May 30, 2025 • 20 mins
Welcome to a special APAC edition of Five Things Friday from The Retail Podcast.This week, host Alex is on the cusp of two retail mega-events: Shoptalk Europe and NRF APAC in Singapore. With Laura under the weather, we’re joined by special guest Reef Quail, Managing Director at NRF APAC, for a candid, front-line take on the pulse of Asian retail.In this episode:
- How Asia-Pacific is rewriting retail’s playbook—diversity, partnerships, and global scale
- Why the retailer-to-vendor ratio makes or breaks a great event
- What Western brands get wrong (and right) when expanding in Asia
- The rise of homegrown brands like Anko, and the secret to successful cross-border expansion
- Big tech, AI, and the looming disruption in retail jobs
Alex shares milestone listener numbers, thanks the global retail community, and raises the alarm for leaders who think digital disruption is “someone else’s problem.” This is your behind-the-scenes pass to the real stories, challenges, and opportunities in global retail right now.Don’t forget to rate, follow, and share the show!Connect:The Retail Podcast on LinkedInThe Retail Podcast websiteContact:Email Alex at [your email here]—he reads every message.
Timestamps:
0:00 – Welcome & Retail Event Preview
1:30 – Milestones & Listener Shoutouts
3:45 – AI in Retail: Opportunity or Threat?
8:15 – Reef Quail on the Ground in Singapore
10:00 – The Secret to a Great Retail Event: Ratios
13:30 – The Diversity Challenge in APAC
16:00 – Anko: An Aussie Brand Goes Global
18:30 – Lessons from Japan: Long-Term Partnership Success
20:00 – Closing Thoughts & Next Week’s Preview
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hello and welcome to Five thingsFriday, AIPAC edition, stroke
General Edition. We're on the cusp today's Friday
of two of the largest shows taking place.
We've got Shop Talk Europe, so if you're in the in Europe, what
a phenomenal event to attend. And then we've got the
(00:20):
powerhouse of NRF in AIPAC Insect taking place in Singapore
starting on Monday. So Are you ready?
Have you got your bags packed? Have you bought your tickets?
Have you got your comfy shoes on?
They are both jam packed with great content, with great
insights. And I'm not just saying this
(00:41):
because I have partnerships withthem.
I'm generally saying this because that's how I used to go
to these events. I've been going to NRF for over
15 years, obviously in the US and in the last two years in
AIPAC and I went to the second or first ever shop talk in
Europe, which I always get it wrong and I apologise if it was.
(01:03):
I'm pretty sure it was in Denmark, in Copenhagen, outside,
just outside of Copenhagen. And it was awesome.
I loved it. The, the, the energy, the
atmosphere is phenomenal. Anyway, 5 things Friday, you're
probably saying where's Laura? Where is your Co host?
Unfortunately, she's not feelingwell.
So obviously you've got to put yourself first always.
(01:25):
And she's taking some time to recuperate.
I think she's had a pretty busy week from from what I can see.
I'm not going to go into, into five things.
We've got Reef that I'll introduce in a minute and we'll
go over to NRF APAC and Reef's been living in Singapore for the
last two weeks and he's sales director.
I believe it's her birthday today, so happy birthday.
(01:48):
What I want to do is start with a little video.
Unimaginable technology. They're decades old.
Yeah. And so it's just common sense to
at least think surely there's something beyond these legacy
products. We have like magic intelligence
in the cloud. If I wanted to ask Chachi PT
(02:09):
something right now about something we had talked about
earlier, think about what would happen.
I would like reach down, I wouldget on my laptop, I'd open it
up, I'd launch a web browser, I'd start typing and I'd have to
like explain that thing. And I would hit enter and I
would wait and I would get a response.
And that is at the limit of whatthe current tool of a laptop can
do. So here's Sam Altman, Johnny,
I've two of the most iconic leaders in the world of tech
(02:34):
talking about how they're going to come together and reshape
devices pretty much something like this, a mixed device,
something that as Sam Altman went to great pains in
describing a laptop experience, not a mobile experience because
he said, oh, if we were using Chachibati runs on mobile.
(02:56):
The Chachibati app is pretty, pretty awesome as it stands.
Yes, it's feature poor, but ability rich, but they're coming
together. Their product is coming out next
year, which leads me to wanting to raise a flag, a warning to
warn you, my listeners, who coincidentally in May, we've had
(03:17):
the phenomenal, I had the phenomenal notifications from
Spotify yesterday, 10,000 streams, 500 listeners on the
Spotify platform alone, which when you look at a small retail
community across the world, for me, it's phenomenal.
