Online shopping - what's in store

Joshua Soh

Managing Director, Singapore and Brunei

Cisco

IN today's connected world, the divide between online shopping and brick-and-mortar retailers will slowly narrow. Retailers are increasingly embracing the notion of a connected, cross-channel shopping experience where consumers hop from one channel to another through their retail journey.

Our goal is to help local retailers do just that by enabling a connected experience that will keep shoppers glued to their brand regardless of the channel they access (store, online) or the device they use (PCs, smartphones, tablets, in-store screens).

The power lies with the consumer, who can choose between e-commerce or traditional retail transactions - based on their convenience. And a lot of this has also to do with the changing profile of the shopper, where the ''connected'' consumer is comfortable with online and self-service.

Having a connected and social retail strategy can help traditional retailers to tap the e-commerce market in Singapore that is projected to be worth S$4.4 billion by 2015 and bridge the chasm between online and in-store shopping. As we power the Internet, Cisco has always transacted with our partners and distributors online.

Seah Kian Peng

CEO (Singapore)

NTUC Fairprice Co-operative Ltd

EVERY brick-and-mortar retailer has to contend with online shopping. You either embrace it and get into this space or you lose your relevance. The fast adoption of social and mobile technologies that complement consumers' lifestyles ensures that the uptrend for online shopping will continue unabated. But this does not mean that brick-and-mortar stores will become irrelevant. Retailers must recognise the importance of innovating to stay relevant to customers' needs. In fact, online shopping has provided all retailers with an added dimension and opportunity to strengthen their products and services. At FairPrice, we have long recognised the need to evolve to meet customers' changing lifestyles. We launched FairPrice Online more than a decade ago before online shopping gained popularity. We continue to build on this platform by revamping our shopping portal and recently introduced Click&Collect, an extension of FairPrice Online. Through this service, customers have the added flexibility to collect their purchases at a brick-and-mortar store near them. Apart from this initiative, our digital marketing strategy utilises multiple online channels as a means to connect with our customers and provide a more seamless shopping experience with us. This online space is also one that we aim to lead.

Rohit Dadwal

Managing Director

Mobile Marketing Association APAC

THE retail industry is entering a new era. As consumers continue to engage over digital platforms, e-commerce holds the key to transformation and innovation in the retail industry. Brick-and-mortar stories are no longer a vital touchpoint for brands to exert their influence as online and mobile shopping allows consumers to quickly check prices, compare products, read honest consumer reviews and make secure purchases through their connected devices.

With these added conveniences, foot traffic to retail outlets has fallen. There are serious questions that retailers need to consider, including how they can leverage technology to drive meaningful engagement with consumers. To stay relevant, retailers need to focus on developing exceptional in-store experiences. Developing consistent, integrated and personalised experiences across all channels will help retailers add value to the consumer journey.

Sarah Boyd

Chief Executive Officer

Guardian Health & Beauty

I DO not believe that traditional brick-and-mortar stores will ever disappear completely; people love shopping, product testing and browsing too much. But will it give retailers the freedom to close some of their poor performing stores while still having a full product range available to their customers? I believe it will.

Critically also, e-commerce gives retailers an opportunity to concentrate on having an optimised range, with an optimised stock level in all their stores; but to carry a far larger range available exclusively on line. This, in turn, will lead to far better managed inventory levels and a healthier retail base.

Yuko Saito

Managing Director, South-east Asia

Criteo

IT may appear as if physical storefronts would be threatened by the explosion of e-commerce today, but we believe it's not a matter of having to decide between one platform and the other. The best approach is for brick-and-mortar retailers to take advantage of the availability of proprietary tools and predictive algorithms such as Criteo's to adopt a multi-channel approach. Retailers are extending their physical presence to online platforms, ranging from dotcom stores to mobile apps across multiple operating systems and devices.

Industry research shows that the most common path to purchasing for online consumers is all-digital, i.e., they search online and purchase online. But with multi-channel retailers, consumers can look forward to more choices in their path to purchase: they could search online and buy in-store, or buy online and pick up in-store. So when you take into account the fulfilment problems that most retailers face during busy and festive seasons, the strength of the multi-channel approach is especially prominent.

Sattar Bawany

Chief Executive Officer

Centre for Executive Education (CEE)

THE current reality is that retail is in crisis. After a panic at the turn of the millennium about the impact on their industry of online shopping, brick-and-mortar stores settled into making only modest changes to their business model and few have so far made the radical changes needed to meet the threats from, and tap the enormous potential of, e-commerce. Borders is one of the recognised names which became a casualty of online shopping. Its inability to compete with online bookseller Amazon.com is a major reason for Borders' demise.

Consumers in Singapore lead busy lives and shopping takes time. Consumers find researching and shopping online to be far more convenient than brick-and-mortar visits. One successful online fashion retailer of late is Zalora, which promises customers that their shopping experience will be much better online than offline. What this means is that the days of trawling through endless malls and stores to find that perfect fashion item are long gone. Whether you are searching for apparel, footwear, accessories or beauty products, Zalora Singapore brings you a huge collection of brands from which to choose the very best and latest.

But there is still hope for brick-and-mortar retailers. Most retailers agree that the way forward is to be a ''multi-channel'' or ''omni-channel'' business. Those buzzwords encapsulate the need to let consumers glide seamlessly between the online and offline businesses. To build a profitable online business, retailers must integrate it seamlessly with their brick-and-mortar operations. Many keep them separate, increasing the risks that they fail to communicate or work together properly.

Martell Hardenberg

Managing Director

Lazada Singapore

WHILE online spending across South-east Asia will hit US$35 billion by 2020, it's not the end for brick-and-mortar retailers. As consumers continue to shop both offline and online, traditional retail stores need to adapt to survive.

Offline retailers need to offer convenient, effortless shopping online to complement the existing, in-store experience. Given the explosion of mobile use among tech-savvy consumers, retailers should implement a mobile-specific marketing strategy, with both website and mobile purchase options.

Retailers who wish to tap readily available infrastructure can use platforms such as Lazada Marketplace. These business-to-consumer platforms allow retailers to easily upload and sell their products through existing Web and mobile applications. Brands and smaller retailers can reach an available pool of millions of online consumers across local and regional markets. As a company that shapes e-commerce in Asia, Lazada is already helping over 5,000 retailers leverage our Marketplace platform. We are also working in partnership with major brands to launch new products exclusively online, such as the Xiaomi Redmi 1S which sold out in seven minutes in Indonesia.

