The total value of goods sold in large department stores, chain convenience stores, and supermarkets in a particular month. The report serves as a direct gauge of consumption and consumer confidence. Consumer spending is one of the most important leading indicators for the Japanese economy. An increasing number of sales can signal consumer confidence and economic growth, but higher consumption can also leads to inflationary pressures.

Retail Sales can be volatile due to seasonal fluctuations in demand. Thus the headline figure is the seasonally adjusted percentage change in sales compared to the previous year.

Relevance : Rarely affects markets
Release schedule : 23:50 (GMT); monthly, at the end of the following month.
Revisions schedule : Little to no revisions
Source of report : Industrial Statistics Office, Research and Statistics Department, Ministry of Economics, Trade and Industry ( Japan )
Web Address : http://www.meti.go.jp/english/index.html
Address of release : http://www.meti.go.jp/english/statistics/data/h2s1000e.html (under "Large-scale Retail Stores")
AKA : Preliminary report on the Current Survey of Commerce