By Aimee Chanthadavong
Daiso, Japan’s largest value store otherwise known as the ‘100yen’ store has opened in Australia.
Its first store in Melbourne houses 120,000 products of more than 70,000 varieties from food, cosmetics, home décor, stationary, DIY to more unusual and unique products, all retailing at $2.80 per item.
Mimi Hii, Daiso Australia director, told Retailbiz that the retail chain, which has over 3,500 stores worldwide, prides itself on price competitiveness.
“Daiso orders up to a million products for all of its stores worldwide from its suppliers and so because we order that large quantity, it lets us keep our cost down and that’s why we’re able to offer our products at such low prices,” she said.
“Everybody in the store is also multi-tasking as everybody is involved in the cleaning, the checkout and stock. The way Daiso has structured the business also helps cut cost.”
According to Hii, up to a half of all the products are produced in Japan but all the stock that is ordered always goes through a thorough quality control check at its Japanese head office.
She also noted that there are plans of further expansion in Australia in due time.