Kanwal Nain Sahney

Managing Director

Specvision

THE well-worn narrative says that traditional brick-and-mortar business is suffering as more people go online to buy. It is, however, also true that many old school retailers are supplementing their retail front with online business initiatives. Legendary retailers such as Carrefour, Barnes & Noble and Borders facing challenging times are a stark reminder of the consequences of not responding to this trend in time. In Singapore, while traditional businesses are losing revenue, e-commerce revenues are set to exceed S$4.5 billion by 2015 and experts feel the potential is even bigger. According to a local study, more than 60 per cent of Singaporeans shop online while others still brave the crowds. With excellent ICT infrastructure, high smartphone penetration and high disposable income, Singapore is an attractive destination to establish an e-commerce presence and reach regional consumers despite its small population and market size. Spectra is proactively setting up measures to navigate through this exciting phase of business transformation. OfficeSG.com, our newly launched e-commerce platform for office-supply and technology products, is one such concrete step in that direction. Starting with providing all workplace needs of Singapore corporations, OfficeSG.com is leveraging our robust brick-and-mortar business legacy rather than being bogged down by it. By the end of 2015, we will be expanding our services in the regional markets followed by a worldwide rollout in phases.

Jack Yang

President

HTC South Asia

IN Asia, there has been massive growth in e-commerce, as many brands are realigning their business models to integrate online and social platforms - with some brands retailing entirely online. However, what we still see in the Asian market is that we still cannot abandon the brick-and-mortar shops - especially for products with higher price points - as consumers here still want to be able to touch, feel and try out the product in person before making the purchase decision.

Another key obstacle we have observed with e-commerce is the issue with payments, which takes time to mature in a new market - i.e. to gain the consumers' trust in the security of the technology.

At present, HTC's adoption of e-commerce is as an extension of our retail platforms, to reach out to consumers where we could not in the past. We are constantly studying all avenues to enhance the growth of our business - and we will be there, where the business makes sense.

Chris Mead

Regional Director

Hays in Singapore & Malaysia

THE spread of e-commerce is expected to lead to intensified price competition in the retail sector as consumers become better able to gather information about products and prices. As a result, brick-and-mortar retailers in Singapore will need to focus on developing employees' skills so that they can stay relevant in the rapidly changing market.

Even for a high street store, finding and acquiring new customers and maximising existing ones is still key to business growth. Retailers will need to embrace digital marketing and improve customer service if they wish to meet consumer demands. As digital marketing is changing the way marketers communicate with their target markets, upgrading employees skills in this area can help retailers gain valuable consumer insights and develop successful marketing strategies.

Staff capable of delivering on sales and customer service will always be in demand as these traditional retail skills remain vital in the industry. Meanwhile, in-store merchandise expertise will be needed as merchandisers innovate in order to attract, engage, inform and enhance the customer experience.

Christophe Duchatellier

CEO

Adecco Asia

IN this period of rapid consumerism, the future belongs to retailers who leverage the advantages of both online and offline retail. Adecco has chosen to expand its online strategy instead of opening new geographical locations in Singapore. Developing an online presence as one of the ways to build relationships with job seekers has enhanced the job-matching process.

Nevertheless physical offices are still necessary as a platform for meetings between candidates and consultants. Retail-wise, stores also remain an important place for shoppers who are always on the lookout for better quality and the latest novelty. For example, stores could be less sales driven but offer comfortable lounge-like features where brands can demonstrate and converse about their products or services - especially for kinaesthetic shoppers who like to ''touch''. They could also adopt the pop-up store concept where stores are ephemeral and open only during a product launch or the holiday season. Google opened their temporary store, Winter Wonderlab, in 2013 for holiday shoppers to check out their new products. This has also become trendy in Singapore.

Ultimately, stores will always remain important as they have ''emotional'' value. For Baby Boomers and Generation X, the physical experience matters. The combined effort of merging e-commerce and traditional retailers can only be achieved with an adapted retail workforce to meet the new demand. People hired on ''the floor'' would need to be well trained and passionate ''people persons''. Stores would have to develop special training and improve the personalised service currently missing from big-box retailers. Traditional stores have to adapt. So does the workforce.

Fiona Gordon

Group Chairman

Ogilvy & Mather Singapore

WHILE online shopping is rapidly growing and transforming the retail industry, it does not signify the imminent closure of shopping malls on Orchard Road. Both types of retailers enjoy distinct advantages. E-commerce shops have minimal overheads, diverse inventories and lower operating costs while brick-and-mortar stores compete through their immediacy and by allowing shoppers to see and feel the actual products.

Forward-looking retailers must create omni-channel shopping experiences that seamlessly integrate digital and physical offerings such as special events and friendly, knowledgeable staff in-store with customised, convenient online shopping experiences enabled by digital technologies and data.

Ogilvy & Mather spotted the e-commerce opportunity five years ago and quickly set up a global team of experts to capture it. In 2012, we launched Commerce@Ogilvy with a mission to help brands to design consumer-centric shopping experiences that would be available anytime, anywhere, across multiple physical and digital channels, so as to maximise sales.

Ben Elliott

Chief Executive Officer

Experian Asia Pacific

WHILE the exponential growth of digital shopping is presenting brick-and-mortar retailers with some real challenges, it is also important for merchants to recognise and capitalise on the opportunities that e-commerce avails. With consumers engaged in several ways today, retailers are finding more options to reach them through strategic multi-channel avenues for the right impact. E-commerce also empowers marketers with valuable information on their customers that isn't available in a traditional retail format - retailers who are able to harness the immense amount of data collected can look to a holistic strategy that can lead to increased profitability in both their online and physical stores.

By tapping the power of Big Data and advanced analytics to analyse channel-customer dynamics, retailers are able to deploy profitable strategies that makes sense of the great inflow of data while also enhancing the customer experience. They will also be able to develop a cross-channel marketing strategy to better understand their consumers at all touch points and ultimately increase their overall profitability online and offline.

