August 7, 2025 • 20 mins
Ryf & Laura join Alex to unpack five APAC headlines: China’s Shushu·Tong shakes luxury, Korea’s “honjok” solo shoppers rewrite store design, K‑beauty label Anua wins U.S. fans, Vietnam’s retail GMV rockets 37 %, and Laura talks about in on Yotpo’s pivot plus Gen Z’s debit‑first mindset.
🎙️ Episode overview
00:00 Intro – Rafe Cloud, MD iPAC, joins Alex
01:59 #1 Chinese luxury disruptor Shushu·Tong
03:45 #2 Korea’s ‘Honjok’ solo lifestyle & retail
05:46 #3 K‑Beauty brand Anua hits the U.S.
08:20 #4 Vietnam retail GMV up 37 %
11:45 #5 Laura on Yotpo sunset & Gen Z debit habits
19:59 Wrap‑up
🔗 Links & sources
• Shushu·Tong Studio – https://www.shushutongstudio.com/about/
• Anua Skincare – https://anua.kr/
• Vietnam e‑commerce data – Shopee / Lazada 2024 reports
• Yotpo sunset announcement – yotpo.com/blog
• BigCommerce 2025 ANZ Online Shopping Report
🤝 Connect
Subscribe to the newsletter: RetailNews.ai/five‑things
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
I'm Reef Quail, managing director of AIPAC, and this is
Five things Friday. Hello.
How? Are you?
Is it popping? Oh, is this bopping away to the
(00:20):
intro music that was? Yeah, well, we'll have to
release that as a single one daysoon.
It'll be the tease out of track.Anyway, How's it going?
How's your week been? Yeah.
It's been, it's been pretty good.
You know, it's been not the things happening we're into
we're into the budget cycles of 2026 for NRF and what will what
are the levers that will make itgrow.
We've done some off sites and some planning and what was up in
Singapore, we and NRF APEC actually won best trade show
(00:42):
launch in Singapore two weeks away.
So congratulations, it's very exciting.
So we had a bit of a win and it's great recognition for the
team. So that was just awesome, so.
My knees up. I was.
No, it was. That was a poor answer, wasn't
it? No.
Yeah. I had a couple of glasses of
wine and and and caught up with a few friends And where the
(01:02):
trophy on stage. That's cool.
That's fantastic. Well, well deserved.
Congratulations. Thank you.
Very. OK, listen, I'm as always, we're
gonna just, we're gonna for, forthose.
I'm well, I'm sure you're watching this because maybe
you've watched one of the other episodes.
If you haven't, we're gonna cover the top five news articles
across one of the largest regions in the in in the, in the
hemisphere. And I and I love the that
(01:23):
obviously you're sat there in a jumper and I'm here in a T-shirt
showing how global the global weather.
It's very cold in Sydney today. I'm early struggling.
I'm I'm running between turning the heater on and off.
I've got a heater on. What?
What? Just out of curiosity, what's
the temperature that you've got?I reckon it's about hang on,
I'll tell you on my phone, 16°. OK.
And that's really cold for you. Yeah, Sydney's not too bad in
(01:44):
the winter. I still might even get a surf
tomorrow morning. You never know before what.
Anyway, OK, fantastic. I.
Think you should start that. I think we should take that.
We've talked about luxury over the last few weeks.
I said, I think, I think you you've got a good luxury one to
start with that because I think this is the, this is the base
that I think the big elephant inthe room.
Perfect. OK, All right.
So yeah, we as, as Ruth just mentioned, we've talked, we've
(02:05):
spoken about how we're in this era of European brands going to
China for their growth. And we've got to the stage where
brands like Xu Xing Yong Tong, aShanghai born and bred luxury
fashion house that have been taking their designs to Paris
Fashion Week have been well deserved.
(02:26):
Sorry, have been really well received.
And in my mind, again, this is what retailers in in the West
need to be careful of because now you're getting these young
designers who can go toe to toe from a design perspective.
And hence why I think maybe we're seeing a bit of a, a
decline in luxury in the region because of these types of brands
(02:49):
that are growing and will only continue to grow because
technology is not an issue. It's about creativity.
And I think now China's young designers and fashionistas at
that point where they've been sort of consuming all of this
Western retail and now they're bringing their their sort of
spin to it. I think also too just, you know,
(03:11):
this is Chinese style cultural authenticity, you know that, you
know, it's, it's really bringingthis home.
And I think for me now, these brands are well placed because,
you know, we've seen what's happened with some of the other
European maisons. Yeah, these are products that's,
you know built in Asia for Asia and have have real cultural.
Resonance I think 1 to watch they're on far fetched they're
(03:32):
on all the different e-commerce luxury platforms that exist over
here and so I again, I just think this is a a sample of
what. To come, absolutely.
Oh, it's my turn then. OK, I'm ready.
