Tesco withdrawal from Japan shows we aren’t a global marketplace yet

After eight years in the land of the rising sun, Tesco has taken the decision to sell off its Japanese business which goes to show that even the biggest companies need to understand their limitations.

According to Tesco CEO, Philip Clarke, “… we cannot build a sufficiently scalable business.” and the reasons for this may well be cultural.

The reality is that British and Japanese shopping habits are very different – we Brits enjoy our ‘big shop’ once a week as for most, we are lucky enough to have room to store 24 loo rolls. The reality for many Japanese is that space is at a premium and loading up on multiple items is not an option.

Similarly, Japanese people pride themselves on the freshness of their produce and so would rightly question the quality of stock in a hypermarket.

So, Tesco should put this down to experience and maybe try cracking another market – the USA?