Loh Hoon Sun

Managing Director

Phillip Securities Pte Ltd

E-COMMERCE will adversely affect businesses which are not able to adapt to the change by moving into the online arena, although it will not totally replace brick-and-mortar stores, unlike supermarkets which have replaced grocery shops. However, e-commerce also creates new business opportunities for others, such as transport, delivery, IT and other supporting services.

We at Phillip Securities have done our part, being the first brokerage to introduce online stock trading, POEMS, in Singapore back in 1996. Our online trading platforms have since been extended to cover most of the products and services, such as futures, CFDs, unit trusts, research and others, offered by member companies of PhillipCapital. The wave of technological advancements is too strong for anyone to resist. No one can stand in the way of progress. Businesses can adopt e-commerce to sell their products by either establishing their own online platforms or using external platforms such as Alibaba.

Lim Soon Hock

Managing Director

PLAN-B ICAG Pte Ltd

MY children and children-in-law have been purchasing books, apparels, shoes and even an immersion circulator for precision cooking from the Internet, since the advent of Amazon.com. I have also followed suit in purchasing books, polos and T-shirts, watches and paintings online, now more frequently than before. The experience that I have is just as pleasant and satisfying, if not more, as that from shopping in brick-and-mortar stores. For one, I can shop online anytime and anywhere, at my convenience. Apart from more choices, some of which are not available locally in our stores here, I have access to critiques and comments by others to help me make an informed purchase decision, especially on expensive items such as watches and paintings. Payments are also made easy through many of the established payment gateways. What I also like is easy and guaranteed refund for goods that are not received in good condition, without any questions asked.

Convenience, more choices and often value for money, are compelling reasons that are driving the exponential growth and preference for online shopping over brick-and-mortar retailers. The proliferation of mobile apps is also fuelling this new phenomenon. For example, I can now easily book a cab or hire a delivery truck, order groceries online that would be delivered on the same day, and manage a healthy lifestyle through an app that tracks the route I take, the distance I cover, and the calories I burn.

Online shopping allows us to better manage our lives in our fast-paced world. Online shopping will revolutionise the way we shop. It will have a major impact on how we live, work and play. Gen Y is leading this revolution. E-commerce and many mobile apps have also made it easy for everyone - including my generation and those before me - to embrace online shopping, be it for products or services. Companies that do not embrace e-commerce will stand to lose market share, or worse, face the grim prospect of going out of business. Companies do not have a choice in this new Internet-savvy and apps-pervasive world. Companies have to be e-relevant or risk becoming irrelevant.

Masatada Kobayashi

Chief Executive Officer

Rakuten Asia

THERE have been reports of brick-and-mortar retailers facing challenges resulting from rising labour costs, the lure of cheaper regional and online shopping, and slowing tourist arrivals. Unlike the other challenges, e-commerce also offers retailers the opportunity to reach new audiences and build closer relationships with their customers. With an online presence to complement a brick-and-mortar store, merchants may find it easier to become not just sellers but curators of products and build a loyal following of customers. By connecting with consumers over shared interests, they'll be able to encourage shoppers to enjoy the experience of discovery and connection that is central to the Rakuten marketplace model. We are focused on nurturing relationships between merchants and consumers, and it flows from Rakuten's philosophy of empowering merchants and consumers. We do so by equipping them with the tools, opportunities and knowledge they need to succeed at e-commerce.

George Chang

VP, South-east Asia & Hong Kong

Fortinet

THROUGHOUT Asia, brick-and-mortar shops are rapidly losing business to online retailers. You can say that technology has given online merchants the edge, but there exists technology that helps brick-and-mortar retailers keep their customers too. Modern location tracking and presence analytics can give retailers deep insights into the shoppers that visit their stores. By monitoring the location of shoppers' mobile phones with the in-store Wi-Fi network, for example, retailers can figure out how long shoppers stayed in the store, which section they lingered at, and how frequently they return. By tracking the flow patterns of shoppers through the store, stores can also optimise their merchandising, layout, staffing levels and opening hours. There's even technology to counter shoppers who compare prices of items in your store with those listed by online merchants. If these shoppers are logged on to your Wi-Fi network, you can see the types of products they are searching for, and push them targeted offers on those products. It's true when they say technology has no limits. What's needed is the savvy to choose what's right for your business.

Teo Eng Cheong

CEO

International Enterprise (IE) Singapore

THE rising middle income population in Asia represents a rapidly expanding market for companies targeting the consumer market. At the same time, online and mobile transactions have surged and will increasingly be an essential part of the retailer's business model. This opens up enormous possibilities for retailers who are digital-ready and prepared to explore new disruptive business models in new markets. The brick-and-mortar retailers will need a multi-channel strategy that provides a seamless online-to-offline experience to capture this expanding market in Asia. IE Singapore will provide even more support to companies that aim to develop their capabilities in this area.

Adam Judd

Vice-President for Asia Pacific

Brocade

MANY brick-and-mortar retailers have gone online to cater to fast-changing consumer needs today. As retailers become more reliant on the Internet, phone services and social media to transform their business and create winning customer experiences, networks are becoming larger and increasingly complex as new technologies emerge. Yesterday's relatively simple network architectures are no longer capable of handling colossal data and bandwidth-intensive applications flowing through the network today. Brocade recognises the need for simplified network architectures and is helping businesses deploy, manage and scale their networks easily with transformative innovations such as software-defined networking and Ethernet fabric to enable direct programmatic control of the network, while simplifying overall network management and protecting existing infrastructure investment. The flexibility to control the network programmatically will transform the network into a platform for innovation through new applications and services.

Dennis Rose

Senior Vice-President, Asia Pacific and Japan

Brightcove

BRIGHTCOVE sees e-commerce gaining strength across Singapore and Asia, specifically in the realm of travel, fashion, lifestyle, electronics and entertainment. E-commerce portals are often the first stop for savvy consumers to do price, product and services research before purchasing online or at their retail store.

Visiting a brick-and-mortar store still has relevance as it delivers a more emotive and social experience. However, shopping online for commoditised goods and services (e.g. airline tickets, camera batteries and even groceries) is more appealing to consumers who want to skip traffic, parking and crowds altogether.

Brightcove helps leading brands with advanced e-commerce offerings. Retailers including Marks & Spencer, Japan Airlines and Hugo Boss realise that great merchandise, excellent online customer service and a compelling online shopping experience help capture new customers who may still enjoy the in-store experience but prefer to re-order known items or impulse shop through a mobile or online application.