I'm ready. So I'm going to talk about a
brand new cultural phenomenon inKorea.
OK Korea. Korea's got this thing going on,
(03:53):
which is a big, it's impacting retail significant.
It's called the Hjrock culture. Hjrock HONJ.
OK. And it literally translates to a
lone tribe. Wow.
And what it talks about, it describes people, especially
millennials and Gen Z's who loveto live, eat, travel and shop
alone. I mean, not loneliness, but
(04:14):
about self-reliance and freedom,Right.
And So what we're seeing now in career is, you know, it had one
of the highest rates of one person households in the world
with 33% in 2024, right? Yeah.
So that impact on retail has been really felt, you know,
whether it's eating alone at restaurants or drinking alone or
watching movies alone or solo travel.
(04:34):
But in retail, you know, we're seeing the whole ranging and
product evolution. So more single serving packaging
in every form for meal kits to cosmetics, you know, things like
store layout with smaller tables, private booths and and
solo friendly atmospheres. No shopping on your own rather
than in in couples or in a family.
Yeah, brands messages are reallynow talking about, you know,
(04:57):
about not about family time, butme time and treat yourself as
aspirational. Not a sad thing, but an
aspirational thing. Yeah, but like services, you're
seeing subscription boxes, you know, meal box just flying to
the roof, going to the roof, hobby kits, personalised
shopping experiences tailored toone person.
Yeah. And anything that manifesting in
convenience stores like CU, GS25711.
(05:20):
And they're and they're innovating and ready to eat
premium meals for solo consumption.
This is a lifestyle shift. This is a trend in career which
is wild. And it's driven by our Gen ZS
and millennials. They're about choosing to live
alone. Yeah, it's incredible.
I was just I just literally googled it when you said and
obviously the Han jock is is like the the main, but then it's
(05:42):
everything that you're saying inthe Han Bap, which is the
growing interest in culture causing like there's there's
lots. Of different ways.
There's single room karaoke. You could do karaoke.
I can. I can go to that karaoke room,
cry my eyes out and sing all by myself.
I finally got a space. I've always wanted to sing,
(06:02):
always wanted to sing Oops I didit again by Britney Spears on
my. Own But yeah, I mean, I, I have
to be honest, when I when you read things like this, you do
feel that this is a trend that as as sad as it is to say that
you can see growing, you know, people are choosing not to get
married. They're choosing not to
necessarily go into relationships.
And I think, wow, sad, but what a harsh reality that we live in.
(06:27):
Yeah. So I mean, that's I mean, for
me, that was like, you know, looking at looking at things in
Korea because I mean, I mean, the Korean experience is quite a
unique experience in Asia because I cut off a little by
language and they're quite inward looking.
Yeah. And so in Japanese, you go to
Japan, Tokyo feels, you know, a bit more a bit more inclusive.
But yeah, Korea is the language and culture and you know,
(06:47):
they're homegrown brands and K beauty and culture and all the
things coming out of Korea. It's very much set in a Korean
Koreans steer. It's happening unique to that
country, which is so Han Jock is, you know, I'm not surprised
that they're creating movements like this, you know?
I think what a nice segue as well into the next one.
Again, talking about beauty brands, brands the, and this
(07:08):
specific K beauty, K beauty as acategory is growing globally.
And this brand specifically is now growing in the US and
they're called a new which I, I was covering Haley Bieber's
brand in the US that she just sold for a billion in May,
earlier May, May this year. And these new beauty brands
(07:28):
creating communities using influences, obviously using new
science and really challenging the old vanguard of the beauty
providers, which are, you know, the big CPG companies again, as
it feels like not problematic, but as as interesting or the the
Korean societies, they're able to export so many.
(07:52):
Popular, it's an amazing and fascinating country and it but
it's just because they have thisseparation that they can come up
with some some of this unique cultural iconic K beauty and K
pop. It's it is so unique to them,
but it's just, you know, I thinkit's a reflection of the way
they operate with the rest of the world.
But it's just it means that thiscreative creativity happens in
(08:12):
this bubble, which is career that is just so unique and so
different and in many cases so appealing because it's hard to
find anywhere else. So on to mine now and my one,
this is a bit of a wild card Last week we we started to we
talked a little bit about luxuryYep.
And I talked about luxury in theAsia Pacific market and we'll
that, that we might that bet will come to air, I'm sure
because we recorded it and I haven't seen a lot of that yet,
(08:34):
but I wanted to build on that thought.
And when I started digging into the numbers, I really started to
notice in some markets who were flat, some brands were going up,
some brands were going down. China was definitely dropping
back in terms of luxury and thatfor the European Maison, but
might be growing for the Chinesehouses.
But what I did notice was just the incredible growth in Vietnam
and retail growth. And so I thought well, let's
(08:55):
delve a little bit wider to that.
