| Abstract: | Seven-Eleven Japan, which is a subsidiary of Ito-Yokado, is the largest and most profitable convencience store chain in Japan, with around 6700 convenience stores, all operating on a franchise basis. Ito-Yokado and Seven-Eleven Japan now owns the Southland Corporation, the US company which originated the Seven-Eleven concept. This article explores the reasons for the extraordinary success of Seven-Eleven Japan which include: - • • locating stores in clusters of 30 shops to achieve local market domination;
- • • combined food deliveries in temperature-controlled vans;
- • • total merchandising, i.e. organising the whole value chain including manufacturers and wholesalers to develop and deliver products of high quality and low cost;
- • • weekly briefings of 900 franchise advisers by the CEO;
- • • a point-of-sale system which can be accessed by the stores and provides the basis for electronic ordering and same-day delivery and for real-time market analysis and forecasting.
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