The new era of retail: innovating for tomorrow
With digital transformation increasing rapidly and consumer habits changing, a new era of retail is emerging. It was therefore interesting to attend the Retail Asia Conference & Expo 2025, at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre [HKCEC] last week. Retail Asia Conference & Expo was held successfully in conjunction with Restaurant, Bar & Cafe Hong Kong [RBHK] exhibition and officially opened with guest of honour, the Under Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development Bureau,Dr Bernard Chan Pak Li, on September 2 [2025].
RBHK
At the exhibition on day 1, I had the opportunity to visit and chat with several exhibitors at their stands, including @Tobot, which showcased their efficient robots offering valuable solutions for the F&B industry, and PackLab, which operates in Hong Kong, China, the UK, and Australia, providing impressive custom-made eco-friendly food packaging.
TNCL, a distributor based in Hong Kong, was presenting an Australian mineral water brand named Purezza™. They offered the option to add various flavours to both still and sparkling waters, which I sampled and found refreshing. Vegware™, based in the UK with a presence in Hong Kong, was promoting its circular economy benefits. It partners with restaurants and a waste management company in the production of its eco-packaged plant based products.
Numerous stalls presented food samples for tasting, with the seafood and iberico pork kiosks attracting long queues of attendees eager to sample their offerings. There were imported brands that I already recognised as available in Hong Kong, along with coffee and tea stalls. Exhibitors were extremely generous enabling sampling of many products.
I visited Lam Kie Yuen Tea Company to sample their tea and noted that they provided a unique chance to create your own custom blend with packaging. I couldn’t resist stopping by Couverture by Multizen Asia Ltd, where they offer bespoke chocolates presented in speciality gift boxes. The sales director graciously provided me with some delightful tastings – a wonderful idea for corporate gifts during the festive season. They even craft a beautifully designed dark chocolate that caters to chilli lovers – you’d better enjoy the heat for those ones!
Conference
The following day when I visited it was difficult to peel myself away from the inviting stalls, however I wanted to attend one of Anson Bailey’s panel sessions. Anson is the Head of Consumer & Retail at KPMG ASPAC [the conference’s strategic partner]. The topic was “Retail Reimagined: Innovating for Tomorrow,” and Anson, with his extensive understanding of the Asian retail sector, provided an excellent summary of some insights from his previous sessions, resulting in a valuable session when combined with the speakers he had gathered.
Stephen Sing, Executive Director of the Singapore Retailers Association, discussed the challenges his market is facing due to the shift in retail sales to Johor Bahru , located just a mile south of Singapore. He also highlighted potential lessons to be learned from Hong Kong, which has experienced a similar situation with Shenzhen being a popular shopping destination for Hong Kong residents.
Dr. Joey Chan, Market Director for Hong Kong, Macau & Taiwan at lululemon HK Ltd, emphasised the significance of the in-store retail experience and KYC. By utilising AI in their back end, they can customise their multi-lingual staff to engage with customers directly, enhancing the overall experience, along with other significant elements. Anson and Napoleon Biggs, a moderator & Co-founder of InstantStudio AI, appeared very sporty and stylish in their lululemon athletica outfits.
Carmen Chiu, Managing Director Hong Kong for Shanghai Tang, had addressed a previous session on experiential retail, covering in-store experiences, technology, and successful concepts. During this session, she provided additional valuable insights regarding the retail experience and also responded to the shifts to other markets that Stephen Sing mentioned. She discussed how her team utilises AI in their marketing efforts to enhance their volume of marketing collateral.
Lakshmi Murthy, Head of Business Transformation at DFI Retail Group, shared valuable insights regarding operational challenges and technology adoption, including the success of the YUU loyalty app. We all enjoyed a light-hearted moment when Anson effortlessly sang the catchy tune that has become all too familiar to shoppers these days!
It was essential to participate in the session to gain important insights into the latest trends and challenges being addressed, and innovationhongkong® could only offer a brief overview of it.There were many interesting topics included in this conference such as navigating AI Security in retail;bridging online & offline commerce with AI;retail loyalty, customer engagement; gamification;panel sessions on omnichannel experiences; a technology showcase fireside chat; strategies for Hong Kong companies and more.
Following Anson’s session, Napoleon Biggs provided us with a LIVE demonstration of how he utilised Grok, his virtual female assistant, to find a store, suggest appropriate attire for the conference, and recommend what to buy for the event – it was perfectly aligned with the conference theme and interesting to observe. At times it was comical when Grok would not stop talking but Napoleon managed in the end.
For the unknown, Grok is Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence chatbot. NB: You do need to be aware that there have been reports of conversations and uploaded documents being visible to everyone on the net so ensure if you are trying Grok that you set your advanced privacy settings.
The Publisher was provided a media pass by the conference & expo organisers, Informa Markets to attend.