And I think one of the things I've noticed is that Vietnam is
is basically has hit the road like it is going.
So in retail sales in Vietnam hit $300 billion US in 2024.
By 2029 it's going to be 400 andnearly $500 billion and it's
growing at 12% annually. So it's insane.
(09:17):
And then what you've seen is this real appetite for
ecommerce, social media and cross-border.
So ecommerce growth 30, ecommerce GMV jumped 37% in
2024. Wow.
And it's platforms like Shoppi, Lazada, TikTok Shop and Sendo
who are really leading the charge.
You know, so you know, and you know things like not 57% of
(09:39):
transactions are occurring on a phone.
OK, so mobile phones. Yeah, so huge growth, multi
regional platforms coming in andand really mobile first.
I mean career is I think I want to say 70 to 75% mobile phone
LED in the digital context. So they are the kings of mobile
phone, right. Yeah, they are amazing.
But you know, Vietnam, holy cow,what a market and what, what
(10:02):
growth. And, and that this could have
came out of the, the digging around on luxury last week that
I thought, wow, Vietnam seems tobe growing really dramatically
on luxury from albeit a low base.
But when I look at overall retail, this is This country's a
juggernaut. It's like everyone's, everyone's
flat. Do you have to a view on on why
you think that is? What what's going on?
Is it? Is it the that they have?
(10:23):
Matt, this is this is the piece I talked about without with with
Asia Pacific and you talk about the Southeast Asian nations
outside of Singapore. You know, we're seeing the great
equalisation happen right now. Wealth is increasing, right?
Yeah. So we're seeing wealth increased
and people joining the middle class in rapid rate right across
the region. And I think there is therein
lies a change. And as more wealth is happening,
(10:45):
people are travelling there as well.
So I haven't got any informationon, on tourism, but I mean, I
know a lot really go to Vietnam,but I haven't got any own
tourism and retail in Vietnam. But the numbers are suggest to
me that the, the growth in wealth in Vietnam and the rise
in the middle class is, is phenomenal.
And but yes, that's not, that's not unique to Vietnam, you know,
that's you're seeing Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,
(11:08):
Thailand a bit further on and obviously Singapore's well, well
progressed. But you know, these Southeast
Asian markets are accelerating. It's been, it's fascinating.
It's a much younger market too, to quite a youthful market.
That's right. And it's it's one to watch.
I mean, as you said, it's the great equaliser, which to me it
just signals more opportunity according.
(11:29):
And the region and so therefore I mean and then and I was
looking last week as everyone inluxury and it was the mega
growth market in luxury. It was coming out of from
smaller numbers, but it's serious growth happening and
it's not a small country, Vietnam.
As you know, Laura has on her global travels around the world,
so she's not with us, but I'm hoping we'll be able to go to
Laura now. Hi Alex, it's Laura here from
(11:51):
Ishmaela in Turkey. I'll start this off with anyone
who doesn't know me too well. I have been living in Sydney,
Australia for 15 years, since 2010 and I am one of the guilty
ex but expats that go home every12 to 18 months and I spend a
lot of time with my family and yeah and pretty much pretend I'm
(12:14):
back in Glasgow as if I never left.
And I like to try and get a bit of a European holiday in the
mix. So I'm on my jet too.
If you know, you know package holiday with my family and my 2
babies and yes, so I really apologise.
I couldn't be there with you Alex live, but hopefully this
quality, this video quality and sound is OK and you can use it.
(12:34):
But no offence if you cut it outand please apologise.
This is as best as I could muster today.
This is this is as good as it's what you get.
So I'll jump right in. I'll talk about my first point,
which is around yacht poles announcements from yesterday.
So very sad to hear that yacht pole is sunset in their e-mail
and SMS product that came to market under two years ago.
(12:57):
So what does that mean? It means that 200 people from
the team globally have been let go.
And yeah, the the decision's been made that they're just
going to go back. It seems like they're really
streamlining the team and going back to the focus on reviews and
loyalty, which is where where they've always had their
strength and being the leaders. I read the e-mail that Tom, the
(13:19):
CEO sent to his team and he alluded to the fact that the
market's a little bit saturated in the CRM, the communication
space and that they had lost maybe their way from a product
excellence standpoint, and that he wants to really go back to a
bit more of a startup type approach.
So very sad to see this happening for obviously everyone
(13:41):
affected by it from the employees and also the retailers
and brands who've spent probablya significant time with the
migration to another, another product and tool.
From from my standpoint, I have spent seven years before being
out on my own, but seven years Iwas agency side part, owned an
agency and Yacht Paul were one of my key partners for the top
five. Great partner to work with,
(14:02):
always the very professional. So I've always had a great
experience. So we working with yacht Pole
and this couldn't have been an easy decision to have made.
