7- Eleven Japan witnessed its first year-on-year decline in monthly sales in nearly a decade, on the back of unpredictable weather and its recent 7Pay hacking scandal, which lead to the retailer revoking its new mobile payment platform.
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Parent company Seven & i Holdings said sales across its convenience stores declined 1.2% in July, as reported by the Nikkei Review.
Likewise, the 24-hour retailer also witnessed a 5.6% drop year-on-year in same-store shopper traffic, hurt by Tokyo’s excessive rain in the middle of July.
Categorically, beverages and ice cream sales slowed, compared to strong sales recorded last July.
For the five-week month, 7-Eleven said same-store sales fell 3.4%. The company also increased its retail footprint in July by 2.7%, to 20,990, at the end of July.
The news comes on the back of a rough month for 7-Eleven. On July 1, 7-Eleven introduced its new 7Pay mobile payment offering. However, in the first week of operation, users reported that their 7Pay accounts had been hacked by an outside third-party.
It was then discovered that personal data had been compromised and money stolen.
As of July 31, more than 38 million yen ($350,000) had been confirmed missing from 808 7pay user accounts, the company confirmed on August 1, adding it would refund balances customers have in their accounts.
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Japan’s second-largest retail group by sales, Seven & i Holdings boasts some roughly 21,000 stores in Japan. In recent years, the retailer has been focusing on its digital and online strategy for growth, in light of Japan’s increasing labour costs and the expenditure of employing staff in-store for 24 hours across its chains.