I am so, so grateful and happy, but I want to to sort of bring
(03:42):
raise the ring the bell, say, hey, are you paying attention?
I think a lot of organisations are sleeping, walking either to
being disrupted or left behind, but so are the workers Now this,
if you're watching this and you're like, hey man, my job's
my job. I'm going to go there, I'm going
to do my job and then that's it.Then probably you wouldn't be
(04:04):
watching this because if you know me, that's not how we turn
up. We we turn up to do our best and
to to live our best lives. And what AI is going to do to
our work lives is going to be pretty severe and in retail more
than most other areas because ofthe margins.
(04:25):
And so if you couldn't pass yourdays back memory back to when
Uber first came and you know, you can get across the city for
a couple of quid or bucks or EUR, you were getting Uber
vouchers were being left, right and centre coming, You know, 10%
discount here, 20% discount there.
Search price wasn't surge, pricing hadn't really taken off.
(04:48):
And then all of a sudden throughout the years, because
that was all funded by VC, the pricing crept up, crept up,
crept up. And I've listened to a lot of
founders, I've listened to a lotof startups saying, ah, AI is
magnificent. We used to have three developers
and now for 200 bucks a month, we don't need to two full time,
(05:10):
you know, 60 KA year people. So that's 120 K saving.
And I think, again, anyone who'sbeen in the industry long
enough, whether it's Adobe, whether it's any of the sort of
SAS Pro providers and sales force, at a very soon point in
time, the pricing starts to change because the outcome that
(05:32):
you're creating, IE 2 workers, you're saving on their salaries
will be factored into the tool that you're using.
And this isn't a stop using the tool.
You've got to give up on using AI, not at all.
We are in the gold rush period of AI.
So this is the opportunity if you're a small business to
(05:54):
maximise your return on investment on AI or if you're a
knowledge worker to maximise your investment.
Because in the next, it may takelong.
I don't know. The pricing is a little bit
difficult. But my assumption is in the next
two to three years we'll see an increase.
As that increases, we'll see businesses also changing their
(06:17):
operating models, changing theirrequirements and wanting more
humans in the loop, working withAI at Pace.
And I think, and that was another thing that I was reading
from someone who was retiring onLinkedIn, that this, you know,
at Pace term is being used now to sort of drive people in a
(06:38):
really uncomfortable way becauseit's sort of saying, oh, we've
got to go out pace. The market's going out pace.
From my perspective, out pace isa passion driven energy.
And so therefore, if, if, if someone's driving you to, to do
that, then obviously they don't understand your work, they don't
understand you or, you know, there's, there's a bit of a
mismatch there because you should be driving that yourself
(07:01):
and, and, you know, the world isgoing to change.
So I think I'm, I'm super excited because obviously to
have some new technology hardware that will potentially
replace laptops. I don't know, Again, I'm really
interested. Curious about your thoughts on
why they've gone after the laptop first, or maybe that's
just they to sort of take us offthe scent.
(07:23):
They're really not going to go after laptops and they're going
to go after mobiles and create alittle pocket for all those.
I think it was her the the whereyou put the headphone in and
your AI comes to life. We're, we're there.
We're on the cusp of that with all of the problems that that
brings. We're on the cusp of it.
And as listeners of the retail podcast of five things Friday, I
(07:45):
want you guys to be a be prepared.
And if there is anything you, you need to know if if you're
curious or you want to have a conversation, just e-mail me.
I'll I'll 100% small enough to to respond personally and take
an interest in in helping where I can as I think I've had to
pretty much reinvent myself within my career significantly
(08:09):
over the last 30 years. And so anything I can pass on,
I'm willing to do. With that in mind, let's go over
to Reef. Hi Alex, I I live for these
podcasts with you. It makes me feel happy and
joyful. Well, I'm sending you the
virtual cuddle because I remember the end of the show
last time you said look when youwhen I, when anyone sees me,
just give me a cuddle on on the show.
(08:30):
So I'm sending you that virtual cuddle.
I think it's, you know, it's been a week, but I feel maybe 10
years older, but that's OK. We're OK.
You don't look 10 years old. You're looking still fresh and
happening. So let's let's listen.
Yeah. Oh, sorry.
Go on. So before I start to, I might
throw this, and this has been unprepared, but today is MJ, my
(08:50):
sales director's birthday and tomorrow is obviously the last
day of the week before the show next week.