Now this is not an Australia specific issue, it's a global
one. But from my standpoint, from my
perspective, it's a bit of a signal that from the brand and
retailer side, they were the yacht pole, the team, the
(14:25):
market. They were very with their sales
strategy around this product. They were very price competitive
to win business, which is not onit's, it's a typical tactic that
you use to bring a product to market.
So that's what they did. Lots of the road map, it's
coming. So cost was definitely a part of
(14:45):
why brands and retailers decidedto move.
But it wasn't the only part. And I don't think we should ever
put it into a cost of that was only reason.
A big reason was also because ofthe promise of consolidation.
We have seen the best in breed Siword product stack, the
maturity of the SAS vendors going up, building out the
(15:06):
product suite and it made a lot of sense.
The theme of loyalty has been sostrong in Australia and New
Zealand and APAC globally that you oppose a leader of views and
loyalty. To have your communication lines
in the one place made a lot of sense.
The business case would have been quite appealing.
So, yeah, a bit of a punished for the retailers going through
(15:28):
this. They're going to have to try
their best to migrate off of your pool as quick as they can.
They're coming up to three months out from Black Friday,
right? It's a busy time.
Good news is it seems like the market is rallying around to try
and support lots of offers out there, lots of, you know, price
matching, lots of discounting for migrations and let's call it
(15:50):
how it is. You know, this was this was
sorted for many and now it gets to the top of the priority list
because it's it's AP 1 to get solved.
So there's that for me, it really resonates or lands and
it's something that I've been thinking about a law and I mean,
I'm not the only one to think about it, but Tom are in his
e-mail mentions the disruption that AI is causing.
(16:12):
And I think that we're going to see a lot more.
I don't know if I always say casualties or potential SAS
technologies that have branched into different product areas
start to pull back. You know, he mentioned the fact
of the tools like Lovable and some others that are start to
make headway and disrupting the market.
It's a really interesting 1. So I feel like we are that a lot
(16:35):
of the SAS technologies are looking at how AI is going to be
reshaping the road map with funding getting tighter and
product decisions that once looked like a they looked smart
in the race for platform consolidation and now been
reversed at speed. Number 2 was I thought it was
interesting was our own Gen Z and you know, think about it was
like debit over drama. Gen Z have been of course,
(16:58):
they're changing the game. They're always going to change
the game. But it looks to me like, well,
the industry is still a bit busy, like, you know, building
some we're still building some sexy tools like virtual try ONS
and slight little chat bots. The question is, has anyone
really asked for these products?If they have cool, go for it.
If that's your ICP, go for it. But it looks like the Gen Z are
(17:20):
showing us that they're not as reckless as we think.
They're not as they're not in that impulse as much, especially
when it comes to ANZ. I'm talking more about ANZ.
This might not resignate with anyone else.
They're not spending. They're they're controlled.
So this was according to 2025 ANZ online shopping report from
Big Commerce, or should I say Commerce because they've just
(17:41):
made a rebrand. More than half of 18 to 24 year
olds are now using debit cards to shop instead of credit cards.
This is the highest of any of the age brackets.
They're not racking up points, they're not chasing cash backs.
They're trying to spend more of what they have and it's a bit of
a shift. So a couple of the other
highlights from the report. Credit card usage is in decline.
(18:03):
Visa is down 8% in the last two years.
Free shipping still wins. 86% say it's a top loyalty perk.
It's really funny, like, you know, just do a few shipping and
just, you know, do it smart, of course, and make sure you have
your cross sell, upsell your communication strategy, right?
You know nothing's completely free delivery expectations.
(18:24):
We've spoke about this people are happy to pay for speeds, but
there's definitely shift bigger products, a big ticket delivery
costs have plummeted. 97% of shoppers will abandoned cart if
they feel fees are too high. Reviews matter and they matter a
lot. 77% of of the Gen ZS won't buy if there's no reviews.
(18:46):
I'm a a millennial and I'm, I'm,I'm the same.
I, I didn't really think reviewsimpacted me that much,
especially when I work in the tech space.
And I can see how you can kind of play them a little bit, you
know, only feature these types of reviews, but I still use
them. I think what's coming across
from his Gen ZS as they, they want more detailed information
and reviews. They want more information in
(19:07):
size and from real people. So it's quality over quantity.
Yeah. And the, the shiny e-commerce
features are falling flat. So get back to content, give
them what they want. They're being a little bit more
considered in their purchasing and again, personalization, they
love it. They want things that are more
personalised to them. So I don't think anyone really
(19:28):
is doing this this year. But if you are, stop designing
for hype, start designing for headspace Gen Z's.
They're not impulsive. I think my mum's most impulsive
shopper, even watching her in the last week.
And you know, my mum's a boomer and they are crazy.
