Supermarket sales in November rose 0.6 percent from a year earlier on a same-store basis, up for the first time in four months, due in part to bargain sales campaigns, an industry body said Monday.
Sales totaled ¥1.11 trillion at 8,791 outlets operated by 71 companies, according to the Japan Chain Stores Association.
While many consumers were still economizing on the back of the economic downturn, bargain sales campaigns by supermarkets helped lift sales, an official of the association said.
In November, many supermarkets lowered prices and some launched discount sales of imported goods on the back of the yen's sudden surge against the dollar and other currencies.
Another factor boosting sales was an increase in the number of holidays from the same month last year, the official added.
Food sales, which accounted for more than 60 percent of total supermarket sales, rose 2.9 percent.
However, sales of clothing fell 6.3 percent, and those of housing goods dropped 1.8 percent.