Seamless retail is now the new benchmark for tomorrow’s APAC retailers: report

Singapore – The emergence of seamless retail, with digital transformation propelling remarkable advancements in the sector, has put the customer squarely at the centre of attention, marking a new era.

With this, concepts such as multichannel and omnichannel, have lost their relevance, with a highly customer-centric approach taking the lead, according to a report by KPMG Asia Pacific and GS1 which examined how businesses and consumers in the Asia Pacific are embracing these seamless commerce strategies across diverse markets and geographies.

The report notes that once a differentiator, seamless retail – encompassing a brand’s ability to recognize and integrate the customer journey across multiple platforms and services – is now a baseline expectation in a majority of the markets surveyed, making it the new benchmark for tomorrow’s sellers.

The expectation is that social media, delivery innovations, apps, websites, automated messaging, and other digital interactions – all seamlessly integrate with traditional brick- and-mortar stores.

Highlights of the report include six key trends transforming retail, with retailers progressively expected to deliver on seamless retail, through integrated, connected capabilities to meet consumers on their terms.

Firstly, the report highlighted key priorities that consumers are looking for when choosing a platform, which are a wide variety of products and fast, reliable delivery amidst an e-commerce landscape in the region marked by a lack of a dominant platform. This comes alongside the prevalent application of AI in enhancing the relevance and accuracy of product recommendations, though there are concerns among consumers around privacy and lack of human interaction.

The report also highlighted trends such as social commerce gaining popularity among Gen Z, with fast-paced platforms such as TikTok, the consistent prominence of digital payment platforms as digital e-wallets gain traction in APAC, the recognition of loyalty programs for data collection, and sustainability placing itself forward as the baseline of marketing.

Notably, the report also stated that consumer expenditure is likely to start slowing down in APAC this year. With consumers feeling the impacts of rising costs, some markets are seeing muted growth while others are experiencing downtrends. Therefore there is a greater need for retailers to know how to better engage consumers in the current climate and beyond to gain market share, particularly as consumers recalibrate their spending.

Talking about the findings, Anson Bailey, head of consumer & retail, for KPMG in Asia Pacific, said, “PuttIng consumers first by adopting seamless, connected capabilities across the en4re organisation is no longer just a competitive edge, but a necessity for those who want to lead the market. ‘Navigating the Future of Seamless Commerce’ seeks to play a key role for the industry to identify opportunities, spurring innovation to better develop more successful customer experiences and journey maps.”

Meanwhile, Patrik Jonasson, senior director of global retail at GS1, commented, “Product sustainability, supply chain transparency, and circularity are becoming central to overall business operations. Soon, ESG reporting will be indistinguishable from the need for a seamless exchange of trusted product data. Companies will need to exchange information that is trusted and can be understood by all of the actors across today’s complex global supply chains, including the consumer.”