Since last year, we have been implementing thorough measures to combat infectious diseases and to respond to new demand in new norms. In the face of the COVID-19 confusion, we have also changed our structure to maintain and improve sales and customer numbers.
We are working to establish fresh foods, frozen foods, daily delivered foods, room-temperature Japanese and Western sweets, and alcoholic beverages as products that support our customers' daily lives.
In addition, we are working to capture demand in new norms such as rice products category, noodle category, fast-food category, and Machikado Chubo in-store kitchens.
The sales result of the LAWSON Business (LAWSON and NATURAL LAWSON) in May is as follows*1.
Existing-store sales (excluding ticket and gift card sales etc.) increased 4.5% year on year over the same period and the average number of customers per store rose 5.8% and the average customer spend fell 1.2% year on year.

The Lawson Group operated 14,612 convenience stores in Japan at the end of May 2021, including 141 NATURAL LAWSON stores and 674 LAWSON STORE 100 stores.

【Operating Results】
Below is a breakdown of the existing-store sales performance by individual merchandise categories.
・Sales of fresh foods, frozen foods, and daily-delivered foods grew as demand for daily-use products remained high.
・Sales of rice products category the new chilled boxed lunch series, which was renovated in March, and the “Kinshari onigiri” rice balls series are favorable, sales were strong.
・In over-the-counter fast food, sales of standard products such as fried chicken nuggets “Kara-age Kun” and deep-fried chicken “Torikara” were favorable.
・At the in-store kitchen “Machikado Chubo” installed in about 6,500 stores, collaboration products with popular restaurants were well received.
・In toys, products related to entertainment lottery tickets and Demon Slayer (Kimetsu no Yaiba) contributed to sales.

Cigarette sales were a factor that pushed up existing-store sales in May by about 2.0 point year-on-year.

【Major Promotions】
・Carried out a campaign for character stamps in March 2-May 31.

【Topics】* for details, please refer to the news release.
・Launched face-to-face consultation services for COVID-19 vaccination bookings at some of Care-focused LAWSON stores, which with nursing care consultation desks and salon spaces for seniors.

Note 1: Sales of the LAWSON Business include sales generated by LAWSON stores (excluding Lawson Okinawa, Inc., Lawson Minami-Kyushu, Inc., and Lawson Kochi, Inc.), NATURAL LAWSON stores.