Eva Au

Managing Director

IDC Asia/Pacific

ACCORDING to IDC research, Alibaba's IPO and international expansion will be net-positive for Singapore's brick-and-mortar retailers. There are two fundamental ways this could play out.

The first way is to open up new channels for Singaporean businesses to export to China. Alibaba's recent strategic investment in Singapore Post of nearly US$250 million for a 10.35 per cent stake will increase the ability of Chinese consumers to buy directly from Singaporean businesses due to enhanced logistics capabilities and reduced delays at customs, etc.

The second way is to extend the functionality of the Alipay mobile wallet to Singaporean businesses to tap the trend of increasing numbers of mainland Chinese tourists visiting Singapore. Alipay wallets enabled on Chinese tourists' smartphones will help Singapore retailers see increased transactions. For example, the recent Alipay partnership with Resorts World Sentosa will enable Chinese tourists to pay for hotel stays, tour packages and tickets using their Alipay wallets.

Ng Tian Beng

Vice-President and Managing Director, South Asia

Dell South Asia

With the proliferation and ubiquity of the Internet and evolving consumer behaviour, online businesses are on an upward trend across the globe. Many consumers are taking to online shopping across a wide spectrum of products, including electronic devices, clothes and even groceries - in light of time-saving. Online shopping also breaks down geographical boundaries and allows consumers access to a larger variety of products. On the flip side, physical retailers still play a big part in many businesses as many consumers want to touch and feel the products before making their purchases.

Dell was at the forefront of e-commerce, starting our online business in 1996 and, within six months, was generating US$1 million in sales per day through the site. At the same time, we continue to maintain and, at times, expand our retail presence in certain markets in line with consumers' buying behaviour. In Singapore, we run a successful online business and have also opened stores in several locations and expanded our reseller network to cater to the needs of our customers. When developing their retail model, businesses need to evaluate the buying behaviour of consumers in the market they are entering to decide on their approach, be it online or physical stores.

Nando Cesarone

President

UPS Asia

E-COMMERCE has revolutionised retail by breaking traditional business models and policies, making it challenging for long-time players and rewarding the innovative up-and-comers. As the e-commerce ecosystem diversifies and matures, retailers must go beyond current strategies, which depend significantly on products and prices, where competition already is fierce.

Responding to retail trends and in-depth customer insights gained from The UPS Pulse of the Online Shopper 2013 survey, UPS has made strategic investments into our network capabilities and product offerings to empower our retail customers to grow and gain market share. The solutions that we have developed give end-consumers visibility, flexibility and control over delivery and return of their packages, which heavily influence customer loyalty.

By partnering UPS, retailers can create an attractive package of value propositions - superior customer service; fast, reliable and flexible delivery; and a unique shopping experience - to provide a seamless omni-channel brand experience and remain competitive.

Ronald Lee

Managing Director

PrimeStaff Management Services Pte Ltd

THE Internet, and now marketing via social media, has certainly changed the way business is done across the world. With online shopping growing in prevalence, it is not enough for brick-and-mortar retailers to simply maintain a corporate online presence. They need to find ways to attract customers' attention in the crowded virtual marketplace and clinch sales online in order to compete with e-commerce sites that do not have physical stores but may have very aggressive online marketing campaigns. To this end, many brick-and-mortar retail chains have already launched e-stores in parallel to their retail presence to capture their share of the online pie. I believe this is the way to go in our current technology-led economy, failing which, brick-and-mortar retailers will lose their competitiveness over time.

As PrimeStaff is in the business of recruitment and human resource consulting, e-commerce does not apply to us as our business does not deal with goods but involves human capital and the development of people. The very personalised, relationship-based nature of our business does not allow for our services to be packaged such that they can be sold and shipped off to online customers. That said, we do harness to the best of our ability the necessary technologies and online tools to heighten the awareness of our services in the online sphere, be it via our regularly updated website or social media platforms.

Max Loh

Managing Partner, Asean and Singapore

Ernst & Young LLP

TECHNOLOGY has empowered consumers to become digital hypertaskers who thrive on the seamless use of online and in-store channels for both information and making purchases. Therefore, businesses, including brick-and mortar retailers, must embrace a multi-channel approach: digital can enhance or even save traditional channels, often playing a vital role in a purchasing journey that may be completed in-store. When consumers take a broad, cross-channel view, businesses that want to deliver services that stick in the mind will require organisation-wide solutions.

At EY, we are helping businesses respond to the opportunities and risks by focusing on four key areas: innovation, talent, customer experience and protection. Businesses must match consumers' nimbleness with agility of their own through continued innovation that is underpinned by digitally aware people with the right skills, and superior insights into consumer behaviours via the use of advanced analytics. They should also prioritise cyber-security needs to address rising consumer and regulatory concerns on data privacy and protection, which is fundamental to sustaining consumer trust and confidence.

Eric Hoh

Vice-President

Symantec, Asia South

MANY brick-and-mortar retailers are expanding their businesses online, but may not have full understanding of the potential security risks. Cybercriminals continue to evolve and modify their strategies to catch their targets off-guard. Most online stores publish their contact details on their Web page, making them easy targets for the attackers to launch information-stealing malware, typically used for identity theft and online fraud, to steal company and customers' data. While the majority of the small and medium businesses are concerned with reputation and data loss or a data breach, it should not stop them from venturing online. Growing a business and protecting customers go hand in hand, and understanding the risks involved allows retailers to progress securely. Proper online security management and processes empower retailers to make the most of the shift towards e-commerce and to keep cybercriminals at bay.

Michael Bradley

Managing Director, Asia Pacific

CyberSource Singapore Pte Ltd

ACCORDING to market research firm eMarketer, Asia-Pacific is expected to surpass North America to become the largest regional e-commerce market this year, reaching more than US$520 billion. This may seem daunting for brick-and-mortar retailers as they worry about the complexity and cost of delving into the e-commerce space. However, brick-and-mortar retailers can turn it into an opportunity and ride the wave by ensuring they have the right payment foundation.

