Although both companies are operating in the "bargain" segment of the market, TRS business model is completely different from that of Daiso.
TRS:
- Imports parallel goods from overseas, such as cheap confectionery, household goods
- Sells seasonal goods such as Halloween costumes, Christmas supplies, etc.
- Buys from overseas wholesaler or manufacturer
- Price points ranging from cents to tens of dollars
Daiso:
- A vertically integrated design/manufacturer/retailer
- Designs most of its merchandise in-house
- Produces a lot of its merchandise in their own plastic factory in Thailand
- Sells them in their own stores at price points a lot lower than TRS, i.e. in Australia, most of them at $2.80, with some items slightly higher (sub $5.00)
- Daiso's house brand merchandise can not be bought from another retailer
Below is an article about Daiso's entry into the US market.
https://www.laweekly.com/how-the-japanese-store-daiso-became-a-phenomenon/There is another company that imitates Daiso's success, called Miniso. It's actually a Chinese company, but the branding makes it as if it's a Japanese retailer.
They have similar concept, home brands sold at sharp price points, but the goods that they are selling are different from Daiso.
https://miniso-au.com/en-au/http://www.miniso.com/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MinisoTheir store count in Australia is already at 32 and growing very fast.
They only started in 2011, and already has 1,800+ stores worldwide.
Competition is getting more and more intense and TRS life is not going to get any easier any time soon.
(20min delay)