At the heart of one of the most anticipated retail events of the year, Frost Chen, CEO of EasyStore, set the stage with his insightful and thought-provoking opening address at the Retail Summit Asia 2024, held at the PJ Sheraton Hotel in Malaysia on 18th September 2024.  

Bringing together industry leaders, business owners, and innovators, the summit is poised to explore the ever-evolving world of retail, from its historical roots to the digital transformations shaping the future.

Retail Summit Asia 2024 Opening Speech

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the first Retail Summit Asia 2024, held here in Malaysia at the PJ Sheraton Hotel. I'm excited to be here with all of you, and it’s my honor to kick-start today’s discussion on retail.

Retailing, which is selling goods and products to end customers, has been around for 4 to 5 thousand years if we trace back to the earliest ancient civilizations. People came together to trade goods—things like food, tools, and clothing—in what we now call markets. This is where the most basic form of retail began, even before money was invented.

As time passed, during the 18th and 19th centuries, the Industrial Revolution took place, resulting in the manufacturing and mass production of goods. However, manufacturers couldn’t sell large volumes directly to end customers. 

This is where the word "retail" comes from—the Old French word meaning "to cut off, split, or divide", referring to selling in small quantities directly to consumers. The expansion of small shops, department stores, and shopping malls further supported the growth of the retail industry.

Let’s fast forward to today. Since the late 20th century, we’ve witnessed the development of the internet, from 3G and 4G, to today’s 5G. The changes have been dramatic, especially with the boost brought by COVID and movement controls, which transformed how we buy and sell today.

In the pre-internet era, shopping was more personal. We often had close relationships with local sellers, who would offer advice and recommendations. It was all about the human touch and face-to-face interactions.

When ecommerce arrived, it became mainly about transactions—SEO-friendly descriptions, attractive photography, and crazy discount shopping days like Double-11 and Double-12. Everything was focused on conversion rates, speed, and convenience. 

At one point, we believed ecommerce—pure online retailing—with little need for human touch or involvement, would dominate the retail industry, eventually reaching at least 80% of total retail sales, if not 100%.

But it seems like that’s not the case. Today, in Southeast Asia, even after the boost from COVID, ecommerce still contributes less than 25% of total retail sales, online and offline combined. We’re pretty sure things are still continuing to evolve.

• We see many retailers showing less interest in joining big shopping days with margin-cutting deals, and instead, exploring and learning to interact with customers through live streaming and short videos.

• We see many small to mid-sized retailers, investing and expanding more in physical presence—whether through pop-up shops or more outlets—instead of focusing on digital marketing and ecommerce expansion. But why?

• We also see many businesses caring more and more about their customers, unifying customer experiences, their loyalty and repeat sales, instead of just relying on digital advertising for an “ok” ROI. And why?

Whether it’s due to increasing CAC (customer acquisition cost) or declining profit margins, we are slowly seeing a comeback of demand, for human touch, experiences, and interaction. 

And here’s the interesting part: when we talk about retail, talk about business models, we are all actually customers in some way, in our daily lives.

Let’s ask ourselves a few simple questions:

• Would you only shop from the cheapest sellers and not value any of the services or experiences?

• Would you only shop online and say goodbye to all offline shopping experiences?

• Would you only stick with big international brands and never care about or support any of our lovely local brands?

These questions lead us to 3 key considerations:

• Pricing first or Value first?

• Online first or Offline first?

• Is branding really necessary for all of us?

With customer behavior constantly changing (including ourselves) and technology moving so quickly, but one thing remains the same—retail is still about connecting good products with customers. 

Even though things can sometimes feel overly dynamic and we don’t know what the best choice is, but we’re not alone in this journey.

Today, this Retail Summit brings together experts from all industries—whether it’s financing, payment and logistics services, AI content creation, marketing strategy, workforce management, and many more, most importantly, real case studies from our local retailers and their journeys. 

This is not just a day to learn, but a day to share and spark ideas, build meaningful partnerships, and create more friendships.

So, I encourage all of you, to dive into the conversations, ask questions, engage with our speakers, partners, guests, and homegrown retailers to discuss together how we can make retail better for everyone.

I hope you have an inspiring and wonderful day ahead.

Please enjoy your day. Thank you.

About Retail Summit Asia 2024

Retail Summit Asia 2024 was an initiative by EasyStore, where the future of retailing came to life. The event gathered the industry’s brightest minds and most innovative thinkers to explore the cutting-edge trends, strategies, and technologies that are shaping the retail landscape.