400 Retailers Gather at Retail Summit Asia 2026 to Rethink Sustainable Growth

Kuala Lumpur, 10 Sept 2026 -  More than 400 retailers, founders, marketers and industry leaders gathered at Menara AFFIN, TRX for Retail Summit Asia 2026, exchanging practical strategies and real business experiences around one question: what does it take to build a retail business that lasts?

Malaysian brands today are caught in a cycle of winning customers and then losing them; competition stronger, margins thinner, effort heavier. The way out is to begin putting relationships with customers at the heart of a business.

YB Ng Sze Han, Selangor State EXCO for Investment, Trade and Mobility, officiated the summit, noting that the strength of any business ultimately comes down to putting people first.

As EasyStore Head of Product Goh Chong Xian puts it,

“The best customer is not always the next customer. Sometimes, it is the customer you already have.”

That idea was reflected in the experiences shared by Malaysian brands including Tanamera, XIXILI, Claire Organics and Bayu Somerset. Brands that have each outlasted trends, competitors, and market shifts, shared the decisions that kept them growing. 

The conversations also challenged a familiar assumption in retail: that growth must always come from acquiring more customers. Across every story, the same thread ran through: the brands that last are the ones that put customer experience and brand promise at the core.

As the cost and effort of acquisition continue to rise, the customers a business has already won are becoming an increasingly important growth opportunity. The second sale, the next visit and the relationship that follows can matter just as much as the first transaction.

Retailers today are building better journeys, leveraging AI and unified commerce to meet customers wherever they are, online, in-store, making every interaction feel intentional. Customer data now tells brands not just who is buying, but who is likely to come back.

For SMEs, these are no longer enterprise-only capabilities. They are fast becoming the infrastructure of lasting retail.

That is the conversation Retail Summit Asia was built to host. The summit gathered retailers, founders, and industry leaders to share what works, and leaving with insights to act on. 

The summit was supported by AFFIN as Marquee Partner, alongside Fiuu and J&T Express as Strategic Partners, whose solutions helped bring this vision to life across payments, logistics, and in-store experiences. Because building retail that lasts takes insight, conviction, and the right infrastructure.

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About Retail Summit Asia

Retail Summit Asia is an annual gathering of Malaysia’s retail ecosystem, connecting retailers, business owners, marketers, and partners to explore strategies that matter most in today’s marketplace. With an emphasis on customer experience and practical solutions for SMEs, the summit fosters collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and innovation to strengthen the future of Malaysian retail.

About EasyStore

EasyStore is a unified commerce platform enabling brands to deliver seamless customer experiences across ecommerce, retail, and social channels—connecting storefronts, payments, logistics, and loyalty in one place. Learn more at www.easystore.co.