So if anyone wants to give MJ a birthday present, I reckon she's
about 5K off her budget. So I spons any sponsors out
there. Well, MJ, Oh, OK, we love this,
we love that. Just give, give me a call, DM me
and I'll hook you up with MJ andyou'll make her day because it's
(09:11):
her birthday and she's worked sohard for this and so you'll make
her really happy. So you you heard it direct from
Reef. Make make MJ happy with
sponsorship no. It's one of the most important
things in my life. You know you've got your sales,
directors are happy. The world's a happy place.
Got you. I, I, I say happy wife, happy
life. But I guess in your world, happy
(09:31):
sales director. Absolutely.
You know, I'm pointing in the same direction.
So when she hears this, she'll be, she'll be up and about, you
know, because she'll be happy she got a mention.
Well, listen, why don't we? Obviously, you're living in
Singapore right now for before the show starts next week.
But tell me, what are your top 2?
My top 2 this week 1 relates to my live my world at the moment
(09:53):
in the show and the other relates to doing business in our
region. Sure.
So the number one thing right now is ratios and ratios as an
organiser is really, really important.
And so and what I mean by ratiosis the the split of retailers in
our case to non retailers attending the event.
(10:16):
So if you think about what's important to people who come to
a show like ours, it's very muchOK.
As a retailer, you come for one,to learn and be access content,
right? Two, to shop, you're trying to
find solutions from the pro for the problems in their business,
but you don't want to be overwhelmed by vendors, right?
(10:38):
And three, you want to connect with your peers, particularly
peers that are facing the similar challenges to you,
right? So you can share a few war
stories and compare notes. And quite often, you know, even
even recommend vendors, OK, which is quite powerful, right?
You know, there's nothing more compelling than meeting a
(10:59):
retailer who's had a fantastic experience with a vendor, right?
So that's really important. So, so if you've got more than
50% retailers, that's a good thing because that means it's
not, it's not stuck one way. So we're, we're approaching 60%
retailers to non retailers this year show.
(11:21):
And I know that all of our exhibitors, it's, it's that's
really important. So on the other side of the
fence, that's our exhibitors andsponsors.
That's everyone from Shopify to Adyen to MasterCard and all
inclusive. Now you can imagine how unhappy
they are. It's just vendors on the Expo
floor. It's a nightmare.
Well, they like, they all know each other so they don't mind
(11:41):
catching up for a drink, but they can't really get any ROI.
So for them, what's really important then is that they've
got, you know, a bunch of bodiesgoing past who's interested in
their solution and enough of them.
So for me, that's the bit that we focus on now because you need
to quite often resist the urge as an organiser to sell tickets
(12:02):
to everyone and you'll see people do it differently.
So, you know, in in our world, if I'm marketing now and I want
retailers, I'm highlighting what's on stage.
Yeah. But if I'm wanting to get
exhibitors and sponsors or non retailers, vendors, so to speak,
our industry partners as we callthem, yeah, then I'm leading
(12:23):
with who's coming, who are the retailers that are coming
because they're they're different triggers.
OK. So, and so you'll see a lot of
the stuff right now will be verymuch for us around obviously
speakers for retailers and then who's coming.
So you'll see brand montages because we've got a really good
ratio this year. So I'm quite pleased with that.
But you know, you always got to keep an eye if you're a if
(12:45):
you're a retailer or a non retailer coming to an event like
ours. That's the thing, that's the
watch out and and that's the basis of a really good event
experience. OK, makes sense.
So #2 and #2 for me is just really coming back to our
region, our region, Asia Pacific.
(13:05):
Now as we've talked about before, you know more than half
the world's customers, retail customers are in this part of
the world, right it, but it is extremely diverse.
It's not a one-size-fits-all region.
In fact, there is China, there is India, there's all Southeast
Asia, then there's Pacific. Yeah.
(13:25):
And what that means is, and every country is its own
sovereign nation, right? So it has its own currency.
It has its own culture, in some cases, multiple cultures.
Have a good look at Malaysia. Yeah.
For example, language, legislative contexts and also
also infrastructure to get product to people.
(13:48):
Right. Everything's different.
Yeah. And So what we've learned on our
journey and, and really been immersed in this over the last
little while has been about the whole ability to do business.
We've seen big organisations tryto turn up into markets and do
it alone on their own and fail. I'm talking about $280 billion
(14:13):
retailers coming into a SEA market and leaving with their
tails between their legs. Yeah.
So we're not talking about smallfraud.
We're talking about, but this, this message is true whether you
are a a $50 million retailer or a $300 billion retailer.
