Retail Asia 2018 RA September.October 2018 (Online) | Page 36

RETAIL TECHNOLOGY
Why the future of the store
will take shape in Asia-Pacific
The presence of e-commerce has created a new realm of
possibilities in the consumer market with endless options
and benefits such as convenience for shoppers. However,
the in-store experience is still highly-valued in Asia-Pacific,
even with a youthful and digitally-savvy population.
Warren Hayashi, president of Adyen Asia-Pacific,
shares why the region might be able to give the shopping
experience a new lease of live and salvage bricks-and-
mortar establishments.
W
hen you can access more
stores in the palm of your
hand than you can at your
local shopping mall, it
is easy to understand why bricks-and-
mortar retailers are feeling the heat from
e-commerce competition. Consumers
are offered convenience and endless
choice when they shop online, and the
ability to shop at leisure without having
to compete with the jostling crowds is a
much-needed reprieve.
However, there is a silver lining.
Shoppers still have a place in their heart
for the in-store experience. Up to 60%
of shoppers still prefer to sample or
try an item before purchase and enjoy
the immediate gratification of walking
away with it. With young, mobile-first
audiences, Asia-Pacific just might be the
region to accomplish the reinvention of
the shopping experience and save the
bricks-and-mortar store.
Home to the world’s
millennials
Sixty percent of the world’s millennials
are expected to live in Asia by 2020,
bringing with them their preference for
convenience and tailored experiences.
While cars and large homes were goals
for their elders, millennials are leaning
towards personal experiences. Before
we dismiss this motivation for “insta-
worthy” interiors or flat lays as a passing
trend, millennials are proving to be not
your average shopper. They might scrimp
on owning large ticket items but they are
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Retail Asia September/October 2018
your primary spenders for convenience-
driven subscription services such as
Netflix, Spotify and beauty boxes. Their
experience-driven preferences make
them the driving force behind brands
rethinking retail.
A region defined by
mobile-first experiences
Apart from facing an on-demand
customer group, Asia is also taking
the lead when it comes to mobile-
first experiences. In Asia-Pacific,
around 35% of the population will
be smartphone users by this year.
Mobile-driven transactions also
increased by 12% from 2016-2017.
Not surprisingly, the usage of mobile
wallets, such as WeChat Pay, Apple Pay
and Android Pay, is rising in tandem.
Often more than just a way to pay, the
ideal mobile wallet provides consumer-
centric experiences like in-app shopping
and messaging, resulting in greater
convenience for customers.
Rethinking the Asian
shopping experience
It is evident from both changing
customer preferences and the rise of
mobile-first experiences that Asia would
be the prime spot for retailers looking
to update their customer experience.
While the region is famous for putting
customers first with its always accessible
and open 24/7 shopping malls, this
non-stop commitment to the shopper
cannot lag.
On-demand platforms such as
e-commerce and mobile are all part
of the shoppers’ experience, and
interaction with brands will start even
before the shopper reaches the store.
Potential customers may discover
brands on WeChat, Instagram or other
social media channels and the onus falls
on the retailer to broaden the in-store
experience to echo the digital promise.
By utilising unified commerce
concepts, retailers can turn the
shopping experience into one that is
truly seamless and frictionless. Unified
commerce, at its best, spans both the
online and offline journey and creates a
single, continuous customer experience.
In addition, unified commerce
offers retailers a bird’s-eye view of their
cross-channel inventory and allows
customers to purchase a product that
may be sold out online but available
in stores or vice versa. Better still, this
inventory online will enable ‘click-and-
collect’ options for customers, allowing
them to experience the product they’ve
seen online in the physical, purchase
it from a mobile point-of-sale (POS)
system and have it delivered to their
homes.
This frees up precious shop space
for experience-driven displays and puts
value back in the in-store experience.
Cooking studios for kitchen utensil
brands or a race track to test athletic
gear in-store could all come to a mall
near you as retailers reinvent the
shopping experience.