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The AI conversation has evolved considerably in the last 18 months. While Agentic AI is the latest machine learning trend, AI’s applications across organizations transcend business verticals and units.

It’s no longer enough for a single team or department to adopt AI and evolve its operational efficiencies – full organizational buy-in is needed to fully embrace the revolutionary impact that AI can offer as we move from monolithic ERPs to headless microservice-based tech stacks.

The questions about business readiness and change inertia remain; just what can AI do for your business, and what is stopping you from doing so?

It’s not a revolutionary idea, but it’s one worth examining more closely: retailers can make money from selling things that aren’t just stuff. Be it data, logistical services, warehousing space, fulfilment contracts or retail media, there’s a chance to earn revenue from multiple streams in today’s retail world.

With licensing, partnerships and collaborations also creating new profit-generating opportunities, APAC’s retailers are on the verge of actualizing monetization’s potential, as the battle against margins and increasing costs heats up across the region.

Retail media is widely considered the third wave of digital commerce. From its tentative early adoption in 2016 till today, retail media revenue has grown to hit $30 billion USD per year. By way of comparison, e-commerce needed over two decades to hit such figures; social media took 16 years. Retail media? Just 9!

With 40% of the world’s retail media spend happening in the United States and 37% in China, there are massive growth opportunities in APAC markets such as Japan, South Korea and Indonesia, leading to changing digital dynamics, marketing strategies and engagement tactics.

The hype, and the numbers, are real - retail media has the potential to catalyze increased monetization, more accurate analytics and a revolution in forecasting. Where does this road take us?

It’s no secret that inflation is causing problems the world over. Supply chains are getting more expensive across APAC. Many markets are seeing a talent and skills gap in fields like tech and AI, resulting in increased hiring overheads. ESG, sustainability and climate change legislation means tightening compliance standards, from Australia to Vietnam and everywhere in between.

With these challenges, retailers are forced to ask themselves some daunting questions. Does increased revenue matter if your costs are spiraling into the stratosphere? Should the priority be consolidating expenditure or taking risks? What’s the balance between managing margins versus staying competitive?

APAC’s diversity is not a bug – it’s a feature. However, such incredible variety in the region when it comes to markets, culture and algorithms means massive divergences in Pan-Asia platform design, user experience and technological adoption. For example, contrasting Amazon’s design with a Southeast Asian player like Shopee shows how wildly different priorities are in the region when it comes to shopping experiences.

The consequence is a different set of customer behaviors across different categories, be it countries, languages, income level and products. This is further exacerbated by Search & Discovery disruptions caused by the uneven pace of algorithmic, AI and tech stack evolution across Asia Pacific.

Brands must also think of how to be GEO (Generative Engine Optimized) instead of just SEO, as there is increased usage of LLMs like ChatGPT to scout for new purchases.

This begs the question – how will new products and brands find their audience? Will consumers be in control of how they discover the next big thing? Does cracking APAC just mean finding a way to hack the algorithm?

Gone are the days when you had one app to do one specific thing. Today, the premise is simple – the more time customers spend on your platform, the more you can monetize them. That’s why customers can order food, shop for groceries, and apply for installments plans on appliances from the same place.

Want points for checking in everyday in the pursuit of future discounts? Eager to play minigames that happily throw branding and redemption vouchers your way? All possible with these super apps.

Coupled with the explosion of QR Payments, especially in South East Asia, and you have a recipe, and argument, for combining what were previously disparate functions into a single platform.

Just what new digital experiences can we expect in retail in the future?

The APAC online shopping experience is one of the most feature-laden retail journeys in the world. Regions like South East Asia are a hotbed of innovation for tech such as QR payments, outpacing developed markets in the race to bring new features to market.

Yet for all this undoubted digital sophistication and splendor, omnichannel retail in the Asia Pacific region is miles behind places like the US. There is a disconnect between the polish of the online journey, versus the offline touchpoints that customers encounter with their favorite brands. Without a consistent, cohesive and seamless shopping experience, retailers are leaving gaps in their efforts to build loyalty and profitability.

On the backend, many companies still have their data siloed between offline and online activities, creating barriers in parsing actionable insights across verticals. The outlook is still a positive one – APAC retailers have the potential to build incredible omnichannel retail experiences. What do we need to do to get there?

