Retail business models undergo significant adaptation outside the in which may country they originated. For example, after the first 7-Eleven Japan franchise opened in 1973, the stores quickly attracted customers seeking convenience. Today. "conbinis" are ubiquitous in Japan, with more than 43.000 store locations. Seven & I Holdings, which operates 7-Eleven, is Japan's largest grocer The convenience store operators use cutting-edge EPOs data to track customer behavior and ensure that perishable products and other merchandise is delivered on a just-in-time basis during high-traffic periods. Even in the recent difficult economic environment. convenience store sales remained strong. Now the operators are moving to further differentiate themselves: for example, 7-Eleven has Seven Bank ATMs in its stores and a lower-priced line of own-brand merchandise, Seven Premium Today's global retailing scene is characterized by great diversity (Table 12-1 lists the top five companies by revenue). We will begin the discussion with a brief survey of some of the