Retail insights from WRC, Asia Pacific 2013

The forum at third World Retail Congress focused on retail scenario in Asia Pacific countries on the whole, discussing the various fronts of this sector. Alex Silcox, MD of John Brown Media kicked off WRC Asia with a briefing on the "new rules of engagement” in the content marketing space. He stated, "It's no use broadcasting your message and hoping people will sit up and listen. These days the rules have changed and we're in a multichannel environment. It's fair to say media's been through nothing short of a revolution. We're all sharers now: we're all broadcasters, blogging, uploading and downloading. Content is King. We're helping our clients to cut through with the "many to many” approach. This is the environment we all need to be aware of.”

In another session on "Glocalisation: a powerful blend of global strength and local understanding,” Philip Clarke, Chief Executive, Tesco, briefed on how the world's third biggest retailer is adapting to a new era of retailing that is local, individual and personal. He opined, "We lead the revolution or become victims of evolution. The way customers shop has changed and the role of industry must also change. It's a time of seismic change. This year figures suggest that APAC online retail sales will exceed that of North America. Retailers need to be technologists too. Developing apps is going to be as important as investing in real estate- we're moving away from that.”

While discussing on how global economic trends will influence the Asian market-place and its consumers, Dr Ira Kalish, Global Research Director at Deloitte, addressed, "There's light at the end of the tunnel. China is rebounding, Japan is embarking on a radically new path and in India reforms could ultimately restore growth. But there are challenges and problems remain of course, especially in Europe.” The outlook for India is also mixed as he states, "Official corruption is an obstacle to growth, but they have great demographics with a growing, youthful, working-age population and better access to capital markets than in China.”

Andy Mantis, Group Head of Business Solutions at MasterCard Advisors Information Services, said, "Going forward it will be more critical than ever to understand the evolution of consumer spending behaviour in and out of stores.” He described how MasterCard leverages transaction data to create a 360 degree profile of consumers. "It's about understanding the unique behaviours of consumers: their brand affinity, how far they travel to shop, when they shop and how much they analyse the competition. We believe you have to be very relevant on a personal, local level. Micro insights drive macro trends.”

He used the case study of a major home goods retailer that wanted to increase their market share and average spend. "The retailer saw a fourfold increase in return on their campaigns. The more granular you can be, the better you can spot the opportunity through the 360 degree view, the better. It will provide you with that ammunition you need to connect with customers in new and compelling ways.”

Shin Hasegawa, Assistant Chief Marketing Officer at Rakuten, concentrated on the unstoppable rise of online retailing and digitally empowered shoppers. "The way we look at e-commerce is more like a busy market, more human, more lively and vivid and full of people who are experts, have passion and love the products they sell. It's reflected in our name: Rakuten Ichiba means'happy marketplace." Equipping online merchants with the knowledge they need to operate effectively online is key to Rakuten's success. "The e-commerce textbooks tell you the page should fit in one scroll. We're doing the 180% opposite. You might think who the hell is going to scroll ten times to get to the bottom of the page. But we've found consumers appreciate the extra information.”

Kesri Kapur, Group Chief Executive at Royal Sporting House and Bart Denolf, International Director at Pepe Jeans shared their experience of expanding global brands into new markets. Kesri Kapur highlighted the need for good communication, well-managed expectations and flexibility within joint ventures. "Both partners must be extremely adaptive. Whatever your agreements, it's the relationships between people in those ventures are what matters. It has to be on a basis of mutual respect, understanding the strength, value and goals of your partners.”

Bart Denolf drew on his experience with Pepe Jeans' expansion into new markets using different partnership, franchise, wholesale and subsidiary models. He advised ambitious retailers to chose partners according to their own resources and their partners' access to retail expertise, real estate, local market knowledge, distribution channels, product specific familiarity and regulatory knowledge. "Think global, think local' is a useful cliche” Denolf said. "It's difficult to know exactly who is your customer in each market - you can only know that through your partner. We have our international Facebook and Twitter pages, but we always insist on local pages too. The information from them can be much more helpful than six month research projects.”

Mimi Tang, Chief Executive of PPR Luxury Group Asia Pacific/ Gucci Group focused on the burgeoning Chinese market, drawing on more than forty years' experience in the retail sector. She described the importance of the store facade and the patience consumers display queuing for hours for new products."They have the patience to wait. In Hong Kong you see long lines outside luxury stores- no lines means no face for your brand. They feel more sophisticated shopping abroad and they like brands they can pronounce! They also favour no-logo products: the younger generation prefers uniqueness, something that reflects their personality.”

Ravi Thakran from Sephora and LVMH offered a compelling list of lifestyle products that are now dominated by Asian retailers and consumers."You might feel that luxury means western, but things are starting to change. In hospitality, the very best of hotels and resorts are being built by Asians. Some of the best airlines in the world are Asian. And nine of the top ten buildings in terms of architecture are being built in Asia. Indian watchmaker Titan is four times that of Seiko. The Asian way is defining the global wellness movement. The elephant might be slow and the dragon might have been sleeping but when these two start to dance others will have to clear the floor.”

A dual perspective was on offer at the closing plenary session of the World Retail Congress Asia Pacific 2013. Michael Hobson, Chief Marketing Officer at Mandarin Oriental represented an Asian brand succeeding world wide; Redmond Yeung, President Greater China, Gap Inc./ International offered insights from a global brand winning-over the Asian consumer market.

Reflecting on Mandarin Oriental's successful expansion out of Asia, Hobson expressed the importance of being present in trend-setting cities. "As they say in America, we bellied up to the bar and put our money where our mouth was in building Mandarin Oriental New York. It took a great financial commitment. Having long-term shareholders really makes a difference.The other critical success factor was that we weren't shy about coming out of our Asian comfort zone and moving functions- from IT to market branding- to where zones of best practice exist. "

Yeung named China as Gap Inc.'s focus for the next five to ten years. He identified a "Golden Generation” of consumers, born after the cultural revolution into rapid social and cultural transformations. These consumers enjoy transport, fashion, food and travel choices their parents never knew and are displaying a keen sense of individualism. "We pay a lot of attention to how we put together our product lines around the world, but in China we really have to work at it.”

Lucy Van Den Heede, Head of Content at World Retail Congress, said: "Thank you, Singapore, for hosting the Congress. We are very pleased by the insightful exchange of knowledge and best practice. A special mention to Singapore Retail Association who have been an excellent local partner. We are confident of their leadership and their vision for the retail scene in Singapore.”