Yeah, right. So, and so one of the things I
(14:33):
want to do with the programme this year is, is sort of deliver
a session that embodies that andembodies how some of this
diversity and the bridge has been crossed.
Yeah. Because.
You know, if you don't tell the stories, then you don't inspire
the next generation of retailersto do that.
And that's it isn't the thing that gets me out of bed in the
(14:54):
morning too. This is the thing I'm most
excited about. If I see a retailer, you know,
you know, from Malaysia setting up in Vietnam because I've met
someone at my show that is extremely rewarding for me
personally. That's that's cool, right?
And so for me, the session that's on the, IT sort of
embodies this is on the afternoon of day one, so on the
(15:14):
Tuesday afternoon, right. And that's Ian Bailey.
Now Ian Bailey was the MD of Kmart in Australia.
And Kmart is a power. It's not like the US, it's a
powerhouse of a business. It's an $11 billion turnover
Aussie business. They've got various brands
right, if I if I remember correctly.
Yeah, yeah. So Kmart is an incredible place,
(15:36):
but on its journey, you know, itsells toys and Lego and all
those sort of things. I think it's Australia's biggest
retailer of Lego. I don't know.
I think something like 70 to 80%of Kmart's revenue is their
house brand Anko. Right.
And anko is everything from shirts, ANKO, anko everything
(15:59):
from shirts to coffee cups. Yeah.
To, you know, to linen, to kettles you can make a cup of
tea with, to everything, right? To crockery and cutlery,
everything. You name it.
Yeah. And the, the, the story of how
that product has come together is, is amazing.
And how it's rebuilt and made this Kmart a dynamic and
(16:22):
powerhouse of a business across Australia and New Zealand is
fascinating. But then Ian's no longer than
MD. He's taken on the role as global
chair of Anko. So his passion is not changed.
He still lives in the family, but he's taking the Anko brand
to the world, to North America, to Europe and to Asia.
(16:43):
Oh yeah. OK.
And so you. Say it's ANCO.
ANKO. ANKO.
Yeah, Anko. And so he has done a partnership
in the Philippines, for example.Now as you know that Australia
and the Philippines are a long way away geographically from
each other, probably about, I don't know, 8-10 hours by plane.
(17:04):
Yeah, a completely different country.
You know, the Philippines is mostly cash economy.
You know, they're not. They're not so big on credit
cards in the Philippines, unlikeAustralia, they have other
payment mechanisms. Marketplaces like Shopee are
pretty dominant there. But Anko has set up a retail
operation under its own brand inthe Philippines.
But as I said before, you can't set up if you're an Australian,
(17:27):
you can't just turn up in the Philippines and set up a store.
You've got to find a partner. So Ian's going to talk about
that journey, finding a partner,finding like minds, going
through that due diligence process, finding on the same
page and then doing it, doing this, launching A launching a
retail operation together. Go ahead.
(17:48):
Right, that and it's pretty cool, right?
And so for me, his anecdote he used when I was speaking to him
about his session was sometimes as an Australian, you don't
understand. And when your partner says I'll
take care of that, you nod and smile because they know what's
important in their market, not you.
(18:09):
Yeah. And so that that development of
relationship and trust over timethrough partnership is pretty
special. And that's two very diverse
markets. So that's a really cool story.
And I'm really, I'm really hoping.
And, and they're going to be going through that on stage,
yes. Yes.
So that's exciting because that's, you know, that's the
story we want to highlight. You know, we want to act.
(18:31):
You talk talk about this and youcan see, you know, I think for
me in partnership, probably the most successful Asia Pacific
country right in in the region is Japan.
Yeah. And Japan, you know, is North
Asia, so it's very formal and has protocol.
Yeah. Yet they have been more
successful, I think than any other country with Aeon fast
(18:54):
retailing or Uniqlo. Yeah, Muji PPIH shows on stage
with last year, yeah to expand through the region and build
partnerships in each of the markets, Indonesia, Malaysia,
yeah, some fantastic but that's you know that's but they are
well established and they are and as you know in Japan they
are long term players. Yeah.
(19:15):
So it's they, I mean they are the benchmark.
Yeah. But I mean, I'm, I'm really
excited about Ian's session. That's fantastic.
Well, look, listen, I look forward to not long now it's
like. Four days.
Slopes. Yeah.
Yeah. What day is it again?
I don't. Know we're almost there, we're
all. Right.
Saturday, Sunday, Monday, I'll be on.
(19:36):
I'll be, I'll be there. I'll be there one of these days
soon. It's OK.
Well. Yeah, exactly.