But the Gen Z, they're informed,they're discerning with their
spending and yeah, they're reshaping digital commerce and
(19:52):
they they're looking for authentic brand experience.
So that is my two points. I will be live next week from
probably my house in Scotland. I am around the UK for the next
four to six weeks. If anyone wants to catch up with
me. I'll be in London as well for a
few days. And Alex, I hope this is OK and
I didn't ramble too much and I'll see you later.
(20:14):
Bye. Adios and.
Then I just. I can hear on the satellite.
Coming in through the waves. Anyway, listen, thank you so
much Reef for giving me some time this week to to go through
it. Really appreciate it.
Fantastic, Alex. Thanks for being letting me be
part of it. Always good to talk.
I'm Reef Quail, managing director of AIPAC, and this is
Five things Friday. Hello.
How? Are you?
Is it popping? Oh, is this bopping away to the
(00:20):
intro music that was? Yeah, well, we'll have to
release that as a single one daysoon.
It'll be the tease out of track.Anyway, How's it going?
How's your week been? Yeah.
It's been, it's been pretty good.
You know, it's been not the things happening we're into
we're into the budget cycles of 2026 for NRF and what will what
are the levers that will make itgrow.
We've done some off sites and some planning and what was up in
Singapore, we and NRF APEC actually won best trade show
(00:42):
launch in Singapore two weeks away.
So congratulations, it's very exciting.
So we had a bit of a win and it's great recognition for the
team. So that was just awesome, so.
My knees up. I was.
No, it was. That was a poor answer, wasn't
it? No.
Yeah. I had a couple of glasses of
wine and and and caught up with a few friends And where the
(01:02):
trophy on stage. That's cool.
That's fantastic. Well, well deserved.
Congratulations. Thank you.
Very. OK, listen, I'm as always, we're
gonna just, we're gonna for, forthose.
I'm well, I'm sure you're watching this because maybe
you've watched one of the other episodes.
If you haven't, we're gonna cover the top five news articles
across one of the largest regions in the in in the, in the
hemisphere. And I and I love the that
(01:23):
obviously you're sat there in a jumper and I'm here in a T-shirt
showing how global the global weather.
It's very cold in Sydney today. I'm early struggling.
I'm I'm running between turning the heater on and off.
I've got a heater on. What?
What? Just out of curiosity, what's
the temperature that you've got?I reckon it's about hang on,
I'll tell you on my phone, 16°. OK.
And that's really cold for you. Yeah, Sydney's not too bad in
(01:44):
the winter. I still might even get a surf
tomorrow morning. You never know before what.
Anyway, OK, fantastic. I.
Think you should start that. I think we should take that.
We've talked about luxury over the last few weeks.
I said, I think, I think you you've got a good luxury one to
start with that because I think this is the, this is the base
that I think the big elephant inthe room.
Perfect. OK, All right.
So yeah, we as, as Ruth just mentioned, we've talked, we've
(02:05):
spoken about how we're in this era of European brands going to
China for their growth. And we've got to the stage where
brands like Xu Xing Yong Tong, aShanghai born and bred luxury
fashion house that have been taking their designs to Paris
Fashion Week have been well deserved.
(02:26):
Sorry, have been really well received.
And in my mind, again, this is what retailers in in the West
need to be careful of because now you're getting these young
designers who can go toe to toe from a design perspective.
And hence why I think maybe we're seeing a bit of a, a
decline in luxury in the region because of these types of brands
(02:49):
that are growing and will only continue to grow because
technology is not an issue. It's about creativity.
And I think now China's young designers and fashionistas at
that point where they've been sort of consuming all of this
Western retail and now they're bringing their their sort of
spin to it. I think also too just, you know,
(03:11):
this is Chinese style cultural authenticity, you know that, you
know, it's, it's really bringingthis home.
And I think for me now, these brands are well placed because,
you know, we've seen what's happened with some of the other
European maisons. Yeah, these are products that's,
you know built in Asia for Asia and have have real cultural.
Resonance I think 1 to watch they're on far fetched they're
(03:32):
on all the different e-commerce luxury platforms that exist over
here and so I again, I just think this is a a sample of
what. To come, absolutely.
Oh, it's my turn then. OK, I'm ready.
I'm ready. So I'm going to talk about a
brand new cultural phenomenon inKorea.
OK Korea. Korea's got this thing going on,
(03:53):
which is a big, it's impacting retail significant.
It's called the Hjrock culture. Hjrock HONJ.
OK. And it literally translates to a
lone tribe. Wow.
And what it talks about, it describes people, especially
millennials and Gen Z's who loveto live, eat, travel and shop
alone. I mean, not loneliness, but
(04:14):
about self-reliance and freedom,Right.
And So what we're seeing now in career is, you know, it had one
of the highest rates of one person households in the world
with 33% in 2024, right? Yeah.
