Consumer behaviour can shift in the blink of an eye, and preferences often differ depending on the retail segment. However, retailers agree on one thing: Customers expect more — more personalisation, more convenience, and more memorable shopping experiences.
During a fireside chat ahead of the recently concluded NRF APAC 2025 conference, Dione Song, Chief Executive Officer of women’s fashion brand Love, Bonito; and Vipul Chawla, Group CEO of supermarket chain FairPrice Group, discussed new and recurring challenges in the retail space, as well as innovations designed to enhance the overall customer journey.
Offline vs online
People choose to shop online or in-store based on factors such as location, pricing, and overall experience. According to Chawla, when customers are buying products like liquid detergent, they often turn to online channels because they already know what to expect when the item arrives at their doorstep.
“Typically, we go to a store for a certain experience, or to buy something fresh,” he said.
For clothing, online sales surged during the pandemic due to safety concerns, leaving behind retailers that had not yet embraced digital platforms.
“In hindsight, COVID was a strong catalyst for change, because back in the day, a lot of fashion retailers were very brick-and-mortar and very offline. It was a wake-up call. ‘Hello, everyone — please diversify. Please think about your channels. Please start thinking about digitalisation,’” Song pointed out.
Whether selling online or offline, Song stressed the importance of having a robust data infrastructure.
“Is your data warehouse ready? Are you collecting information from customers that are coming through your door, such that, if the stores have to close one day, do you have the means to contact them on social media and all of that?” she urged retailers to consider.
Today, Song noted, it is no longer a straightforward question of offline versus online, because platforms and shopping behaviours continue to evolve.
“With social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram offering live shopping, I think retailers should now be channel agnostic. Just go where your consumers are, where your target audience is.”
New customer experiences
According to Chawla, customers are increasingly time-pressured and have more competing demands on their attention. As a result, when they shop, they want the experience to be efficient.
“If you look at the whole emphasis on making the experience simple, the transactions easy, and everything accessible — that’s a significant trend we consider when defining our purpose. We always say that everything we do, the ‘why’ of our existence, has to make every day a little better,” he said.
To improve in-store convenience, FairPrice Group has implemented self-checkout, integrated with its mobile app.
“When they open the app, the full experience is there — we ask, ‘Are they a Union member? Is it a Thursday? Do they qualify for the CHAS discount?’ It pulls up their QR code, and from there, they can complete the checkout without interacting with anyone,” Chawla noted.
Since introducing the feature, 73% of in-store transactions have been completed through self-checkout, he added.
Meanwhile, Song pointed out a paradox in how customers now define value.
“In fashion and retail, you have these marketplaces and Chinese giants coming in, and customers increasingly expect immense value — the cheapest item delivered as quickly as possible. But at the same time, they’re also asking, ‘Do these brands align with my personal values?’ It’s value in a different definition,” she observed.
Guided by insights
For FairPrice Group, the immediate goal is clear: use data and insights to make shopping easier for customers.
“What we’re working on now is something like a guided shopping experience. A customer walks into a store, grabs a trolley or basket, and puts their phone in. We know who they are, and based on their purchase history, we can send alerts or recommendations — like, ‘Oh, there’s a special deal on FairPrice chips.’ Like Google Maps, the trolley shows them where the chips are,” Chawla said.
Meanwhile, Song highlighted the importance of customer retention, especially as shoppers engage across multiple platforms.
“Sometimes the customer journey is very hard to map. For example, Customer A might make five different transactions across five different channels. It’s difficult to tie those together into one unified ID, and that’s where you lose a bit of power as a retailer. The cost of online and offline advertising keeps rising, so you have to be more sophisticated in how you retarget customers,” she explained.
Since Love, Bonito operates physical stores across several countries in Asia and ships to around 20 destinations globally, a one-size-fits-all approach was not viable.
“We’ve started forming more partnerships, because it’s important to respect local nuances and recognise that markets differ. It’s not as simple as a cookie-cutter, cut-copy-paste approach. What works in Singapore might not work in Malaysia, Indonesia, or the Philippines. The landscape, consumer preferences, key players, and regulations all vary — so we focus on identifying the right synergistic partners in each market,” Song concluded.