And I'll get to to to give you that cuddle.
Yeah. I'm looking forward to that.
Looking forward to that. OK.
Reef, thank you so much and. Then no worries.
And just remember, don't do it for me, do it for MJ.
All right. Thank you, Alex.
I look forward to seeing you formy friend.
Bye. Bye.
(19:58):
Thank you Reef happy birthday and I wish I could pronounce it.
Thank you Reef. Happy birthday to your wonderful
sales director. I will maybe bring you something
from Spain or the UK. Definitely not the the miserable
weather, but I will hopefully get to to share in the in the
joy of your birthday. And so with that, I wish you a
(20:18):
happy weekend. Have fun at shop Talk or NRF.
Let me know how you. Get on and then hopefully next
week we'll be back with the wonderful Laura and Reef.
Until then, have a fantastic week.
Hello and welcome to Five thingsFriday, AIPAC edition, stroke
General Edition. We're on the cusp today's Friday
of two of the largest shows taking place.
We've got Shop Talk Europe, so if you're in the in Europe, what
a phenomenal event to attend. And then we've got the
(00:20):
powerhouse of NRF in AIPAC Insect taking place in Singapore
starting on Monday. So Are you ready?
Have you got your bags packed? Have you bought your tickets?
Have you got your comfy shoes on?
They are both jam packed with great content, with great
insights. And I'm not just saying this
(00:41):
because I have partnerships withthem.
I'm generally saying this because that's how I used to go
to these events. I've been going to NRF for over
15 years, obviously in the US and in the last two years in
AIPAC and I went to the second or first ever shop talk in
Europe, which I always get it wrong and I apologise if it was.
(01:03):
I'm pretty sure it was in Denmark, in Copenhagen, outside,
just outside of Copenhagen. And it was awesome.
I loved it. The, the, the energy, the
atmosphere is phenomenal. Anyway, 5 things Friday, you're
probably saying where's Laura? Where is your Co host?
Unfortunately, she's not feelingwell.
So obviously you've got to put yourself first always.
(01:25):
And she's taking some time to recuperate.
I think she's had a pretty busy week from from what I can see.
I'm not going to go into, into five things.
We've got Reef that I'll introduce in a minute and we'll
go over to NRF APAC and Reef's been living in Singapore for the
last two weeks and he's sales director.
I believe it's her birthday today, so happy birthday.
(01:48):
What I want to do is start with a little video.
Unimaginable technology. They're decades old.
Yeah. And so it's just common sense to
at least think surely there's something beyond these legacy
products. We have like magic intelligence
in the cloud. If I wanted to ask Chachi PT
(02:09):
something right now about something we had talked about
earlier, think about what would happen.
I would like reach down, I wouldget on my laptop, I'd open it
up, I'd launch a web browser, I'd start typing and I'd have to
like explain that thing. And I would hit enter and I
would wait and I would get a response.
And that is at the limit of whatthe current tool of a laptop can
do. So here's Sam Altman, Johnny,
I've two of the most iconic leaders in the world of tech
(02:34):
talking about how they're going to come together and reshape
devices pretty much something like this, a mixed device,
something that as Sam Altman went to great pains in
describing a laptop experience, not a mobile experience because
he said, oh, if we were using Chachibati runs on mobile.
(02:56):
The Chachibati app is pretty, pretty awesome as it stands.
Yes, it's feature poor, but ability rich, but they're coming
together. Their product is coming out next
year, which leads me to wanting to raise a flag, a warning to
warn you, my listeners, who coincidentally in May, we've had
(03:17):
the phenomenal, I had the phenomenal notifications from
Spotify yesterday, 10,000 streams, 500 listeners on the
Spotify platform alone, which when you look at a small retail
community across the world, for me, it's phenomenal.
I am so, so grateful and happy, but I want to to sort of bring
(03:42):
raise the ring the bell, say, hey, are you paying attention?
I think a lot of organisations are sleeping, walking either to
being disrupted or left behind, but so are the workers Now this,
if you're watching this and you're like, hey man, my job's
my job. I'm going to go there, I'm going
to do my job and then that's it.Then probably you wouldn't be
(04:04):
watching this because if you know me, that's not how we turn
up. We we turn up to do our best and
to to live our best lives. And what AI is going to do to
our work lives is going to be pretty severe and in retail more
than most other areas because ofthe margins.
(04:25):
And so if you couldn't pass yourdays back memory back to when
Uber first came and you know, you can get across the city for
a couple of quid or bucks or EUR, you were getting Uber
vouchers were being left, right and centre coming, You know, 10%
discount here, 20% discount there.
