Seven & i Holdings Co. Ltd. on Jan. 15 reported that total sales in its Seven-Eleven Japan stores rose 2% year over year in December 2019.

Same-store sales at its local convenience store business went up by 0.9% from the year-ago period as customer numbers declined 0.5% and average customer spending grew 1.4%. Store numbers declined to 20,959 from 20,974 in November 2019.

The Japanese retailer also reported that total net sales in its overseas unit, 7-Eleven Inc., increased by 6.5% from December 2018, with a 0.9% growth in same-store sales. There was a rise of 2.1% in merchandise sales and 11.1% in gasoline sales.

For its Ito-Yokado general merchandising business, total net sales declined 7.5% year over year. On a same-store basis, merchandise sales slid 5.4% and customer numbers declined 5.6% as average consumer spending inched up by 0.2%.

Seven & i's supermarket chain York-Benimaru posted a 0.3% growth in total sales during the month. Same-store sales decreased by 1.4% as customer numbers decreased by 2.7% and average spending per customer rose by 1.3%.

Department store unit Sogo & Seibu saw total and same-store sales each drop by 4.5% year over year.

Finally, Seven & i Food Systems Co. Ltd.'s total sales slid 6.9% from the year-ago period as same-store sales fell 6.1%. Customer numbers dropped 7.5%, while average spending per customer grew 1.6% year over year.