Magazines Archives - 2011 December

APRCE 2011 in Singapore calls on retailers to ‘discover, differentiate and deliver’
Story 8 - Special Review

ORGANISED by the Singapore Retailers Association (SRA), under the auspices of the Federation of Asia- Pacific Retailers Association (FAPRA), and Singapore Exhibition Services Pte Ltd, the 15th APRCE, staged at Suntec Singapore International Convention & Exhibition Centre from October 10-13, hosted over 3,000 delegates from more than 20 countries.

The biennial convention and exhibition centring on the theme “Discover, Differentiate, Deliver”, was poised to allow retailers from across the region to “discover” the new dynamics of the retail environment, learn how to “differentiate” their offerings to the recession-emerging consumer, and “deliver” more options to this new customer. The event featured more than 50 speakers from across the industry presenting topics that were both insightful and engaging,

Speaking with Retail Asia, Dato’ Dr Jannie Chan, president of the SRA and newly appointed FAPRA chairperson, said: “With the Asian crisis, we had to take a look back into the past and at the present, to understand and realise the changing customer profiles against the economic anomalies. The main points of the theme at this year’s APRCE were to discover what differences have emerged since the downturn, to differentiate from one another in order to provide a total experience for the customer based on the new customer profile that has emerged and to deliver what this new customer is expecting.”

Dato’ Chan continued: “The image of the retail industry has changed: it’s all about creating value, about the customer, about passion, learning and service. At SRA, we look to inculcate these into the role of the retailer.”

In order to ensure that professionals across the industry are able to “grow in the business”, the new FAPRA chair revealed plans to make information that was vital to retailers readily available to FAPRA member countries.

“We see that people still want to learn, to see how existing retailers are going about their businesses and to adapt whichever practices they can so that everyone can improve.

“We also intend to look into how we can boost the FAPRA image, brand and stature in the industry … to build a base of information for all members across the Asia-Pacific region, here in Singapore,” she maintained.

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