NRF APAC 2025 | Singapore

Discussions on the ground highlight the transformative potential of AI and digital innovation, positioning the Asia Pacific region as a burgeoning powerhouse in retail technology.

I’ve always said retail is not for the faint of heart. It’s fast, messy, brilliant, and constantly being reinvented. And nowhere is that reinvention happening faster than in Asia Pacific, the biggest and boldest retail playground on earth. There, I’ve said it out loud. I think the best retailing in the world is happening right here in our own backyard (and especially in South Korea, Japan and China).

So, when NRF brought its flagship Big Show back to Singapore this year, we packed our bags (and loose-fitting pants for the hawker food), rounded up a sharp delegation of Kiwi retailers, and jumped in headfirst.

The Kiwi Contingent L-Rt: Richard Hartono & Kristian Reinback (Target Furniture), Dawn Engelbrecht (Kitchen Studio), Mia Anderson (2degrees), Juanita (me) and Lisa Donaldson (RX Group)

This is my recap, not just of what we saw, but why we think every ANZ retailer needs to be watching this region and our own backyard with a different lens.

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Why Singapore? Why APAC?

Early this year I did attend the OG NRF Big Show held in the frosty halls of New York (which is fabulous if you can tolerate the sensation of -8°C and frostbite on your nose hairs when it is our summer holidays). But the APAC version is no knockoff.

In fact, it might just be the more important sibling for our part of the world.

Here’s why:

• 55% of the world’s shoppers live in APAC

• APAC’s middle class will grow by 3.49 billion people by 2030

• It’s the fastest-growing, most diverse retail market globally

Translation: If you’re building a brand in this region, don’t just watch the trends. You can be out there co-creating them through partnerships, local understanding, and tech innovation as a secret sauce.

Day One: The State of Retail (and the cart that knows you better than your mum)

We kicked off with a heavy-hitting keynote from Vipul Chawla (FairPrice Group) and Sam Kim (Lotte Group), who both made one thing clear: the future of retail isn’t digital or physical, (are you dumbfounded we still call this out as a highlight?)…. it’s a seamless, intelligent mash-up of both.

FairPrice’s “Store of Tomorrow” was centre stage and it didn’t disappoint. Their new Smart Carts are like having a personal shopper, nutritionist, and payment terminal all rolled into one:

• Built-in touchscreens for product location and recommendations

• Scan-and-go with built-in barcode reader

• AI-driven dietary suggestions (keto? gluten-free? sorted.)

• Palm print payment and digital loyalty integration

Plus, digital price tags that update in real-time (goodbye sticky labels and shelf wobbles).

We also got the call up to a VIP tour of FairPrice’s VivoCentre hypermarket. This is no ordinary hypermarket. It’s a showcase of what retail looks like when ecosystem thinking, digital enablement, and customer-centric design come together. Think: 90,000 square feet of pure grocery flex.

Images: FairPrice

The store itself is packed with standout moments:

🌿 On-site hydroponic farm by Sustenir Group

☕ In-house coffee roasting in partnership with local favourite Tiong Hoe

🐟 Butcher and fishmonger counters preparing meals fresh in-store

♻️ Sustainability-led supply partnerships woven into the store’s DNA

🍜 DIY ramen in-store from mild - super spicy

🤝 Supplier partnership execution at localised level managed by the store

🌏 Lotte’s first store-in-store outside Korea, with over 700 SKUs

📱 Digitally enabled shopping from Scan & Go to gamified loyalty

Korean Lotte Mart Express at Fairprice Xtra Vivocity with Korean street food, customisable instant noodles, and snacks exclusive to the outlet.

My favourite standout: Trust Bank Singapore, the joint venture between FairPrice and Standard Chartered, has already surpassed 1 million customers since its 2022 launch. Members enjoy up to 20%+ off their FairPrice shop, embedding value, loyalty, and financial services in a way that directly benefits the shopper. This is genius and you can explore more of the idea here.

TRUST Customer Experience Centre - Fairprice Hypermarket VivoCity

But beyond the innovation, the real spark comes from the people. The energy across the team was infectious. I’ve toured supermarkets all over the world (and worked in them) and this was one of the most energised, customer-connected teams These store managers are true “owners” of their businesses making the key decisions on what happens where to keep the local integrity and store engagement super high.

2degrees and our own slice of Kiwi heaven on the BIG stage

It was also a proud moment to see New Zealand representation on stage. 

