Market Overview

In Japan, not only single people and single households are increasing, but also more people have started acting and consuming all by themselves due to changes in lifestyles and diversified likings and hobbies. As a result, many industries have been invigorated by solo consumers that are gradually expanding the influence to the whole economy. This is the survey report of the 13 solo consumer markets consisting of 15 categories.

In (FY) 2018, of the 15 categories, 12 have exceeded the previous (fiscal) year. Especially, those with large amount involved were: Solo dining market (based on the amount paid by solo customers) showing 3.6% of rise on Y-o-Y to reach 7,913.3 billion yen; and solo ready-to-eat food and delicatessen (based on the amount paid for the products for solo) up by 2.8% on Y-o-Y to achieve 7,400 billion yen. The remarkable growth was seen for solo karaoke (the market size based on the amount paid by solo customers) with an increase of 21.6% to attain 45 billion yen.

Noteworthy Topics

Comparison among Solo Yakiniku and Solo Shabushabu Restaurants by Using "X Business®" Engine

Figure 1 shows major solo shabushabu and solo yakiniku (Korean BBQ) restaurants analyzed through “X Business ®” Engine, an analysis method that Yano Research Institute has originally developed (the research took place during the three months from November 2019 to January 2020).

As a result of the research, the restaurant “Yakiniku Like” acquired the highest enthusiasm, shown by the largest bubble, calculated based on the total volume of online research and user remarks. Those that obtained high scores both in attractiveness and eagerness were the following three brands, i.e., “Yakiniku Like,” “Shabusen,” and “Solo Yakiniku Misono.” While attractiveness can be an index of how strong impact was generated by a single media exposure, eagerness is shown by the secondary information sharing among people interested in the brands. “Solo Yakiniku Misono” earned low “eagerness (on the web)” but a single media exposure seems to have caused some level of sensation which then led to vigorous secondary information sharing among large number of consumers.

Future Outlook

Of the 15 categories in the solo consumer market, 13 categories are likely to grow during (FY) 2019. When observing the prospective growth rate, the self-checkout market is expected to attain double-digit growth of 14.3% to attain 12,967 million yen, whereas negative growth is likely to continue for the market of individual tombs for death preparation and the figure market.

The double digit growth in the self-checkout market stems from increasing demand for large-scale replacement (upgrading) at major retailers. Meanwhile, although demand for individual tombs is likely to keep expanding, lower-cost burial method has attracted more attention and generated large demand, bringing down the individual tomb market to negative growth. The model figure market is also expected to be on the decrease, because of lack of popular contents to boost the market.

The entire market of solo consumers is on the rise for the time being, due to growing numbers of single households caused by increase of unmarried or non-married people and also of the aged. In addition, the services for solos in every industry are expanding, together with those services for single person to share the time with people with the same hobbies and taste. Also, there is a rising tendency of going solo or consume for one’s own sake among people who are not necessarily the single households or living alone. Therefore the entire solo-consumer market is likely to expand from hereon.

Research Outline