So that impact on retail has been really felt, you know,
whether it's eating alone at restaurants or drinking alone or
watching movies alone or solo travel.
(04:34):
But in retail, you know, we're seeing the whole ranging and
product evolution. So more single serving packaging
in every form for meal kits to cosmetics, you know, things like
store layout with smaller tables, private booths and and
solo friendly atmospheres. No shopping on your own rather
than in in couples or in a family.
Yeah, brands messages are reallynow talking about, you know,
(04:57):
about not about family time, butme time and treat yourself as
aspirational. Not a sad thing, but an
aspirational thing. Yeah, but like services, you're
seeing subscription boxes, you know, meal box just flying to
the roof, going to the roof, hobby kits, personalised
shopping experiences tailored toone person.
Yeah. And anything that manifesting in
convenience stores like CU, GS25711.
(05:20):
And they're and they're innovating and ready to eat
premium meals for solo consumption.
This is a lifestyle shift. This is a trend in career which
is wild. And it's driven by our Gen ZS
and millennials. They're about choosing to live
alone. Yeah, it's incredible.
I was just I just literally googled it when you said and
obviously the Han jock is is like the the main, but then it's
(05:42):
everything that you're saying inthe Han Bap, which is the
growing interest in culture causing like there's there's
lots. Of different ways.
There's single room karaoke. You could do karaoke.
I can. I can go to that karaoke room,
cry my eyes out and sing all by myself.
I finally got a space. I've always wanted to sing,
(06:02):
always wanted to sing Oops I didit again by Britney Spears on
my. Own But yeah, I mean, I, I have
to be honest, when I when you read things like this, you do
feel that this is a trend that as as sad as it is to say that
you can see growing, you know, people are choosing not to get
married. They're choosing not to
necessarily go into relationships.
And I think, wow, sad, but what a harsh reality that we live in.
(06:27):
Yeah. So I mean, that's I mean, for
me, that was like, you know, looking at looking at things in
Korea because I mean, I mean, the Korean experience is quite a
unique experience in Asia because I cut off a little by
language and they're quite inward looking.
Yeah. And so in Japanese, you go to
Japan, Tokyo feels, you know, a bit more a bit more inclusive.
But yeah, Korea is the language and culture and you know,
(06:47):
they're homegrown brands and K beauty and culture and all the
things coming out of Korea. It's very much set in a Korean
Koreans steer. It's happening unique to that
country, which is so Han Jock is, you know, I'm not surprised
that they're creating movements like this, you know?
I think what a nice segue as well into the next one.
Again, talking about beauty brands, brands the, and this
(07:08):
specific K beauty, K beauty as acategory is growing globally.
And this brand specifically is now growing in the US and
they're called a new which I, I was covering Haley Bieber's
brand in the US that she just sold for a billion in May,
earlier May, May this year. And these new beauty brands
(07:28):
creating communities using influences, obviously using new
science and really challenging the old vanguard of the beauty
providers, which are, you know, the big CPG companies again, as
it feels like not problematic, but as as interesting or the the
Korean societies, they're able to export so many.
(07:52):
Popular, it's an amazing and fascinating country and it but
it's just because they have thisseparation that they can come up
with some some of this unique cultural iconic K beauty and K
pop. It's it is so unique to them,
but it's just, you know, I thinkit's a reflection of the way
they operate with the rest of the world.
But it's just it means that thiscreative creativity happens in
(08:12):
this bubble, which is career that is just so unique and so
different and in many cases so appealing because it's hard to
find anywhere else. So on to mine now and my one,
this is a bit of a wild card Last week we we started to we
talked a little bit about luxuryYep.
And I talked about luxury in theAsia Pacific market and we'll
that, that we might that bet will come to air, I'm sure
because we recorded it and I haven't seen a lot of that yet,
(08:34):
but I wanted to build on that thought.
And when I started digging into the numbers, I really started to
notice in some markets who were flat, some brands were going up,
some brands were going down. China was definitely dropping
back in terms of luxury and thatfor the European Maison, but
might be growing for the Chinesehouses.
But what I did notice was just the incredible growth in Vietnam
and retail growth. And so I thought well, let's
(08:55):
delve a little bit wider to that.
And I think one of the things I've noticed is that Vietnam is
is basically has hit the road like it is going.
So in retail sales in Vietnam hit $300 billion US in 2024.
By 2029 it's going to be 400 andnearly $500 billion and it's
growing at 12% annually. So it's insane.
(09:17):
And then what you've seen is this real appetite for
ecommerce, social media and cross-border.
So ecommerce growth 30, ecommerce GMV jumped 37% in
2024. Wow.
And it's platforms like Shoppi, Lazada, TikTok Shop and Sendo
who are really leading the charge.
You know, so you know, and you know things like not 57% of
(09:39):
transactions are occurring on a phone.
