RSM’s David Eu emphasises focussing on personalisation to build long-term loyalty

He discussed e-commerce integration strategies, the role of emerging tech, and collaboration in retail to stay ahead.

As the retail industry continuously evolves, retailers must embrace e-commerce and adapt emerging technologies to meet changing consumer demands and stay competitive.

David Eu, Partner and Deputy Industry Lead of the F&B, Retail and Consumer Products Practice at RSM Singapore, brings a wealth of experience to the retail industry. With a career that began at Ernst & Young in 1994, David has developed a deep understanding of various industries, including banking, manufacturing, and agriculture. His expertise extends to audits and initial public offerings.

Since joining RSM Singapore in 2007, David has co-led initiatives serving the needs of F&B establishments and FMCG clients, providing insights into manufacturing, retail, and public-listed companies.

As a judge for the Retail Asia Awards 2025, David shared his insights on how adopting omnichannel strategy, personalisation, system integration, and co-branding are essential to meeting customer demands and driving success.

E-commerce is rapidly growing. With the challenges traditional retailers face when integrating e-commerce into their business models, what strategies can they employ to overcome these challenges effectively?

Traditional retailers can successfully integrate e-commerce by adopting an omnichannel strategy, ensuring a seamless shopping experience across both online and offline channels. For example, allowing customers to order via an app or website and pick up their purchases in-store helps bridge the gap between digital and physical retail. I also think digital marketing and data analytics play a key role. Using first-party data enables more personalised marketing efforts, such as targeted ads and customised email campaigns, to enhance customer engagement. Additionally, analysing customer shopping behaviours helps optimise inventory management, ensuring that the right products are available when and where they are needed, thereby improving the customer experience. By combining these strategies, retailers can stay competitive and meet evolving consumer expectations in the digital age.

With the continued evolution of technology, how do you foresee emerging technologies shaping the future of the retail experience, and what opportunities do they present for retailers?

With the continued evolution of technology, I see emerging innovations, such as virtual reality (VR), significantly enhancing customer experience by offering immersive shopping experiences. These technologies allow customers to interact with products in ways that weren’t possible before, leading to more engaging and personalised experiences. Additionally, real-time connectivity between devices, stores, and customers will greatly improve operational efficiency. This connectivity allows for accurate inventory management, streamlining operations, and reducing costs. Moreover, I believe these technologies present opportunities to promote sustainable practices by ensuring greater transparency and reducing waste, creating an eco-friendlier retail environment.

How can retailers effectively enhance consumer engagement and build long-term loyalty, especially considering the evolving expectations of consumers?

To effectively enhance consumer engagement and build long-term loyalty, I believe retailers need to focus on personalisation. By leveraging first-party data, they can tailor marketing efforts, product recommendations, and offers to suit individual customer preferences. Another strategy is creating a sense of community around the brand, which can be achieved through social media interactions and exclusive private events. These efforts help foster a deeper emotional connection with the brand. I also see prioritising transparency, sustainability, and ethical business practices as crucial in building stronger trust and loyalty with customers, as these values are increasingly important to today’s consumers.

How can retailers innovate their supply chain management processes to enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and ensure a seamless end-to-end experience for consumers?

To innovate supply chain management and enhance efficiency, retailers should focus on system integration. By integrating various supply chain processes into a unified system, retailers can enable seamless communication and coordination, providing real-time visibility into inventory levels, order statuses, and logistics. Automating warehouse operations with robotics and automated storage and retrieval systems is another key approach. This can significantly increase efficiency while reducing labour costs associated with repetitive tasks. Additionally, partnering with third-party logistics providers allows retailers to enhance their logistics capabilities, enabling them to manage more complex supply chain operations more effectively and offer a seamless end-to-end experience for consumers.

Collaboration is increasingly important in the modern retail ecosystem. How can retailers foster meaningful collaborations with stakeholders to drive innovation and address industry challenges collaboratively?

Co-branding offers a powerful way to combine expertise, creating unique products that appeal to both brands’ customer bases. This not only diversifies product offerings but also attracts new customers, enhancing overall brand perception. It's also crucial to identify shared goals and complementary strengths when collaborating. By clearly defining business objectives and pinpointing areas where collaboration can add value, retailers can create win-win situations that benefit all parties involved, driving mutual success and innovation.

As a returning judge at the Retail Asia Awards, could you elaborate on the specific criteria you consider most crucial when assessing companies and their initiatives?

When assessing companies and their initiatives for the Retail Asia Awards, I will consider:

Scalability: The potential for the initiative to be scaled and implemented in various contexts, demonstrating the impact it can have on the market and industry.

Execution: The effectiveness of execution, including planning, resource allocation, and management, which leads to tangible results.

Uniqueness: The originality of the idea and how it differentiates itself from competitors, showcasing creativity and the ability to stand out in the market.