Tapping retail trends and opportunities
LOCAL retailers should take advantage of the 18th Asia-Pacific Retailers Convention and Exhibition (APRCE 2017), which will take place next month at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.
The regional event will be held in Malaysia for the first time on October 25-27, 2017.
“Malaysia is the perfect focal point for international networking. It is also an ideal location to mix business with leisure. The event will bring together delegates, speakers, exhibitors and sponsors who can learn, discover and do their networking.
“APRCE is a great platform to learn and share retail experiences and knowledge from renown speakers and retailers. It will also highlight innovative solutions to help retailers differentiate themselves from their competitors,” says Malaysia Retailers Association (MRA) deputy president James Loke, who is also chief executive officer of Tangs.
Key global retailers are expected to attend the event, which will spearhead a re-think on retail and how to drive change through innovation and transformation to stay ahead of the pack. It will also explore opportunities to capture the next decade of discerning digitised customers.
As the Asian retail industry undergoes transformation, the three-day event will discuss trends that will help retailers tap into the opportunities that are created amid the changing landscape such as the changing consumer tastes, the rise of India and China, the modernisation of grocery retailing, the transformation of fashion retailing and the rise of digital commerce.
“We are expecting about 2,000 to 3,000 delegates, consisting of retail partners, industry stakeholders, business leaders, experts in omni-channel, e-commerce, shopping malls and F&B franchises, as well as others related to the retail industry.
“Those who have confirmed their attendance include delegates from Japan Retailers Association, Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, Korea Retailers Association, and from other FAPRA-recognised national retail trade organisations in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, Hong Kong, India, Mongolia, Turkey and Fiji,” adds MRA council member Raymond Teo, who is also the group chief executive officer of Sogo.
The event is organised by FAPRA and hosted by MRA. The theme for this year’s event is “Transformation, Creativity and Beyond”.
“The forum will feature worldclass speakers, retail leaders and solution providers from China, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, the US, the UK and Malaysia, who will share their business success stories, new retail trends and ways to retail excellence, e-commerce trends and challenges in retailing, among others,” says Teo.
Among the speakers to be featured include BIG Group founder and group chief officer Benjamin Yong, AEON Co Ltd president and chief executive officer Motoya Okada, Celcom Planet Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Hoseok Kim, Euromonitor International head of retailing Michelle Grant, Twenty Second and Fifth Ltd retail futurist Howard Saunders, and IPay88 Sdn Bhd co-founder and executive director Chan Kok Long.
Some of the topics that will be covered are “Key growth trends for Asia retailing” by Grant, “The future at Parkson: Focusing on the needs of our customers” by Parkson Retail Asia Group chief executive officer Michael Remsen, “The making of SOGO Malaysia – our journey into the Future” by SOGO Malaysia group managing director Datuk Alfred Cheng and “Taking the shopping experience to a whole new dimension in dining & retailing” by Yong, who recently opened a restaurant in the UK offering a “farm to plate” dining experience.