Sales at convenience stores fell 0.1 percent in June from a year earlier to log the first drop in four months, with rainy days in northern Japan and low temperatures in western Japan keeping customers away, industry data showed Thursday.
The same-store sales of eight major convenience store operators totaled ¥783.44 billion ($6.97 billion), the Japan Franchise Association said.
The number of customers dropped 0.5 percent to 1.31 billion, falling for the 16th straight month, while spending per customer rose 0.4 percent to ¥596.7, up for the 27th consecutive month, the association said.
The number of convenience stores, including newly opened ones, in the reporting month increased 2.0 percent to 55,026, it said.