Euromonitor International’s Quan Yao Peh shares how digital innovation, trust shape retail future

He notes that success in the retail landscape today requires a balance of regional scale, consumer trust, and future-proofing.

Asia Pacific’s current retail landscape is defined by rapid technological shifts, accelerating the move towards e-commerce and other omnichannel strategies. Whilst traditional retail formats continue to play a vital role, they increasingly operate alongside sophisticated online platforms and data-driven business models.

Navigating this complexity requires deep insight into both consumer behaviour and channel evolution. As a Research Consultant at Euromonitor International, Quan Yao Peh specialises in retail and digital shopper trends and insights. Through his advisory work with businesses across the region, he helps organisations interpret competitive dynamics and anticipate market shifts.

As one of the judges for the Retail Asia Awards 2026, Quan Yao highlights successful retailers’ reliance on sustainable digital models, balancing rapid adoption with profitability, and future-proofing retail strategies in an increasingly digital consumer landscape.

Based on your experience tracking retail digitalisation across Southeast Asia, which emerging digital retail models do you believe have the strongest long-term sustainability in Asia?

The most durable digital retail models meet consumers’ needs in various value-based retail attributes: price, quality, shopping experience, engagement, etc. Livestreaming and social commerce remain important as consumers seek immersive and convenient shopping experiences. In Asia Pacific, livestreaming and social commerce sales reached US$567b and US$562b, respectively, in 2025, recording compound annual growth rates of 44% and 50%, respectively, over the last five years.

How should retailers balance rapid digital adoption with profitability in markets where price sensitivity remains high?

In price-sensitive environments, retailers must protect price competitiveness whilst engineering a cheaper and more efficient way to serve. They should prioritise investments in digital tools that are proven to reduce operational costs and improve efficiency. These investments help to protect and expand retail margins and profitability. Some examples include inventory management automation, digital payments POS, and electronic shelf labels. Retailers can also consider investing in digital tools that offer consumers value beyond price and drive purchase conversion by helping consumers make more confident purchase decisions, such as digital loyalty programmes, artificial intelligence-powered shopping assistants, augmented reality and virtual reality tools, etc.

What key differences should companies be aware of when applying a regional retail strategy versus a country-specific approach in Asia?

Asia Pacific is an extremely diverse region. Operating environments, consumer demographics and shopping preferences vary across markets. Retailers and brands can focus on commonalities in regional retail architecture, such as brand assets, data infrastructure and supply chains, to achieve synergies from economies of scale. However, they must localise country-specific execution in areas such as product assortment, marketing content and fulfilment models. Leading platforms and channel ecosystems, such as in social media, marketplaces, payments, and fulfilment, also differ across markets. These important factors influence how you reach, engage and sell to customers and ensure their continued satisfaction.

What are the implications of emerging retail business models for consumers in terms of trust and privacy?

Emerging and currently leading retail business models, such as agentic commerce and social/livestream commerce, thrive on the depth of consumer data they can access and act upon. Consumers want personalised experiences, yet are less willing to share the personal data needed to deliver them. According to Euromonitor’s Voice of the Consumer: Digital Survey, Personal Preferences and Internet Search History, which are key attributes to such personalised experiences, currently rank amongst the lowest amongst data attributes Asia Pacific respondents are willing to share with retailers in 2025, at 24% and 17%. To mitigate these concerns, retailers should provide clearer data consent processes, assurances of data security, and transparency about how personalisation is generated.

What advice would you give to companies trying to future-proof their retail strategies in an increasingly digital and fragmented consumer landscape?

With rapid technological advancements, such as in agentic commerce, retailers and brands must be prepared that the landscape for retail discovery, engagement and purchases will evolve rapidly and differently across markets. Diversify your demand and engagement engines (marketplaces + social/video + own channels) to reduce platform dependency and build revenue resilience. Leverage the strategic benefits of physical stores, such as for order collection, hyperlocal e-commerce fulfilment and experience centres, to differentiate their brand and build engagement. Read Euromonitor’s latest strategy briefing, Top Five Digital Shopper Trends in 2026, for more analysis of the most important digital shopper trends we have identified that will redefine commerce in the year ahead.

As a judge at the Retail Asia Awards 2026, how do this year’s entries contribute to the benefit of Asia’s broader retail ecosystem?

Awards entries serve as a “learning library” for what works in Asia Pacific retail in customer experience, digital transformation, and operational excellence. The Awards’ judging criteria have a clear focus on the initiative’s business impact, beyond what sounds innovative, which pushes for more accountable innovation. The entire Asia Pacific retail ecosystem benefits when these best-in-class innovations are visible, impact-validated, and shared with the broader community.