Sales at Japanese department stores dropped 1.5 percent from a year earlier in December to 724.6 billion yen (8.78 billion U.S. dollars), the Japan Department Stores Association said Tuesday.
According to the association, December's decline marked the second consecutive year-on-year decrease in sales and follows a 0. 5 percent contraction in November.
The industry body said that unseasonably warm weather contributed to a lack of sales of winter apparel during the recording period.
However, sales of duty-free items rose 12.4 percent on year in December, snapping a second-straight monthly fall, thanks to increased spending by tourists leading up to the Christmas period.
In addition, Japanese department store sales in the whole of 2010 declined 3.1 percent to 6.29 trillion yen, marking the 14th consecutive yearly decline, although the pace slowed from the 10.1 percent plunge logged for 2009.
Combined sales at 27 department stores in the Tokyo metropolitan area fell 0.3 percent in December from a year earlier, marking the first drop in three months, and follows a 0.3 percent increase in November, according to the association.
In 2010, Tokyo-based department store sales fell 3.0 percent to 1.55 trillion yen (18.76 billion U.S. dollars), marking the third straight year of a decline, but slower than the 11.3 percent contraction booked in 2009.
The Japan Department Stores Association compiles data from 91 companies running 261 department stores that have been open for at least a year before the survey is conducted.
The industry body's data is adjusted to facilitate comparisons on a same-store basis.