By Inside Retail Asia
The next era of retail and its new generation of consumers are already here. Success in the industry is no longer just about scale.
The third and final day of the NRF 2026 Asia Pacific shone a spotlight on what it really takes for retailers to win in the evolving retail landscape, as changing consumer demand and new technologies constantly redefine how businesses operate.
According to Alice Liu, president and CEO of fashion enterprise Golden ABC, the retailers who succeed in the years ahead will not necessarily be the biggest or the oldest, but the ones who adapt the fastest while remaining deeply connected to the people they serve.
Winning next-gen consumers
The Philippines, Golden ABC’s home market, has one of the youngest populations in Asia Pacific, with a median age of just 26. The next generation of consumers in the country has been driving new trends and is reshaping retail at an extraordinary speed.
“The younger consumers are digital first, but not digital only. They are highly value-conscious, but also deeply experience-driven,” Liu said. “They move fluidly between online and offline without seeing any differentiation between the two. They do not simply buy products; they buy identity, meaning, belonging, and experience.”
As engagement happens across multiple platforms and purchase can take place anywhere, consumers today expect speed, authenticity, convenience, connection, purpose-driven products, and, above all, consistency, she continued.
To win these customers, according to Liu, retailers need to have the ability to integrate physical retail, digital engagement, cultural relevance, and storytelling into one connected brand experience.
She believes that the retailers who shift from transaction-based thinking toward relationship-based thinking will be the ones who shape the future of the industry.
“The next generation consumer is not waiting for retail to evolve. They are already redefining it,” Liu stressed.
Physical complements digital
In this new era of retail, omnichannel is no longer a competitive advantage but is the baseline expectation, and the physical retail experience is not disappearing but is shifting into a new form.
According to Liu, the stores that succeed today are not simply selling products but the ones that are creating reasons to visit and offering the right experience for their customers.
“This is where physical retail becomes powerful again, not as a competitor to digital, but as its complement. Digital excels at speed and convenience, but physical retail offers something technology alone cannot fully replicate: Human connection, immersion, emotion, and experience.
“The future of physical detail is not smaller; it’s smarter, more intentional, more immersive, and more human,” she said.
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