Japan’s Fast Retailing announced on 4th March it plans to reduce prices of items at its Uniqlo and GU location throughout Japan.
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The fashion and apparel conglomerate said prices at its masthead retailer Uniqlo and sister retailer, GU, will be slashed by 9 per cent in Japan, as local consumers continue to face “unprecedented difficulties because of the coronavirus pandemic.”
The company also said its price tags and displays will be fixed to be tax inclusive, to spare customers the bother of making calculations, meaning each shopper will just pay the amount indicated on the tag. The price changes will come into effect on 12th March.
“By keeping the prices of as many items as possible unchanged, and offering LifeWear at tax-inclusive, affordable prices, we hope to remain an integral part of the everyday lives of our customers. This is our mission, and the significance of our existence as an
apparel company,” said Tadashi Yanai, chairman, president and CEO of Fast Retailing.
In Fast Retailing’s most recent trading update last week, Unqilo’s February same-store sales including online sales increased by 0.4% year on year, while total sales including online sales increased by 1.3%.
Same-store sales rose year on year in February, “on the back of strong sales of products designed to satisfy stay-at-home demand and buoyant sales of Spring outerwear and items manufactured using our Cut and Sew process,” said the Tokyo-based company.
At the end of February, a total of five Uniqlo stores remained temporarily closed and 172 stores were operating shorter working hours due to Covid-19. During the month of February, three Uniqlo stores were launched and two were permanently closed, it said.
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Japanese retail sales fell 2.4% in January from a year earlier, government data showed in late February. That compared with a median market forecast for a 2.6% decline, according to Reuters.