As e-commerce grows beyond geographical boundaries, brick-and-mortar retailers recognise that a diverse and global range of online payment methods will give their businesses a competitive advantage. When retailers are looking for a simple connection to cater to a variety of payment acceptance methods across sales channels such as mobile, Web, point-of-sale and call centre, CyberSource provides solutions and expertise to effectively enable their payment management options. Furthermore, CyberSource Payment Management Platform helps to optimise business results by actively managing other aspects of payment operations - from order screening to fraud management and enterprise payment security. This enables businesses to stay relevant in the e-commerce world by balancing consumers' needs for both convenience and security, while enhancing their payment experience.

Wolfgang Baier

Group CEO

Singapore Post

ANY brick-and-mortar business wanting to remain sustainable has to seriously consider an online presence. SingPost is already offering its products and services online, where customers are migrating to.

With the Internet, businesses can now expand beyond local shores to reach new markets. To some, taking the business online presents challenges such as Web solutions, payment, e-fulfilment and last-mile delivery. SingPost's e-commerce unit was set up two years ago precisely to address such business needs. Our one-stop monobrand solution enables businesses to get into e-commerce at low cost and scale up fast in the region, leveraging our logistics and postal networks. Smaller businesses can also take advantage of our marketplace platform Omigo to sell online.

As a national postal service provider, SingPost has been transforming to meet the e-commerce trend. With our S$100 million investment into infrastructure and service, we will have more digitally integrated post offices with POPStations, and digital solutions for parcel delivery and collection.

Janet Ang

Managing Director

IBM Singapore

THROUGH IBM's work with clients in Singapore and across the region, we see that rapidly changing customer expectations are transforming the way retailers engage with their customers. For example, with the proliferation of Web-enabled mobile devices, we found that customers are as likely to shop online as in department stores. So it is important that retailers augment their physical store presence and explore other channels beyond e-commerce such as the click-and-mortar model, which provides the richness of an omni-channel experience that is not offered by a pure e-commerce player.

An effective omni-channel experience helps to provide a seamless shopping experience across all channels, allowing customers to interact however, whenever and from wherever they choose. At the end of the day, shoppers are looking for convenience and that personal touch, which will influence their level of brand advocacy.

As we continue to see a rising number of brick-and-mortar retailers across the region catching on to the e-commerce business model, it is likely that the omni-channel experience will be the new buzzword shaping the way retailers do business and the way customers shop.

Philip Yuen

Chief Executive Officer

Deloitte Singapore

THE brick-and-mortar store is not dead but, in order to remain competitive, retailers should not view e-commerce channels as a separate or distinct business that seems exclusive to online stores. Traditional retailers should also adopt a digital strategy that complements their brick-and-mortar store. Recent Deloitte research shows that digital technologies already influence 36 per cent of in-store retail sales, and will likely rise to 50 per cent by the end of 2014. Examples of digital-technology influence include looking up independent product evaluations and reviewing feedback from social networking websites.

A sound digital strategy includes one that creates a distinct experience that engages the customer consistently, in a moment-appropriate way. For example, think about the possibility of engaging the customer in-store, where instead of going to a sales assistant, the customer is able to find out information such as price and size availability through digital devices. By optimising on-device commerce, retailers can create an interesting shopping experience both in-store and out.

Yeoh Oon Jin

Executive Chairman

PwC Singapore

EXPECTATIONS of consumers are constantly evolving and, in such a digitally connected world, they are increasingly taking to e-commerce. It is clear that retailers need to assess the impact of these changes on their business and in many cases will need to fully embrace this shift. The question for most brick-and-mortar retailers is ''at what cost?'' Consumers increasingly seek a consistent online shopping experience, ease of payment and ability to use multiple devices, all while ensuring that their data and privacy is adequately protected. At PwC, we have been monitoring these developments closely through our research and through working with our clients. To develop a successful online business model that complements the existing physical store presence, it is important to invest in the right technology, talent and infrastructure. Our findings from our recently released ''Achieving Total Retail'' survey confirms that most retailers are still not investing sufficiently in the areas required to support this growth in e-commerce.

Aaron Hung

Director of Partnerships, APAC

TripAdvisor Singapore Pte Ltd

ONLINE is clearly the way to go in the travel industry. Airlines, travel agencies, hotels, restaurants and attractions have embraced the Internet to grow their presence through online marketing, booking capabilities and even user-generated reviews. As the world's largest travel website, TripAdvisor has witnessed more users coming to our sites each month to plan and book their trips. Our monthly unique users grew by 25 per cent to 280 million in Q2 2014, and more than 21 per cent of them are in Asia Pacific. In order to address the demand for online travel, TripAdvisor continues to make product innovations and acquisitions to delight more users throughout the whole travel planning, booking and trip-taking cycle. Millions of travellers already use our hotel price comparison search to choose top-rated hotels from multiple online travel agencies and hotels. With the recent acquisition of lafourchette - an online restaurant reservation provider - and Viator, a destination activities provider, TripAdvisor now also helps travellers research and book restaurants and attractions at their destinations during their trips.

Deborah Heng

Group Head & General Manager

Singapore, MasterCard

ONLINE shopping is on the rise in Singapore. According to the 2013 MasterCard Online Shopping Behaviour Study - 71.9 per cent of respondents go online to shop, 14.7 per cent more than in the previous year. Furthermore, nine in 10 respondents made at least one purchase online in the past three months. To that end, MasterCard recently introduced MasterPass - a proprietary digital payments platform that simplifies the online shopping experience, allowing shoppers to transact seamlessly, knowing that their personal information is kept safe.

To remain relevant, we are seeing retailers increasingly integrating online and social media channels to engage consumers. Whether or not they actually accept online purchases, retailers can use digital channels to entice shoppers to stores by creating compelling in-store experiences.

Lawrence Chan

Vice-President of Merchant Services, APAC

and General Manager, SEA/India

PayPal

IN this age of technology, both consumer and business decisions are increasingly driven by digital and mobile innovation. With connected commerce, it's about ensuring fewer barriers, equal access and a seamless customer experience. PayPal continuously strives to revolutionise how people create, share, buy, sell and trade online. Our payment flow is mobilised to innovate and ensure that local businesses (brick-and-mortar and online alike) take advantage of e-commerce and future trends, across multiple channels. Our consumer-driven innovations also enable our merchants to take their businesses to the next level and compete on the global marketplace.