OK, so mobile phones. Yeah, so huge growth, multi
regional platforms coming in andand really mobile first.
I mean career is I think I want to say 70 to 75% mobile phone
LED in the digital context. So they are the kings of mobile
phone, right. Yeah, they are amazing.
But you know, Vietnam, holy cow,what a market and what, what
(10:02):
growth. And, and that this could have
came out of the, the digging around on luxury last week that
I thought, wow, Vietnam seems tobe growing really dramatically
on luxury from albeit a low base.
But when I look at overall retail, this is This country's a
juggernaut. It's like everyone's, everyone's
flat. Do you have to a view on on why
you think that is? What what's going on?
Is it? Is it the that they have?
(10:23):
Matt, this is this is the piece I talked about without with with
Asia Pacific and you talk about the Southeast Asian nations
outside of Singapore. You know, we're seeing the great
equalisation happen right now. Wealth is increasing, right?
Yeah. So we're seeing wealth increased
and people joining the middle class in rapid rate right across
the region. And I think there is therein
lies a change. And as more wealth is happening,
(10:45):
people are travelling there as well.
So I haven't got any informationon, on tourism, but I mean, I
know a lot really go to Vietnam,but I haven't got any own
tourism and retail in Vietnam. But the numbers are suggest to
me that the, the growth in wealth in Vietnam and the rise
in the middle class is, is phenomenal.
And but yes, that's not, that's not unique to Vietnam, you know,
that's you're seeing Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,
(11:08):
Thailand a bit further on and obviously Singapore's well, well
progressed. But you know, these Southeast
Asian markets are accelerating. It's been, it's fascinating.
It's a much younger market too, to quite a youthful market.
That's right. And it's it's one to watch.
I mean, as you said, it's the great equaliser, which to me it
just signals more opportunity according.
(11:29):
And the region and so therefore I mean and then and I was
looking last week as everyone inluxury and it was the mega
growth market in luxury. It was coming out of from
smaller numbers, but it's serious growth happening and
it's not a small country, Vietnam.
As you know, Laura has on her global travels around the world,
so she's not with us, but I'm hoping we'll be able to go to
Laura now. Hi Alex, it's Laura here from
(11:51):
Ishmaela in Turkey. I'll start this off with anyone
who doesn't know me too well. I have been living in Sydney,
Australia for 15 years, since 2010 and I am one of the guilty
ex but expats that go home every12 to 18 months and I spend a
lot of time with my family and yeah and pretty much pretend I'm
(12:14):
back in Glasgow as if I never left.
And I like to try and get a bit of a European holiday in the
mix. So I'm on my jet too.
If you know, you know package holiday with my family and my 2
babies and yes, so I really apologise.
I couldn't be there with you Alex live, but hopefully this
quality, this video quality and sound is OK and you can use it.
(12:34):
But no offence if you cut it outand please apologise.
This is as best as I could muster today.
This is this is as good as it's what you get.
So I'll jump right in. I'll talk about my first point,
which is around yacht poles announcements from yesterday.
So very sad to hear that yacht pole is sunset in their e-mail
and SMS product that came to market under two years ago.
(12:57):
So what does that mean? It means that 200 people from
the team globally have been let go.
And yeah, the the decision's been made that they're just
going to go back. It seems like they're really
streamlining the team and going back to the focus on reviews and
loyalty, which is where where they've always had their
strength and being the leaders. I read the e-mail that Tom, the
(13:19):
CEO sent to his team and he alluded to the fact that the
market's a little bit saturated in the CRM, the communication
space and that they had lost maybe their way from a product
excellence standpoint, and that he wants to really go back to a
bit more of a startup type approach.
So very sad to see this happening for obviously everyone
(13:41):
affected by it from the employees and also the retailers
and brands who've spent probablya significant time with the
migration to another, another product and tool.
From from my standpoint, I have spent seven years before being
out on my own, but seven years Iwas agency side part, owned an
agency and Yacht Paul were one of my key partners for the top
five. Great partner to work with,
(14:02):
always the very professional. So I've always had a great
experience. So we working with yacht Pole
and this couldn't have been an easy decision to have made.
Now this is not an Australia specific issue, it's a global
one. But from my standpoint, from my
perspective, it's a bit of a signal that from the brand and
retailer side, they were the yacht pole, the team, the
(14:25):
market. They were very with their sales
strategy around this product. They were very price competitive
to win business, which is not onit's, it's a typical tactic that
you use to bring a product to market.
So that's what they did. Lots of the road map, it's
coming. So cost was definitely a part of
(14:45):
why brands and retailers decidedto move.
But it wasn't the only part. And I don't think we should ever
put it into a cost of that was only reason.
A big reason was also because ofthe promise of consolidation.
