Detailed Study - Konbini

[daowiies]

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[Fyrefly]

...Have you been to Japan before...? I don't think this is the sort of thing the Japanese collect statistics on... you're going to have immense trouble finding the information you're after. Maybe check the major Konbini companies' websites to see if they've published any financial data or accounting reports?

Konbini basically stock what you'd find in larger petrol stations here in Australia - magazines, newspapers, confectionary, drinks, sanitary items, batteries, instant noodles... you get the idea. They're also overpriced, just like petrol stations here - you pay extra for the convenience of the store being close and open late at night.

In addition, you can also purchase hot food, hot drinks and obentou at most Konbini.

In Tokyo (not sure about the rest of Japan), you can also purchase garbage bags from konbini - garbage collectors in Tokyo will only take rubbish that has been put in their branded green bags. These bags cost more than normal plastic bags, because the cost of rubbish disposal has been incorporated in the price.

The main brands of Konbini are Family Mart, Lawson and 7/11.

Konbini also have ATMs. Often, these ATMs accept foreign bank cards - VISA, Citibank, etc.
You can pay utility and phone bills at Konbini.
You can also buy stamps and postcards, and some Konbini also offer delivery services.
Sometimes they have toilet available for customer use, and sometimes they have a photocopier.

You can also purchase revenue stamps at Konbini. Revenue stamps are used for paying fees to the government. For instance, I needed to purchase revenue stamps for my multiple re-entry permit application (for my student visa).

I guess both an upside and a downside to Konibini is that there's so many - there's bound to be one nearby, but it's kind of like seeing a McDonalds on every street corner here in Australia.

[Fyrefly]

7/11 is easily the largest chain, Lawson second, Family Mart third.

I had a very quick look, and it would seem that the three biggest chains publish monthly sales data:

http://www.lawson.co.jp/index.html
--> Financial accounting information (in English): http://www.lawson.co.jp/company/e/ir/index.html

http://www.family.co.jp/
--> Financial accounting information (in English): http://www.family.co.jp/english/

http://www.sej.co.jp/company/index.html
--> Store sales information (in Japanese): http://www.sej.co.jp/company/suii.html
--> Corporate information (in Japanese): http://www.sej.co.jp/company/index.html

Also, the Japanese wikipedia pages are more informative than the English versions - Have a look at the wiki pages for convenience stores, Family Mart, 7/11 and Lawson.

P.S. They also each have environmental reports or information on how they strive to be environmentally conscious, so check that out too. You can find the links from their homepages. I'd do it for you, but I'm off to work now.

[Readinya]

Awesome links, Fyrefly.

Just so that anyone else is interested, i also found a couple of websites that were helpful:

http://gogen-allguide.com/ko/conveni.html > My teacher said that it has enough information for Year 12 students to understand and digest, without being over-the-top detailed.

http://whatjapanthinks.com/tag/convenience-store/ > Bunch of survey statistics about general stuff relating to konbini, translated into English from Japanese statistical websites. In order to find the original websites, click on (usually) the first orange-coloured link in the text. Also, i like the pie charts and graphs.

http://www.sumitomotrust.co.jp/RES/research/PDF2/653_3.pdf > I'm not that great in Japanese, so i'm not 100% sure about what kind of stats this is for... but what the heck, i found it and i'm more than happy to let someone help me translate it.