Mia Anderson from 2degrees joined Panchalee Weeratammawat from Central Retail and Paula Macaggi in a panel discussion on how happy employees create better customer experiences. 

Their insights captured a powerful truth: we’re now operating in an era where employees prioritise wellbeing, development, and value alignment and when they’re supported, customer outcomes improve.

Tech that turned our heads

The expo floor was bursting with future-ready ideas. A few that stood out:

Solar Shelf Labels From Vusion

These e-ink price tags run on solar getting there batteries refilled by the store lighting, no batteries needed. And they can survive with no power and still work for four months (why or how that would ever happen is beyond me!)

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Bodd.io 3D Body Scanning

Used by everyone from the NZ defence force to US airlines. Their tech does personalised clothing sizing, health assessments, and even fitness insights, all from one full-body scan. Fewer returns. Better fits. Less awkward “try this in a medium” moments.

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Live Commerce: BeLive the one to watch

As part of our NORA x AWS retail study tour, we organised an exclusive visit to BeLive Technology and Tencent HQ. BeLive’s platform (LORA) is the live shopping tool you didn’t know you needed. But trust me, you do:

• One-click purchases during livestreams

• Interactive chat, polls, trivia, and gifting

• Seamless eCommerce integration

• Fully white-labelled to match your brand

LORA in action

BeLive have worked with ShopBack, Zalora, TUMI, and Bath & Body Works, delivering 4x engagement and 30% more add-to-cart action. Naturally, we’ve asked them to visit ANZ because, frankly, the tech is that good.

Big Brains, Big Ideas

The conference was packed with thinkers who’ve built billion-dollar ideas and lived to tell the tale, like:

Andrew Miles (Ex-Sam’s Club, China)Shared how he grew Sam’s from 6 stores to 400+ by not following trends but staying true to brand purpose. The lesson? Know your "why" or get eaten alive by shiny objects.

Alice Liu (Golden ABC, Philippines)Led a family garment business through eruptions (literal and figurative) to become the country’s leading fashion group. Purpose and community were her compass.

AI, Agentic Commerce and the era of 'Buy for Me'

Everyone was talking about AI. But this wasn’t your basic ChatGPT hype. We’re talking full-blown agentic commerce and specifically, where AI becomes your shopping concierge:

• Amazon & Google are pushing “Buy for Me” buttons

• Myntra’s AI now drives 50% of sales via dark stores & influencer content

• Ulta Beauty uses data + events to build deep loyalty with 44M members

• FairPrice’s team (Karen Chan and Alvin Neo) dropped gold nuggets on how to build an AI-powered business, from unified data layers to AI literacy in every team. It’s not just tech; it’s culture.

Retail is Media. Media is Retail.

A hit of the conference was the session on retail media. Agentic AI can now:

• Recognise your face

• Match it with purchase history

• Serve hyper-targeted content on digital displays, in real time

We have been talking about this for years and it’s finally happening. Spooky? Perhaps. Effective? Absolutely. Welcome to the era where your store shelf doubles as a smart billboard.

Networking, learning and immersion

All in all we had a hoot of a time. I think we all agreed that when you attend events like NRF APAC it's best to go in a group where you can share, challenge, bounce ideas and divide and conquer where appropriate. It's full on and you need to make sure you rest hard as you certainly retail hard.

Key Takeaways in a few words

• AI is your new planner

• Agentic Commerce will deliver customers their own shopping bot (more in article by Kristian)

• Omnichannel + community = sticky loyalty

• Live shopping works

• Know your why

• Hyperlocal innovation matters

• Retail media is growing up

• Purpose trumps hype

Singapore? Still a masterclass in efficiency and deliciousness.

Fast-track immigration, tree-lined boulevards, and hawker stalls that put five-star restaurants to shame.

And the retail? Let’s just say the future’s already here and it just happens to come with biometric payments, hydroponic lettuce, cocktails with a branded ice-cube in it, laundry photo booths, personalised dog therapies and the politest robot cleaners you’ve ever seen.

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👉 Want the deeper debrief on the Retail Store we explored.

Join is this Thursday for our webinar.

Can’t make it when it’s live. Simply register and we will send you the recording.

👉 Want to join our next retail study tour?

Head to www.rxgroup.co.nz or email us at Melissa@rxgroup.co.nz and get on the “need to know” list for our next adventure or NRF in 2026.