Search price wasn't surge, pricing hadn't really taken off.
(04:48):
And then all of a sudden throughout the years, because
that was all funded by VC, the pricing crept up, crept up,
crept up. And I've listened to a lot of
founders, I've listened to a lotof startups saying, ah, AI is
magnificent. We used to have three developers
and now for 200 bucks a month, we don't need to two full time,
(05:10):
you know, 60 KA year people. So that's 120 K saving.
And I think, again, anyone who'sbeen in the industry long
enough, whether it's Adobe, whether it's any of the sort of
SAS Pro providers and sales force, at a very soon point in
time, the pricing starts to change because the outcome that
(05:32):
you're creating, IE 2 workers, you're saving on their salaries
will be factored into the tool that you're using.
And this isn't a stop using the tool.
You've got to give up on using AI, not at all.
We are in the gold rush period of AI.
So this is the opportunity if you're a small business to
(05:54):
maximise your return on investment on AI or if you're a
knowledge worker to maximise your investment.
Because in the next, it may takelong.
I don't know. The pricing is a little bit
difficult. But my assumption is in the next
two to three years we'll see an increase.
As that increases, we'll see businesses also changing their
(06:17):
operating models, changing theirrequirements and wanting more
humans in the loop, working withAI at Pace.
And I think, and that was another thing that I was reading
from someone who was retiring onLinkedIn, that this, you know,
at Pace term is being used now to sort of drive people in a
(06:38):
really uncomfortable way becauseit's sort of saying, oh, we've
got to go out pace. The market's going out pace.
From my perspective, out pace isa passion driven energy.
And so therefore, if, if, if someone's driving you to, to do
that, then obviously they don't understand your work, they don't
understand you or, you know, there's, there's a bit of a
mismatch there because you should be driving that yourself
(07:01):
and, and, you know, the world isgoing to change.
So I think I'm, I'm super excited because obviously to
have some new technology hardware that will potentially
replace laptops. I don't know, Again, I'm really
interested. Curious about your thoughts on
why they've gone after the laptop first, or maybe that's
just they to sort of take us offthe scent.
(07:23):
They're really not going to go after laptops and they're going
to go after mobiles and create alittle pocket for all those.
I think it was her the the whereyou put the headphone in and
your AI comes to life. We're, we're there.
We're on the cusp of that with all of the problems that that
brings. We're on the cusp of it.
And as listeners of the retail podcast of five things Friday, I
(07:45):
want you guys to be a be prepared.
And if there is anything you, you need to know if if you're
curious or you want to have a conversation, just e-mail me.
I'll I'll 100% small enough to to respond personally and take
an interest in in helping where I can as I think I've had to
pretty much reinvent myself within my career significantly
(08:09):
over the last 30 years. And so anything I can pass on,
I'm willing to do. With that in mind, let's go over
to Reef. Hi Alex, I I live for these
podcasts with you. It makes me feel happy and
joyful. Well, I'm sending you the
virtual cuddle because I remember the end of the show
last time you said look when youwhen I, when anyone sees me,
just give me a cuddle on on the show.
(08:30):
So I'm sending you that virtual cuddle.
I think it's, you know, it's been a week, but I feel maybe 10
years older, but that's OK. We're OK.
You don't look 10 years old. You're looking still fresh and
happening. So let's let's listen.
Yeah. Oh, sorry.
Go on. So before I start to, I might
throw this, and this has been unprepared, but today is MJ, my
(08:50):
sales director's birthday and tomorrow is obviously the last
day of the week before the show next week.
So if anyone wants to give MJ a birthday present, I reckon she's
about 5K off her budget. So I spons any sponsors out
there. Well, MJ, Oh, OK, we love this,
we love that. Just give, give me a call, DM me
and I'll hook you up with MJ andyou'll make her day because it's
(09:11):
her birthday and she's worked sohard for this and so you'll make
her really happy. So you you heard it direct from
Reef. Make make MJ happy with
sponsorship no. It's one of the most important
things in my life. You know you've got your sales,
directors are happy. The world's a happy place.
Got you. I, I, I say happy wife, happy
life. But I guess in your world, happy
(09:31):
sales director. Absolutely.
You know, I'm pointing in the same direction.
So when she hears this, she'll be, she'll be up and about, you
know, because she'll be happy she got a mention.
Well, listen, why don't we? Obviously, you're living in
Singapore right now for before the show starts next week.
But tell me, what are your top 2?
