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. Products such as rice dishes, cooked noodles, counter-fast food and "Machikado Chubo" in-store kitchens are being developed and merchandise assortments are being promoted to meet the diversifying values of customers.

The sales result of the LAWSON Business (LAWSON and NATURAL LAWSON) in June is as follows*1.
Existing-store sales (excluding ticket and gift card sales etc.) decreased 0.9% year on year over the same period and the average number of customers per store fell 1.4% and the average customer spend rose 0.4% year on year. The number of stores introducing the "Machikado Chubo" in-store kitchens, which is expanding in line with the growing needs of customers, reached approximately 6,700.

The Lawson Group operated 14,620 convenience stores in Japan at the end of June 2021, including 140 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.
・In rice products category, sales of chilled products such as our “Korega” lunchbox series and the “Kinshari onigiri” rice balls series continued to be 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, as well as limited summer merchandise at the MACHI café .
・At the in-store kitchen “Machikado Chubo”, collaboration products with popular restaurants companies and the "Local Bowl Series" 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 June by about 1.0 point year-on-year.

＜Major Promotions＞
・Carried out a campaign for character stamps in June 1-August 30.
・Implemented smartphone lottery of Demon Slayer (Kimetsu no Yaiba) in June 15-June 29.

＜Topics＞* for details, please refer to the news release.
・Announced a comprehensive business alliance agreement with H2O RETAILING CORPORATION.
From the viewpoint of promoting SDGs and ESG-oriented management, the LAWSON Group Human Rights Policy was established at a meeting of the Board of Directors held in June.
・Conducted store renovations in line with changing customer lifestyles and values at approximately 500 stores nationwide.
・Started sales of products from the Machi no Deli series of small-volume prepared foods that can be freely combined and enjoyed at 1200 stores in the Kanto and Kinki regions.
・As an initiative to reduce food loss, we launched an experiment to recommend discount sales using AI at stores in the Tohoku region.
・Started introducing Uber Eats service to some stores in Saga Prefecture and Nagasaki Prefecture. Started handling OTC drugs in Uber Eats at some stores in Hokkaido and Osaka Prefecture.



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.