Following Uniqlo's achievement of 3.1 trillion yen (approximately 146.317 billion RMB) in revenue for fiscal year 2024, the company's performance for fiscal year 2025 (September 2024 to August 2025) reached new heights at 3.4 trillion yen (approximately 160.476 billion RMB), representing a 9.6% year-on-year increase. Operating profit reached 562.4 billion yen (approximately 26.545 billion RMB), up 12.6% year-on-year.

Uniqlo's domestic Japan performance exceeded 1 trillion yen (approximately 47.199 billion RMB) for the first time, reaching 1.026 trillion yen (approximately 48.426 billion RMB), a 10.1% increase year-on-year. Operating profit in Japan was 184.4 billion yen (approximately 8.703 billion RMB), up 18.4% year-on-year. Overseas market sales reached 1.91 trillion yen (approximately 90.15 billion RMB), growing 11.6% year-on-year.

E-commerce sales increased 11.2% year-on-year to 152.3 billion yen (approximately 7.188 billion RMB), with the e-commerce ratio rising 0.1 percentage points to 14.8%. Overall performance has set new historical records for four consecutive years, solidifying Uniqlo's top-tier position in the fashion apparel industry.

Globally, Uniqlo ranks second only to ZARA's 6.01 trillion yen (approximately 283.666 billion RMB) performance (fiscal year ending January 2025) and is competitive with H&M's 3.026 trillion yen (approximately 142.824 billion RMB) performance (fiscal year ending November 2024).

Since opening its first store in 1984, Uniqlo has expanded to 25 countries and regions with over 2,500 stores. Founder Yanai Tadashi stated: "From the beginning, we established the goal of becoming the world's number one casual wear brand. I wrote a book titled 'One Win, Nine Losses,' but in reality, it's one win and 99 losses. Through repeated failures and perseverance, we have achieved today's success."

**1. Significant Growth in Uniqlo's International Brand Power**

In fiscal year 2024 (September 2023 to August 2024), Uniqlo achieved sales of 3.1038 trillion yen (approximately 151.875 billion RMB), up 12.2% year-on-year, with operating profit of 500.94 billion yen (approximately 24.512 billion RMB), up 31.4% year-on-year, achieving record-breaking performance.

Domestic Japan sales reached 932.2 billion yen (approximately 45.611 billion RMB), with online sales of 136.9 billion yen (approximately 6.698 billion RMB), up 2.3% year-on-year.

Key highlights of this fiscal year include: global revenue and profit growth; continued opening of high-quality flagship stores and new format stores with increasing international media recognition, significantly enhancing Uniqlo's global brand influence; mixed performance in overseas markets with revenue growth but profit challenges in some regions; and increased shareholder returns.

On October 9, 2025, as a fiscal year summary, Yanai Tadashi delivered a speech titled "Clothing Democracy." His concept of "democracy" encompasses a global perspective. Uniqlo's clothing serves as components of overall attire, tools for creating lifestyles for each individual, designed and manufactured based on customer values rather than creator intentions, with personalized rationality that transcends aesthetic significance to meet the needs of people in different regions worldwide.

In simple terms, with the mission of "creating a better society through clothing," everyone has the right to wear carefully designed, high-quality materials, and meticulously crafted clothes - this is "clothing democracy." Uniqlo provides high-quality, comfortable clothing at prices accessible to consumers worldwide. Through optimizing clothing, changing lives, and changing the world, this represents the goal of clothing democracy.

Regarding business operations, Yanai emphasized six key points: creating new industries; embracing challenges and turning crises into opportunities; improving systematic sales methods; continuing diligent efforts as there are no shortcuts to success; maintaining demand-oriented optimization of operations; and continuously innovating core products to strengthen differentiated competitive advantages.

He analyzed that the global economy is in crisis, with many companies worried about the future and reluctant to invest. In this crisis environment, there are opportunities to create new industries and new businesses. Most importantly, always stand from the customer's perspective and create valuable, useful clothing for daily life.

Uniqlo's greatest advantage lies in global store expansion with 180 million members and over 5 billion annual website visits. The brand is leveraging customer feedback to innovate products, services, and business models.

Uniqlo COO Tsukagoshi Daisuke provided detailed analysis in his report titled "Continuous Challenge," highlighting several key points:

First, affirming Uniqlo's further enhanced global brand power, particularly noting the Chinese mainland team's achievements in attracting young employment and summer UV protection clothing promotion on CCTV.

Second, summarizing Uniqlo's comprehensive growth worldwide, with domestic Japan operations exceeding 10% market share, while LifeWear concept penetration and marketing in overseas markets still have significant room for improvement.

Third, emphasizing the continued strengthening of flagship store strategy. Currently, over 40 flagship stores have opened across regions, including Tokyo Ginza, New York, Paris, and Changsha, China. Key characteristics include premium locations, quality shopping centers, and strong customer attraction. Simultaneously expanding local online marketing scale, such as joining larger third-party marketing platforms in mainland China.

Fourth, in-depth explanation of individualized store management. Each store must carefully identify and respond to local customer needs; implement thorough low-cost operations; and discover and sell product combinations that provide special value to regional customers.

Fifth, vigorously promoting Greater China transformation, with customer-focused value and pricing as the connection. By August 2025, mainland China Uniqlo had approximately 13.5 million members, with over 40% being young people aged 18-29. September collaboration with JD.com strengthened online platform marketing, with online customers increasing by over 400,000 in the same month.

Sixth, other international regions are experiencing rapid growth. Southeast Asia, India, and Australia markets show significant growth potential, maintaining double-digit growth since 2022 with strengthening operational foundations.