My top 2 this week 1 relates to my live my world at the moment
(09:53):
in the show and the other relates to doing business in our
region. Sure.
So the number one thing right now is ratios and ratios as an
organiser is really, really important.
And so and what I mean by ratiosis the the split of retailers in
our case to non retailers attending the event.
(10:16):
So if you think about what's important to people who come to
a show like ours, it's very muchOK.
As a retailer, you come for one,to learn and be access content,
right? Two, to shop, you're trying to
find solutions from the pro for the problems in their business,
but you don't want to be overwhelmed by vendors, right?
(10:38):
And three, you want to connect with your peers, particularly
peers that are facing the similar challenges to you,
right? So you can share a few war
stories and compare notes. And quite often, you know, even
even recommend vendors, OK, which is quite powerful, right?
You know, there's nothing more compelling than meeting a
(10:59):
retailer who's had a fantastic experience with a vendor, right?
So that's really important. So, so if you've got more than
50% retailers, that's a good thing because that means it's
not, it's not stuck one way. So we're, we're approaching 60%
retailers to non retailers this year show.
(11:21):
And I know that all of our exhibitors, it's, it's that's
really important. So on the other side of the
fence, that's our exhibitors andsponsors.
That's everyone from Shopify to Adyen to MasterCard and all
inclusive. Now you can imagine how unhappy
they are. It's just vendors on the Expo
floor. It's a nightmare.
Well, they like, they all know each other so they don't mind
(11:41):
catching up for a drink, but they can't really get any ROI.
So for them, what's really important then is that they've
got, you know, a bunch of bodiesgoing past who's interested in
their solution and enough of them.
So for me, that's the bit that we focus on now because you need
to quite often resist the urge as an organiser to sell tickets
(12:02):
to everyone and you'll see people do it differently.
So, you know, in in our world, if I'm marketing now and I want
retailers, I'm highlighting what's on stage.
Yeah. But if I'm wanting to get
exhibitors and sponsors or non retailers, vendors, so to speak,
our industry partners as we callthem, yeah, then I'm leading
(12:23):
with who's coming, who are the retailers that are coming
because they're they're different triggers.
OK. So, and so you'll see a lot of
the stuff right now will be verymuch for us around obviously
speakers for retailers and then who's coming.
So you'll see brand montages because we've got a really good
ratio this year. So I'm quite pleased with that.
But you know, you always got to keep an eye if you're a if
(12:45):
you're a retailer or a non retailer coming to an event like
ours. That's the thing, that's the
watch out and and that's the basis of a really good event
experience. OK, makes sense.
So #2 and #2 for me is just really coming back to our
region, our region, Asia Pacific.
(13:05):
Now as we've talked about before, you know more than half
the world's customers, retail customers are in this part of
the world, right it, but it is extremely diverse.
It's not a one-size-fits-all region.
In fact, there is China, there is India, there's all Southeast
Asia, then there's Pacific. Yeah.
(13:25):
And what that means is, and every country is its own
sovereign nation, right? So it has its own currency.
It has its own culture, in some cases, multiple cultures.
Have a good look at Malaysia. Yeah.
For example, language, legislative contexts and also
also infrastructure to get product to people.
(13:48):
Right. Everything's different.
Yeah. And So what we've learned on our
journey and, and really been immersed in this over the last
little while has been about the whole ability to do business.
We've seen big organisations tryto turn up into markets and do
it alone on their own and fail. I'm talking about $280 billion
(14:13):
retailers coming into a SEA market and leaving with their
tails between their legs. Yeah.
So we're not talking about smallfraud.
We're talking about, but this, this message is true whether you
are a a $50 million retailer or a $300 billion retailer.
Yeah, right. So, and so one of the things I
(14:33):
want to do with the programme this year is, is sort of deliver
a session that embodies that andembodies how some of this
diversity and the bridge has been crossed.
Yeah. Because.
You know, if you don't tell the stories, then you don't inspire
the next generation of retailersto do that.
And that's it isn't the thing that gets me out of bed in the
(14:54):
morning too. This is the thing I'm most
excited about. If I see a retailer, you know,
you know, from Malaysia setting up in Vietnam because I've met
someone at my show that is extremely rewarding for me
personally. That's that's cool, right?
And so for me, the session that's on the, IT sort of
embodies this is on the afternoon of day one, so on the
(15:14):
Tuesday afternoon, right. And that's Ian Bailey.
Now Ian Bailey was the MD of Kmart in Australia.
