Last month's sales at department stores nationwide were about 2% higher than the pre-Corona level, as duty-free goods expanded due to the increase in foreign tourists.
According to the Japan Department Stores Association, sales at department stores nationwide last month were more than 3897.11 billion yen, an increase of 8.18% from the same month last year and an increase for the <>th consecutive month.
In addition to increased sales of summer clothing and parasols, travel goods, cosmetics, and souvenir sweets also performed well due to increased opportunities to go out for travel and homecoming.
Of these, sales of duty-free goods are expanding due to the increase in foreign tourists.
Last month, it was more than 317.3 billion yen, an increase of 4.7 times that of the same month last year.
Duty-free sales exceeded pre-pandemic levels in 2019 for the first time in July, but continued to expand, surpassing them by 8.24% in August.
According to the Japan Department Stores Association, "The number of tourists from China is mainly increasing individual customers, and the number of group customers is not increasing as much as expected, but I think that the recovery will be in full swing from now on into the winter."