Trends in the Retail Industry in Akita Prefecture

2 min readOct 21, 2025

DAY 251

The retail industry in Akita Prefecture is facing increasingly challenging conditions as the population continues to decline, leading to a decrease in the number of businesses and employees.

The sales rankings by industry are as follows: Convenience stores have an annual sales amount of 79 billion yen in 2023, with 438 stores. Drugstores have 58.5 billion yen in sales with 168 stores. Consumer electronics retailers have 23 billion yen in sales with 23 stores. Home centers have 30.9 billion yen in sales with 81 stores.

There is also a shift in sales methods, with a move towards internet sales (e-commerce). In Akita Prefecture, 222 businesses engage in e-commerce, accounting for 4.2% of retail stores. The annual sales amount in 2021 was 11.8 billion yen (1.2%). Nationally, there are 31,882 e-commerce businesses (5.9%), with an annual sales amount of 5.9 trillion yen (4.5%).

For businesses in Akita Prefecture to survive, it is important to differentiate themselves from competitors by leveraging the region’s unique characteristics to create high-quality, unique products and capture demand. Additionally, it is essential to actively attract demand from outside the region by establishing e-commerce sites and promoting information to encourage store visits.