Achal Agarwal

President - Asia Pacific

Kimberly-Clark

WE are living and marketing in a digital world today and e-commerce represents a tremendous opportunity for growth for our brands and business. In some categories where Kimberly Clark plays, online represents 30-50 per cent of total sales in certain markets. There is no doubt that e-commerce is here to stay and thrive as a channel as shopper behaviour has changed with the evolution of digital technologies.

The lines between offline and online have blurred today and we recognise the need for our brands to be present where our consumers are. Therefore, we should not be thinking of online as something a shopper spends part of his or her time with before going to the ''real'' world. Bricks and clicks hence become complementary and can no longer exist in a silo.

We believe e-commerce today is no longer just about the transaction. It extends to the entire product buying lifecycle - from the time a consumer researches a product to making the purchase and then advocating it, which could be a mix of online and offline at multiple screens and physical touchpoints. We are working towards an omni-channel approach to grow e-commerce that synergises both mediums to provide that seamless and integrated brand experience to shoppers.

A few key considerations for companies looking to grow their business through e-commerce would be advertising and promotion spent on digital versus traditional; managing different margin structures and consumer pricing; re-allocating resources from offline to online and finding the best way to internally organise e-tailer management.

Low Lee Yong

CEO and Founder

MHC Asia Group of companies

CONVENIENCE and immediacy - e-commerce opens up a new market to time-poor consumers and the perpetually online new generation, allowing the luxury of shopping 24/7. Not all businesses can transit effectively to and benefit from e-commerce, though. For many existing brick-and-mortar retailers, an online presence does not mean a full-fledged e-commerce service. Nonetheless, this contributes to brand equity, and it is wise for businesses to devote some resources in the virtual space. More importantly, businesses should always challenge themselves to innovate or risk facing extinction. Sometimes that means to cannibalise their own existing businesses in order to grow them further. At MHC, we launched the ''Channel Online Store'' to extend our reach to the end-consumer, complementing our existing corporate healthcare business. A wide selection of health and wellness products ranging from mother-and-baby care essentials, mobility aids, fitness monitors to nutritional supplements are available for delivery right to one's doorstep. So consumers no longer need visit a shop to buy bulky items like baby bottle sterilisers, wheelchairs or electric beds, nor worry about how to transport them home. They can shop online with confidence knowing these items have been carefully ranged by MHC - a dependable healthcare provider that innovates simplified healthcare solutions.

Wong Heng Chew

President

Fujitsu Singapore

ONLINE shopping has been driving change in shopping behaviour, not just because prices are cheaper, but also because it is allowing customers to rediscover an experience that is more intimate, personalised and where they are in better control. While the physical store has become just one of many channels to the customer, our research shows that the store may continue to remain as the ''hub'' of activity. This is because it allows customers to take a closer look of the product, even if they choose to make the final purchase on another channel.

We believe that a retailer should be more than just a store with merchandise and a cash register, especially with the growth of e-commerce. To help retailers address this omni-channel environment, we introduced the Fujitsu Retail Solution Market Place, a new Point of Service application, so transactions can start, continue and stop seamlessly in different locations across different channels. With data integrated on a single platform, retailers are able to work more efficiently and provide better customer service. In a world where personal experience is paramount, the ability to provide personalised service will also encourage future sales.

Malcolm Rowe

Regional Vice-President, South Asia

Akamai Technologies

ONCE perceived as a threat by brick-and-mortar retailers, we are seeing more retailers complementing their core business with e-commerce to create a fully integrated shopping experience. In the new shopping world, consumers browse and purchase across web, mobile and social channels as well as in brick-and-mortar stores. To fully harness this opportunity, retailers need to provide consistent, secure and quality experience both in-store and online to meet consumers' demand for an omni-channel experience.

Having worked with some of the biggest e-commerce sites globally, Akamai has been helping retailers deliver fast, reliable and secure online shopping experiences. The rapid adoption of smart devices in Asia has also led to more people using their mobile phones to shop online, which is set to bring new challenges. The priority for retailers will lie in their ability to not only deliver an engaging and consistent shopping experience across multiple devices but to do so securely, anytime, anywhere and at scale to meet seasonal demand.

Bernard Geoghegan

Managing Director, EMEA And Asia Pacific

Digital Realty

WITH 13 mall projects in the pipeline from now until 2017, retail stores in Singapore are certainly here to stay. However, incredibly high connectivity rates provide an excellent opportunity for e-commerce to flourish as well. With smartphone penetration at 87 per cent, brick-and-mortar retailers have to reinvent their strategies to include online channels. Brands such as Zara and H&M have successfully used digital channels to create a better shopping experience for its customers.

As brick-and-mortar stores begin to redefine the shopping experience, terabytes of data will need to be stored in data centres. We ensure that our retail customers are equipped with a secure and reliable data centre facility that provides an ''always-on'' infrastructure - minimising downtime and ultimately improving customers' overall shopping experience.

Hugues Delcourt

Country Executive, ABN Amro Bank NV Singapore and CEO of ABN Amro Private Banking Asia & Middle East

BRICK-AND-MORTAR businesses need to keep up, or else risk falling far behind their competitors who have strategies in place to keep up with today's digital savvy consumers and ever changing technological advancements. The question is no longer whether to go digital but rather, about the ability and pace at which a business can adapt to the rising e-commerce industry. This will determine whether they continue to grow and remain competitive, or otherwise slowly but surely become obsolete.

Recognising the importance of meeting our clients' needs and complementing their experiences with e-commerce in other aspects of their daily life, ABN Amro Private Banking has already embarked on our Digital Ambition Programme. Through this initiative, we aim to provide clients seamless access to managing their wealth and interactions with the bank through a blend of omni-channel and personal services. This programme leverages on our experience in the Netherlands where mobile usage has surpassed that of Internet banking in less than two years. Leveraging on our head office experience where we have successfully introduced award-winning online banking while improving customer engagement, ABN Amro Private Banking International's mobile and desktop websites have again been recognised this year as the highest ranked in the industry.

This demonstrates that modifying existing business models to incorporate e-commerce can be challenging. However, such challenges also bring opportunities to businesses who embrace it.

Pauline Swarbrick

Head of Sales for South-east Asia

RS Components

THE Internet and growing acceptance of e-commerce have created many opportunities such as access to a global customer pool, but successful transition from bricks and mortar to clicks and mortar is only possible with a firm fulfilment infrastructure.