50% of all retail transactions in South Korea happen online. Phone chargers get delivered within 10 minutes in India. Filipino law prohibits ‘No Returns, No Exchange’ policies for ecommerce purchases. Shopee in Malaysia and Singapore now allow 15-day Free Returns, no questions asked.

Sounds great for customers, doesn’t it? Yet the hidden costs are rarely discussed when it comes to e-commerce adoption for companies across Asia Pacific. There are incredible levels of competition in retail-adjacent spaces such as delivery services, and the expenditure required to organize and process returns of products (while also trying to salvage them for re-sale) means that the true cost of e-commerce adoption can sometimes be staggering.

With customers demanding free (and faster) deliveries, and many APAC countries like Indonesia and the Philippines posing fearsome logistical challenges with thousands of islands and mountainous terrain, is this need for speed unsustainable? Could any other country other than India implement Quick Commerce? And last but not least, will e-commerce continue to democratize retail, or slowly become the province of just big players?

The world is currently experiencing geopolitical challenges that have ratcheted up the tension to levels unseen since the Cold War era of the 1980s. With expansion, growth and profitability still immutable goals for many retailers across Asia Pacific, the trend has been to look inward and intra-region to find new customers and partners.

Collaboration is key in this brave new world, with retailers no longer viewing their peers solely through the lens of competition. The move to find kindred spirits in new markets and niches has also opened up new avenues for revenue creation, such as licensing, merchandising and product crossovers.

Joint ventures are not new; yet APAC retailers, in a bid to insulate themselves from worldwide shocks, could take the concept to an entirely new level.

Half a decade after COVID shutdowns, APAC is experiencing a renaissance in retail construction.

Megamalls in multiple countries are becoming destinations for retail tourism, with many looking like Instagrammable theme parks. Brands are launching their own interpretations of the ‘store of tomorrow’, providing new and engaging experiences that can’t be found anywhere else. Everything from layouts to decor and design is being carefully examined and optimized.

Driven by customers that are showing an appetite and appreciation for more emotional involvement in their retail journeys, the retail industry is relishing the opportunity to create increasingly emotive touchpoints for their audience. Is this trend here to stay, or is it just a passing fad?

APAC's cultural, linguistic and legal complexities create incredible barriers for retailers looking for new markets. Border town commerce complicates matters even further as consumers continuously look for value when shopping, such as the battle between Johor Bahru and Singapore, or Shenzhen and Hong Kong.

When looking to expand operations into new locales, what do retailers look for? Is the priority to search for full partners, or sourcing agents for distribution? Should they go it alone? Does having a localized presence dilute the brand?

These difficult conversations are all happening at the intersection of competition and collaboration; what do the present and the future portend for all?

Risk is ever-present in retail. With so much of the retail industry conducting its business online, that risk is magnified.

Cybersecurity know-how among the public is still at suboptimal levels, with fraudulent schemes, scams and unethical applications of AI creating a climate of fear and mistrust; a climate soured even further by counterfeit products, fake sellers and fake goods.

Questions remain over whether or not enough is being done by retailers, vendors and platforms to combat these issues. Are more stringent security protocols needed, or is better customer education the way forward? Who needs to take the lead on bridging the trust gap with the consumer?

The content revolution has been televised all along.

As attention spans get shorter, and content evolves to match, more customers are replacing research and referrals with bitesized clips, meaning products could live or die in seconds as discovery is driven by user-generated content and the influencer ecosystem. White papers have made way for TikTok Trends. In-depth reviews have morphed into Reel-sized highlights.

As a result, content marketing is being superseded by content generation to keep pace, creating backlash from the public and traditional creatives over AI usage.

The state of content today is just as much about how it’s turning into a battle between Gen AI and creatives as it is a broader discussion about engagement tactics, ethics of AI usage in the content space and how customers are influenced into discovering their next big purchase. Welcome to retail’s latest battleground!

The arrival of Gen-Z as the dominant consumer is causing a generational and demographic shift. As they join the emerging middle class and experience a dramatic increase in wealth, their influence over the world of retail is becoming more pronounced.

Already more loyal to the algorithm instead of just brands, the future APAC consumer is also redefining what ‘value’ means – it’s not just about price, but everything from emotionally immersive branding to customer experience and the desire to start conversations instead of being advertised to.

They’re also using different search patterns, with discovery now driven primarily by phrases instead of specific terms. With this paradigm shift in retail, what do retailers need to do to adapt and thrive?