Retail Asia 2018 May 2018 | Page 9

shopping in physical stores due to the in-store experience provided — an element that digital channels cannot replicate. Technology as a shot in the arm for retail So how can retailers adapt to this paradigm shift? The ‘digital-first’ phenomenon suggests that an o mni-channel approach might be the inflection point for businesses. It is thus crucial for retailers to develop an open mindset towards the adoption of new technologies that will enable them to seamlessly and successfully integrate online and physical retail. As retail pivots towards an omni- channel model, retailers also have to look towards technology to effectively engage in-store customers. Frontier technologies, such as virtual reality (VR), are one of the most potent tools at retailers’ disposal — allowing for the concoction of unique retail experiences that may just be the secret sauce to inject much needed vigour into bricks-and-mortar retail. A prominent example is outdoor apparel company The North Face deploying VR to digitally whisk its customers away to California’s Yosemite National Park. A national effort supported by the Singapore government is under way, undergirded by the establishment of the Retail Centre of Excellence — a knowledge ecosystem that sees retail experts coming together to generate ideas on boosting retail and integrating the online and physical retail spaces. This is in line with iFashion Group’s vision of spurring the retail scene through collaboration, co- existence and resource-sharing. Future of retail lies in omni- channel Future of retail lies in omni-channel and experiential engagement Businesses are coming to the realisation that e-commerce does not mean the death of bricks-and-mortar retail but play a complementary role to engage a wider consumer demographic, leading to increased sales performance Even established e-commerce players such as Amazon and Alibaba are moving towards physical store fronts — unthinkable a mere couple of years ago. With an industry-wide shift towards omni-channel retailing, businesses need to invest in the creation of effective, unique retail experiences that increase social currency and gives them an edge over the competition. As buzzwords such as augmented reality and artificial intelligence are bandied about in a future retail scene with millennials as the core audience, it is more imperative than ever that retailers remain open to change, keeping abreast of evolutions in technology and consumer preferences to avoid being disrupted. ra A USTRALIA Harry Black H Black & Associates Pty Ltd Tower House, 148 High Street, Ashburton, Victoria, 3147 Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone] E-mail: [email protected] [email protected] H ONG K ONG Godfrey Wu MHI Limited 1305 CC Wu Building, 302-308 Hennessy Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong SAR Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone]v8 E-mail: [email protected] C HINA Mary Yao MHI China Ltd Room 971 Poly Plaza, 14 South Dongzhimen Street, Beijing 100027 Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone] E-mail: [email protected] I NDIA JS Malhotra MRI Global Media Network Annex II & III, 1/16, West Patel Nagar, New Delhi – 110 008 (India) Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone] E-mail: [email protected] I TALY Tiziana Vailati Studio P R B Di Tiziana Vailati Via Vittorio Emanuelle II, 52, I-20052 Monza Mi Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone] E-mail: [email protected] J APAN Mikio Tsuchiya World Media Services Inc 3-35-1-302, Hongodai, Sakae-Ku, Yokohama 247-0008, Japan Tel/Fax: [phone] E-mail: [email protected] S OUTH K OREA Edward YB Jeon Storm Associates Inc 4F, Deok Woo Bldg, 292-7, SungSan-Dong, MaPo-Ku, Seoul Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone] E-mail: [email protected] T AIWAN Virginia Lee Spacemark Media Services 2/F, No. 22-18 Chang An East Road, Section 1 Taipei Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone] E-mail: [email protected] U NITED K INGDOM Patricia Corbett Greg Corbett Associates Ltd International Media Sales, 3rd Flr Ebury Gate, 23 Lower Belgrave Street, London, SW1W 0NR Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone] E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.gca-international.co.uk Consumers are gravitating towards online shopping while eschewing retail stores, leading to a steady decline in retail sales and low tenancy rates. For all other advertising enquiries, contact [email protected] Retail Asia May 2018 7