RS Components' exponential growth in recent years is inextricably linked to our e-commerce strategy, as 56 per cent of our global revenues is now generated online. As a distributor for engineers, we have evolved from the early retail approach to the current multi-channel purchasing solution with e-commerce at the heart of our business. E-commerce has been a strategic priority for us since 1996 and we were one of the first to introduce B2B transactional websites.

The complete lifecycle is supported through our e-commerce channel, from viewing 3D product models to the ability to purchase 24/7 from PCs, smartphones and tablets. This strategy has also enabled us to increase new product introductions from 5,000 per year to 5,000 per month.

It is equally important for businesses to interact with a ''human touch''. Hence, we also offer customer service support and ''Live Chat'' to further facilitate interactions and improve the customers' experience.

James Tay

CEO

Logicalis Asia

THE upcoming Alibaba IPO provides encouragement on how traditional brick-and-mortar companies can thrive if they are able to exploit disruption and innovation and move their business online.

This is a prime example of Business and Technology working as one. This is also a motto Logicalis adopted as our mission.

When Alibaba was founded in 1999, online retailing in China was in its infancy but the company adapted to change and remade old industries, like retailing and finance, into new ones. It was able to tap the power of the Web and build an IT infrastructure that enabled the business to scale with speed and efficiency. Alibaba was also able to find a quick and cost-effective trading platform to reach and build relationships with suppliers and customers in ways the competition was unable to do so.

Alibaba is an inspiring example of the digital revolution taking place worldwide. As an IT service provider, Logicalis shares a similar passion to always be at the forefront of technology change. We believe in disruptive innovation and see it as a positive step towards the technological transformation of businesses into the market leaders of tomorrow.

Terry O'Connor

Group CEO of Courts Asia Limited and

Country CEO of Courts Singapore

TECHNOLOGY has mobilised change in the retail landscape, disrupting the environment with the proliferation of e-commerce and increasingly savvy consumers who are agile in their shopping journey.

Traditional brick-and-mortar retailers must adapt and innovate to this new dynamic or risk being obsolete. Being channel-agnostic is no longer effective, and the digital revolution cannot be ignored. In this regard, retailers with physical stores who embrace online are able to distinctly differentiate themselves from a pure-play online retailer by engaging customers through multiple touchpoints.

Courts has grown our online store and connected it to our 14 physical stores islandwide through various channels such as digital self-help kiosks, tablets, Click & Collect counters, free Wi-Fi in-store and a mobile app. Depending on the customer's preference, these channels can work independently or together at any part of the shopper journey, from product research and price comparisons, to fulfilment and payment.

Within these two years, Courts has grown to become the top multi-channel retailer in Singapore, according to a recent UBS report, and our online store records strong growth. We continuously invest in infrastructure that supports our multi-channel approach.

In the long run, e-commerce has opened the door to endless possibilities, where physical barriers are non-existent and a retailer can expand beyond its traditional categories and reach a wider local and global audience.

Kelly Kuhn

President, Asia Pacific

Carlson Wagonlit Travel

TRADITIONALLY, in business travel the end-to-end experience of planning and booking activities have been conducted through two primary channels - travel agents and online booking tools - but online shopping has had a significant influence on all our booking platforms. Customers' requirements and tastes have changed. This, in turn, has seen us concentrate much more on creating a customer-centric online booking experience. Customers want a seamless, user-friendly and personalised business travel booking experience, just as they would expect from an online retailer. One of the biggest changes in online booking for business travel is the emergence of mobile - which means providing customers with information on the go, wherever they are, whenever they need it, and being able to make bookings. CWT's mobile strategy focuses on the provision of mobile services for travellers and travel buyers alike, with mobile-based solutions that meet the unique needs of each. This principle guides our vision for future developments linked to mobile.

Leong Yee May

Senior Vice-President

Orange Business Services Asia Pacific

ACCORDING to a recent report, Asia-Pacific is set to become the largest e-commerce market, with sales expected to reach US$525.2 billion in 2014. In particular, the growth potential for the mobile shopping segment in the region is significant, with both Singapore and Hong Kong leading at 87 per cent smartphone market penetration. As Singapore grapples with rising rents and a manpower crunch, e-commerce is set to grow at an even greater pace, turning up the heat on brick-and-mortar retailers.

Singapore has favourable conditions and the necessary infrastructure to support the growth of e-commerce, and it is timely for pure brick-and-mortar retailers to re-evaluate the feasibility of incorporating e-commerce into their existing business models. However, as online shoppers do not have the immediate attention of sales representatives, contact centres play a crucial role in customer satisfaction and consequently, an e-tailer's success.

We are helping retailers set up contact centre platforms that offer integrated multi-channel customer service solutions. For example, our contact centre solution for 360buy, leading Chinese online B2C retailer, is supported by the country's largest B2C e-commerce Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) call centre. In addition to traditional voice, the centre also uses multimedia channels and text-to-speech to sustain business expansion. Retailers can take advantage of the flexibility of cloud-based contact centres to ramp up operations during peak retail periods during festive seasons.

Beyond providing customer support, integrated contact centre technology also helps retailers to gather data on buying patterns and carry out predictive analytics. They can use the extrapolated data to boost sales by improving buying suggestions to existing customers, and allocating resources to reach out to new markets. On the whole, a positive customer experience created by reliable customer support builds customer loyalty and reinforces the online consumption behaviour necessary to grow the industry.

David Leong

Managing Director

PeopleWorldwide Consulting Pte Ltd

AS Paypal starts to accept bitcoins as a mainstream currency, it is becoming increasing clear that the lines between virtual and real world currencies are blurring fast. When three billionaires from China's property and Internet industries form an online shopping venture to challenge Alibaba, the partnership reflects optimism that there is room for competition in the world's fastest growing e-commerce market, a space dominated by Alibaba. Dalian Wanda Group, China's biggest commercial land developer, is joining with Tencent Holdings Ltd and Baidu Inc to form the five billion yuan (S$1.03 billion) venture. They are combining the strength of Wanda's bricks and mortar with the online prowess and outreach of Baidu and Tencent. These two developments point to one eventuality and only one thing - that brick-and-mortar retailers must embrace online shopping, and within online shopping, there must be brick-and-mortar presence.

As long as there is traffic - human traffic or eyeball traffic - so long as they draw attention, whet consumer appetites and motivate spending using real currency or bitcoins, the wheels of retail will roll and e-commerce and real world commerce will in effect be one and the same thing.

