HMV Japan selects GMAP Consulting for Retail Analysis

HMV Japan has chosen retail planning experts GMAP Consulting to help analyse its store catchments and review customer spend and profiles across its numerous stores. This intelligence will help them to understand their customers and the markets they are serving, which may ultimately be used to further extend their network in the future

HMV Japan is part of the HMV Group, which operates over 590 stores in 8 countries worldwide. HMV Japan opened its first store in 1990 and is now one of the best known brands in the country with 57 stores and a major online presence. As Japan is the world's second largest market for music, the market is capable of supporting a considerably larger chain.


The MICROVISION system incorporates Japanese census data alongside the CAMEO Japan classification from GMAP's parent company EuroDirect. This powerful fusion of consumer intelligence and market reporting technology enables HMV Japan to profile, benchmark and map existing retail catchments to help them analyse their customers and evaluate audio-video spend within their markets.

Inevitably this will provide HMV Japan with a deeper understanding of its current store catchments and the geodemographic and socio-economic characteristics of its inhabitants. Using this information, HMV Japan can successfully segment the Japanese consumer market to identify clusters of potential prospects and therefore pinpoint future store locations.

CAMEO Japan is a highly discriminative consumer classification system, which has been developed using the latest Japanese census data and is built at Cho-moku (postcode) level. It provides exciting new opportunities for many Japanese-based organisations for profiling, segmenting and targeting the Japanese consumer market.

Kirk Dobie , Managing Director of GMAP Consulting, commented:

" Japan is a notoriously complex market to break down, and we are delighted that we can exhibit its potential through working with such a successful brand. HMV Japan has already built a expansive network of retail outlets, but by using the Japanese MICROVISION system and integral CAMEO Classifications, we are confident that we can provide HMV with the most effective way to maximise on future market opportunities."