And Kmart is a power. It's not like the US, it's a
powerhouse of a business. It's an $11 billion turnover
Aussie business. They've got various brands
right, if I if I remember correctly.
Yeah, yeah. So Kmart is an incredible place,
(15:36):
but on its journey, you know, itsells toys and Lego and all
those sort of things. I think it's Australia's biggest
retailer of Lego. I don't know.
I think something like 70 to 80%of Kmart's revenue is their
house brand Anko. Right.
And anko is everything from shirts, ANKO, anko everything
(15:59):
from shirts to coffee cups. Yeah.
To, you know, to linen, to kettles you can make a cup of
tea with, to everything, right? To crockery and cutlery,
everything. You name it.
Yeah. And the, the, the story of how
that product has come together is, is amazing.
And how it's rebuilt and made this Kmart a dynamic and
(16:22):
powerhouse of a business across Australia and New Zealand is
fascinating. But then Ian's no longer than
MD. He's taken on the role as global
chair of Anko. So his passion is not changed.
He still lives in the family, but he's taking the Anko brand
to the world, to North America, to Europe and to Asia.
(16:43):
Oh yeah. OK.
And so you. Say it's ANCO.
ANKO. ANKO.
Yeah, Anko. And so he has done a partnership
in the Philippines, for example.Now as you know that Australia
and the Philippines are a long way away geographically from
each other, probably about, I don't know, 8-10 hours by plane.
(17:04):
Yeah, a completely different country.
You know, the Philippines is mostly cash economy.
You know, they're not. They're not so big on credit
cards in the Philippines, unlikeAustralia, they have other
payment mechanisms. Marketplaces like Shopee are
pretty dominant there. But Anko has set up a retail
operation under its own brand inthe Philippines.
But as I said before, you can't set up if you're an Australian,
(17:27):
you can't just turn up in the Philippines and set up a store.
You've got to find a partner. So Ian's going to talk about
that journey, finding a partner,finding like minds, going
through that due diligence process, finding on the same
page and then doing it, doing this, launching A launching a
retail operation together. Go ahead.
(17:48):
Right, that and it's pretty cool, right?
And so for me, his anecdote he used when I was speaking to him
about his session was sometimes as an Australian, you don't
understand. And when your partner says I'll
take care of that, you nod and smile because they know what's
important in their market, not you.
(18:09):
Yeah. And so that that development of
relationship and trust over timethrough partnership is pretty
special. And that's two very diverse
markets. So that's a really cool story.
And I'm really, I'm really hoping.
And, and they're going to be going through that on stage,
yes. Yes.
So that's exciting because that's, you know, that's the
story we want to highlight. You know, we want to act.
(18:31):
You talk talk about this and youcan see, you know, I think for
me in partnership, probably the most successful Asia Pacific
country right in in the region is Japan.
Yeah. And Japan, you know, is North
Asia, so it's very formal and has protocol.
Yeah. Yet they have been more
successful, I think than any other country with Aeon fast
(18:54):
retailing or Uniqlo. Yeah, Muji PPIH shows on stage
with last year, yeah to expand through the region and build
partnerships in each of the markets, Indonesia, Malaysia,
yeah, some fantastic but that's you know that's but they are
well established and they are and as you know in Japan they
are long term players. Yeah.
(19:15):
So it's they, I mean they are the benchmark.
Yeah. But I mean, I'm, I'm really
excited about Ian's session. That's fantastic.
Well, look, listen, I look forward to not long now it's
like. Four days.
Slopes. Yeah.
Yeah. What day is it again?
I don't. Know we're almost there, we're
all. Right.
Saturday, Sunday, Monday, I'll be on.
(19:36):
I'll be, I'll be there. I'll be there one of these days
soon. It's OK.
Well. Yeah, exactly.
And I'll get to to to give you that cuddle.
Yeah. I'm looking forward to that.
Looking forward to that. OK.
Reef, thank you so much and. Then no worries.
And just remember, don't do it for me, do it for MJ.
All right. Thank you, Alex.
I look forward to seeing you formy friend.
Bye. Bye.
(19:58):
Thank you Reef happy birthday and I wish I could pronounce it.
Thank you Reef. Happy birthday to your wonderful
sales director. I will maybe bring you something
from Spain or the UK. Definitely not the the miserable
weather, but I will hopefully get to to share in the in the
joy of your birthday. And so with that, I wish you a
(20:18):
happy weekend. Have fun at shop Talk or NRF.
Let me know how you. Get on and then hopefully next
week we'll be back with the wonderful Laura and Reef.
Until then, have a fantastic week.
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