As of August 2025, total Uniqlo stores numbered 2,519, down 27 from 2,546 in May. Mainland China had 902 stores, accounting for 52% of overseas stores, down 15 from 917 in May, indicating significant business transformation and store adjustment efforts in this key market.

**2. Balancing Expansion and Efficiency Enhancement**

Expansion refers to developing effective retail space; efficiency enhancement means improving operational benefits across internal processes. According to fashion industry consultant Kojima Kensuke's analysis, in the past two years, domestic store expansion alone has seen average retail space increase by 9.74%. As of August 2024, annual average store area was 1,048m², with average store sales performance of 992.54 million yen (approximately 46.8469 million RMB), significantly exceeding the 966.27 million yen (approximately 45.6069 million RMB) level from August 2019.

Based on overall existing store performance growth of 8.1%, by August 2025, single store annual performance is estimated at approximately 1.07293 billion yen (approximately 50.6412 million RMB), about 11% higher than 2019, showing significant improvement in comprehensive sales performance.

However, in terms of store productivity per square meter, August 2024 was 3.142 million yen (approximately 148,200 RMB), below the 3.369 million yen (approximately 159,000 RMB) from August 2019. Considering expansion scale and 8.1% performance growth projection, current productivity per square meter remains basically flat year-on-year.

Overseas Uniqlo store productivity averages 2.495 million yen (approximately 117,700 RMB) per square meter, indicating complex overseas operational environments with significant room for productivity improvement.

From operational efficiency support perspective, Uniqlo has made substantial progress in supply chain systematization and AI control through several years of exploration in the relatively stable domestic market. In 2021, the company established self-operated photography studios, new customer centers, and virtual stores at Tokyo Ariake headquarters, directly transmitting global customer feedback to headquarters and strengthening real-time product and service development control systems.

**3. Building Exclusive High-Efficiency Operational Models**

Shimamura, Japan's second-largest fashion apparel company positioning itself as a fashion center, achieved sales of 665.3 billion yen (approximately 32.552 billion RMB) and operating profit of 59.24 billion yen (approximately 2.898 billion RMB) in its recent fiscal year (March 2024 to February 2025), up 7.1% year-on-year, achieving record performance across all metrics.

Both Shimamura and Uniqlo share a common characteristic: relatively high employee compensation at industry-leading levels. February 2025 data shows Shimamura's total employees (12,551 people) average annual income of 4.842 million yen, with part-time hourly wages of 2,163.3 yen, representing first-tier industry standards. Uniqlo has consecutively raised employee wages for two years, with domestic employees (20,500 people) earning approximately 4.85 million yen annually this year, slightly higher than Shimamura and at top retail industry levels.

The fundamental difference lies in their approaches: Shimamura uses direct factory-to-store distribution, worrying about stockouts; Uniqlo maintains longer inventory periods, prioritizing stock availability. Compared to Uniqlo's multi-stage warehousing and replenishment, Shimamura lacks production and sales regional warehousing, directly connecting manufacturers to store stocking and exchanges, primarily utilizing overnight automatic replenishment systems.

**4. Highlighting Localized Individual Store Characteristics**

Uniqlo's benchmark individualized store, Asakusa, opened on June 4, 2021. It fully considers regional cultural characteristics, showcasing individualized store appeal from multiple aspects. For example, during company anniversary celebrations, continuing the tradition from the first store opening in Hiroshima on June 2, 1984, of providing red bean bread and milk to early-waiting customers.

In 2024, they first tried "local store manager-selected regional specialties" as gifts for early customers. Asakusa store prepared "Kaminari Okoshi" (traditional puffed confections) from Tokiwado next to Kaminarimon, embodying both entrepreneurial spirit inheritance and local personalization.

For mainland China market, Yanai Tadashi believes the main task is strengthening different merchandising structures under the same format and enhancing different regional operational models and individual store characteristics.

On May 1, 2024, Uniqlo's first flagship store in Central China, Wuhan Chuhe Hanjie store, opened. Before opening, the operations team visited Wuhan universities, dialoguing with ten thousand students, holding recruitment forums and student fashion shows, and launching internship recruitment and management trainee programs.

On May 16, 2025, Uniqlo's flagship store at Chengdu MixC opened, fully integrating Chengdu personality, urban cultural customs, and Uniqlo's role, presenting a third public space combining leisure and experience.

On September 26, Hunan Province's first Uniqlo flagship store opened at Changsha Hehuitang. This is mainland China's third city flagship store after Wuhan and Chengdu, featuring UTme! personalized customization workshops collaborating with five major industry artists and brands.

**Conclusion**

First, pragmatic decision-making. Uniqlo's global business philosophy focuses on operations, aiming to become the world's No.1 brand providing affordable, high-quality lifestyle clothing. While meeting sustainable development social requirements, it doesn't deviate from classic apparel paradigms, emphasizing lightweight, functional, easy-care features, continuously updating with latest insights and technologies.

Second, transformation challenges. This period's Greater China market operations showed significant improvement but still gap compared to group plans. Facing overall market downturn and low-price competition pressures, activating store product analysis, supervision, and ordering authorization while improving manufacturing and distribution channel responsiveness to store needs remains an important operational challenge.

Third, standardized growth. On September 15 this year, Yanai Tadashi explained at the "LifeWear Art and Science" special event that although often misunderstood, Uniqlo is not a fast fashion brand. They manufacture not disposable clothing but enduring works that transcend eras. In harsh market environments, Uniqlo maintains premium quality at affordable prices through improved systematic operational efficiency and enhanced brand influence, which may be the inexhaustible source of sustainable development.