We have seen the best in breed Siword product stack, the
maturity of the SAS vendors going up, building out the
(15:06):
product suite and it made a lot of sense.
The theme of loyalty has been sostrong in Australia and New
Zealand and APAC globally that you oppose a leader of views and
loyalty. To have your communication lines
in the one place made a lot of sense.
The business case would have been quite appealing.
So, yeah, a bit of a punished for the retailers going through
(15:28):
this. They're going to have to try
their best to migrate off of your pool as quick as they can.
They're coming up to three months out from Black Friday,
right? It's a busy time.
Good news is it seems like the market is rallying around to try
and support lots of offers out there, lots of, you know, price
matching, lots of discounting for migrations and let's call it
(15:50):
how it is. You know, this was this was
sorted for many and now it gets to the top of the priority list
because it's it's AP 1 to get solved.
So there's that for me, it really resonates or lands and
it's something that I've been thinking about a law and I mean,
I'm not the only one to think about it, but Tom are in his
e-mail mentions the disruption that AI is causing.
(16:12):
And I think that we're going to see a lot more.
I don't know if I always say casualties or potential SAS
technologies that have branched into different product areas
start to pull back. You know, he mentioned the fact
of the tools like Lovable and some others that are start to
make headway and disrupting the market.
It's a really interesting 1. So I feel like we are that a lot
(16:35):
of the SAS technologies are looking at how AI is going to be
reshaping the road map with funding getting tighter and
product decisions that once looked like a they looked smart
in the race for platform consolidation and now been
reversed at speed. Number 2 was I thought it was
interesting was our own Gen Z and you know, think about it was
like debit over drama. Gen Z have been of course,
(16:58):
they're changing the game. They're always going to change
the game. But it looks to me like, well,
the industry is still a bit busy, like, you know, building
some we're still building some sexy tools like virtual try ONS
and slight little chat bots. The question is, has anyone
really asked for these products?If they have cool, go for it.
If that's your ICP, go for it. But it looks like the Gen Z are
(17:20):
showing us that they're not as reckless as we think.
They're not as they're not in that impulse as much, especially
when it comes to ANZ. I'm talking more about ANZ.
This might not resignate with anyone else.
They're not spending. They're they're controlled.
So this was according to 2025 ANZ online shopping report from
Big Commerce, or should I say Commerce because they've just
(17:41):
made a rebrand. More than half of 18 to 24 year
olds are now using debit cards to shop instead of credit cards.
This is the highest of any of the age brackets.
They're not racking up points, they're not chasing cash backs.
They're trying to spend more of what they have and it's a bit of
a shift. So a couple of the other
highlights from the report. Credit card usage is in decline.
(18:03):
Visa is down 8% in the last two years.
Free shipping still wins. 86% say it's a top loyalty perk.
It's really funny, like, you know, just do a few shipping and
just, you know, do it smart, of course, and make sure you have
your cross sell, upsell your communication strategy, right?
You know nothing's completely free delivery expectations.
(18:24):
We've spoke about this people are happy to pay for speeds, but
there's definitely shift bigger products, a big ticket delivery
costs have plummeted. 97% of shoppers will abandoned cart if
they feel fees are too high. Reviews matter and they matter a
lot. 77% of of the Gen ZS won't buy if there's no reviews.
(18:46):
I'm a a millennial and I'm, I'm,I'm the same.
I, I didn't really think reviewsimpacted me that much,
especially when I work in the tech space.
And I can see how you can kind of play them a little bit, you
know, only feature these types of reviews, but I still use
them. I think what's coming across
from his Gen ZS as they, they want more detailed information
and reviews. They want more information in
(19:07):
size and from real people. So it's quality over quantity.
Yeah. And the, the shiny e-commerce
features are falling flat. So get back to content, give
them what they want. They're being a little bit more
considered in their purchasing and again, personalization, they
love it. They want things that are more
personalised to them. So I don't think anyone really
(19:28):
is doing this this year. But if you are, stop designing
for hype, start designing for headspace Gen Z's.
They're not impulsive. I think my mum's most impulsive
shopper, even watching her in the last week.
And you know, my mum's a boomer and they are crazy.
But the Gen Z, they're informed,they're discerning with their
spending and yeah, they're reshaping digital commerce and
(19:52):
they they're looking for authentic brand experience.
So that is my two points. I will be live next week from
probably my house in Scotland. I am around the UK for the next
four to six weeks. If anyone wants to catch up with
me. I'll be in London as well for a
few days. And Alex, I hope this is OK and
I didn't ramble too much and I'll see you later.
(20:14):
Bye. Adios and.
Then I just. I can hear on the satellite.
Coming in through the waves. Anyway, listen, thank you so
much Reef for giving me some time this week to to go through
it. Really appreciate it.
Fantastic, Alex. Thanks for being letting me be
part of it. Always good to talk.
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