MUJI's August sales grow across every category, led by living goods and apparel

Ryohin Keikaku, which runs MUJI, reported domestic sales up 9.6% year-on-year at existing stores plus online in August, and up 13.6% across all stores plus online, according to its monthly sales flash published September 2.

Every category grew: household goods (living goods) rose 11.6%, apparel and other soft goods rose 10.6%, and food rose 2.1%, the company said.

Customer traffic at existing stores plus online rose 2.7%, while average spend per customer climbed 6.8% — growth driven more by shoppers spending more per visit than by more shoppers coming through the door.

The spend-led pattern fits a company that raised its full-year guidance in July on the strength of overseas growth: a domestic month led by average spend rather than footfall suggests the bigger-ticket end of MUJI's range — furniture and larger household goods among them — is doing more of the work than pure volume, at home as well as abroad.