly every month and replaces
them with new ones. Daiso, by contrast, holds no truck with big data and rarely looks at figures.
“We don’t like to take focus away from the basics of more stores and products,” says Mr Yano.
For him just one number—¥100—counts.
Sources:
https://www.economist.com/news/business/21708301-can-japans-biggest-100-chain-continue-its-
winning-streak-yen-cheapness
 Daiso adalah chain toko kelontong atau toko serba ada yang menawarkan semua produk
jualannya dengan harga ¥100. Jaringan toko semacam ini marak di Jepang dan akrab dengan
sebutan 100 yen shop (100円ショップ, Hyaku En Shoppu). Kebanyaan barang-barang yang
dijual di Daiso adalah barang kebutuhan atau pernik sehari-hari seperti kitchenware (centong,
panci, wajan, talenan, dll), dinnerware (sumpit, piring, gelas, tatakan gelas, dll), dan stationery
(pensil, puplen, kertas isi binder, papan tulis mini, dll).

Di dalam negeri, Daiso memiliki harga jual akhir 108 yen (100-yen ditambah 8% pajak
konsumsi). Di luar negeri, harga jual akhir barang dipatok lebih tinggi. Misalnya di Amerika,
harga yang dipatok adalah $1.50 per item. Padahal berdasarkan exchange rate terakhir JPY dan
USD adalah $0.97 per ¥100. Di Indonesia sendiri, setiap item barang dipatok dengan harga Rp
25.000, dengan nominal exchange rate terakhir Rp 12.830 per per ¥100. Harga yang dipatok
sangat premium dan sudah mengalami kenaikan dari sebelumnya dipatok pada harga Rp 15.000
di tahun 2013.

Penetapan harga jual yang jauh lebih tinggi ini adalah strategi Daiso dalam menghadapi
Operation Exposure, karena tingkat inflasi Jepang mengalami cenderung stagnan sementara
inflasi negara lain, dalam hal ini Amerika dan Indonesia, lebih fluktuatif. Strategi ini adalah
sebuah aksi dari Pricing Decision atau penentuan harga. Tindakan Daiso yang melakukan
ekspor pada negara dengan currency yang lebih kuat membuat Daiso mampu mencetak profit
yang lebih tinggi dibandingkan dengan keadaan apabila Daiso hanya beroperasi di dalam
negeri.

https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2077.html