Uniqlo does well in August as summer items prove popular

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Sep 4, 2019

Fast Retailing’s Uniqlo chain continued its run of yo-yo-ing sales results at its domestic Japanese stores in August, but at least it was good news this time as the company turned in an impressive 9.9% increase in comparable sales.

That figure includes online turnover and its total sales, also with the internet operations included, rose a healthy 9.5% too. The company said the increase was due to strong sales of its core summer ranges and other summer items.

And although the average purchase per customer dipped ever so slightly, the fact that footfall into its shops was higher also helped carry it through.

It was all undeniably good news after sales during July had dropped more than 10%. And it was also encouraging given some of the issues it has faced in international markets such as falling sales in South Korea linked both to Japan's role there during World War II and a current trade war that has prompted anti-Japanese-business sentiment from some Korean consumers.

But regardless of individual issues in certain countries, there's no denying that Uniqlo is as vulnerable to the impact of the weather in any given month as any more fashion-focused retailers are. 

The story of its comparable sales results throughout the year (and last year too) is one of consumers responding instantly to weather conditions. And that means if the winter is too mild, or the summer too wet and cool, Uniqlo suffers. Fortunately there have been enough months in which the weather perfectly matched the season to keep its sales ticking over nicely.