TOKYO -- Japan's Seven & i Holdings and five of its subsidiaries, including convenience store chain Seven-Eleven Japan, aim to raise the share of women in executive posts to 30% from the current 10% or so by fiscal 2025 as the group's female customer base grows.

Women made up 42% of customers in the group's core convenience store business in 2019, up from 35% in 2003, and they appear to be driving the recent trend toward bulk purchasing, which has surged amid the coronavirus pandemic. The group hopes that putting more women in high-level posts will encourage development of products and store layouts for this demographic.

The target for the fiscal year ending February 2026 would put Seven & i a few years ahead of top business lobby Keidanren's goal of having women in 30% of executive seats at companies by 2030.

Japan lags far behind other major economies on this front. A survey by Japan's Financial Services Agency found 2,528 female officers at listed companies last year, making up just 6.2% of the total, compared with 40% or more in European countries such as France.

Women constitute a growing share of Seven & i's workforce as well. About 30% of employees groupwide and 45% of newly recruited graduates are female.

Seven & i will hold monthly seminars for female employees seen as potential management candidates and consider ways to support and encourage career advancement for women.

The group will release data annually on its progress, as well as join Japan's chapter of the 30% Club, an organization of companies that look to boost female representation in boardrooms.