E-commerce still needs people to run, and as far as the recruitment business is concerned, the shift is towards higher demand for IT programmers and Web designers instead of sales assistants and visual merchandisers. More and more talent will be needed in the creation of online infrastructures on the Web and mobile devices. Human capital is still an important part in any commerce - e-commerce or not. For recruiters, we are just fishing for different talents in the different worlds. If Singapore can fashion itself as a programmers' haven attracting Asian IT programming talents to its shore, it can create a world unto itself and be a centre of creativity, innovation and productivity.

Annie Yap

Managing Director

AYP Associates Pte Ltd

WHILE there is a negative impact on brick-and-mortar retailers, the growth of online e-commerce actually brings about very exciting times for the entire retail industry. The online-to-offline (O2O) business model has become more common, with the latest example being the partnership involving Wanda, Tencent and Baidu. An integration of both the online and offline channels into a single omni-channel can prevent the imbalance of the success of only one channel. An omnichannel avenue can provide customers with a more personalised shopping experience - for instance, purchasing a product online and picking it up at a brick-and-mortar store where the salesperson will provide value-added services, as the customer's order is known in advance. We recognise that e-commerce is definitely the avenue for further growth and expansion. As a service provider, our priority in e-commerce is to improve the experience of our clients and candidates.

Dora Hoan

Co-Chairman/Group CEO

Best World International Ltd

THE impact of e-commerce can vary among retailers. For instance, places with highly accessible shopping venues are likely to have less vibrant e-commerce activities since their customers have a variety of merchandise within reach. Nevertheless, more brick-and-mortar retailers are likely to have a Web presence, if not an online shopping platform. This is the case for my company too. While the business focus is direct selling that relies heavily on human interaction, we still set up an online shopping platform. As our customers are busy people, we need to make shopping convenient for them. Besides that, our direct sellers can also benefit from the platform; it helps them close the deals, especially when they do not have enough products on hand. Online shopping can be a good tool for businesses, if they can and are willing to adapt.

Arsh Chaudhry

Executive Managing Director

Cushman & Wakefield

ONLINE retailing has been growing at an average of over 18 per cent a year globally over the past three years compared with sales through other channels at just 1.3 per cent per annum. But an often missed fact is that e-commerce still represents only 4 per cent of total retail sales.

As our world gets more wired, online shopping will undoubtedly gather momentum and have a significant impact on how retailers do business. There will be bigger need for warehousing space closer to the customer base and better supply chain logistics to cater to the demand for quick deliveries.

This ''online'' boom, however, does not mean the end of brick-and-mortar retail. The human desire to touch and try a product before buying will continue to drive the need of having an ''offline'' physical presence. It will, however, bring about a marked shift in shop formats and the category of products will dictate the choices retailers make. For example, commoditised products will have a bigger online presence with a need for large warehouses whereas the more experiential and luxury segment will continue to thrive in the physical space. From a real-estate perspective, this will mean that some retailers will opt for fewer, larger stores, while others will seek multiple smaller stores.

Retailers that are able to strike the right balance between their online and physical retail presence will have a significant competitive advantage - the online world providing the convenience and intelligence to support personalisation and customer service while the bricks and mortar will providing the accessibility, brand profile and the ability to deliver a real experience - a factor which can't easily be replicated online.

Toby Koh

Group Managing Director

Ademco Security Group

ONLINE shopping is undoubtedly here to stay. Convenience and getting the best prices, coupled with flexible return policies, have led to an online growth spurt in almost every country. However, this applies solely to consumer products that represent low risks to the online buyer, particularly where the price is relatively low and the product and manufacturer are well established. Retailers battling high rentals are hard-pressed to create a real and unique experience for the in-store customer visit. Open merchandising is still the optimal method to rally impulse buys which online retailing typically don't achieve. In Ademco's arena, our clients are looking for a security solution to meet their risks assessment. There is no one-size-fits-all solution. The human talent to survey, discuss and implement is a vital component of our sales cycle. There have been other companies in our trade who have tried an online sales strategy for a template solution. Results have been mixed, going by the data we gathered. Corporates are wise to keep a close watch on this space especially in this fast changing buyers' behaviour.

Robin C Lee

Group COO

Bok Seng Group

THE rise of non-brick-and-mortar shopping has been a gradual process that started many decades ago, when consumers first started ordering products and services promoted on TV shopping channels and shows via phone. With the advent of the Internet, these channels got replaced by online shopping. While both these modes of shopping started off sluggishly because of long-entrenched beliefs about shopping and how it should be done, the concept of retailers combining both online and bricks and mortar eventually became the norm. Now, more and more people are exclusively online shoppers and the need to see and touch the product first before acquiring it is no longer necessary as shoppers become more comfortable with this channel, with payment security and delivery guarantee. As technology evolves, more distractions and modes of entertainment will emerge and make physical shopping no longer a top leisurely pursuit. Furthermore, with ever-rising costs of property rental and headcount associated with brick-and-mortar retailing, retail shopping doesn't have much going for it. All this adds up to a retail environment that's tough on operating margins as well as challenging in terms of staffing and service standards. Ultimately, this will be the big push that will prompt more and more people to shop online as a more convenient and cheaper alternative. Already, we are seeing the transition from physical stores to e-stores. Unless the retail industry continues to innovate, be more price-competitive and create more compelling reasons to buy from a store, the rise of e-commerce is inevitable.

Lye Chan Loy

Managing Director

NetNames Pte Ltd

ONLINE channels today offer businesses an unprecedented opportunity to grow revenues and optimise business models. However, they also present a range of serious and continuously evolving threats that cost companies worldwide billions of dollars in revenue every year. Protecting a brand's hard-earned reputation, revenue and intellectual property online is now an essential part of company strategy. Sales of counterfeit goods account for up to 7 per cent of total world trade - US$600 billion annually. One in six products sold online is identified as counterfeit. Some 96 per cent of companies concede that guarding their online assets is now essential for the success of their brand, but only 40 per cent have a strategy in place. NetNames helps companies to safeguard their brand's reputation online by monitoring and removing any infringing content and unauthorised affiliations. We also help to ensure that your customers are not being diverted to fraudulent sites via mobile apps or social media.