Keynote ‘Platforms: East vs West in Retail’

Wijnand has been writing about his retail trips to South-East Asia and China, for years, in blogs and books. Now he has set down his experiences of China’s retail transformation in a unique keynote: East versus West – what retailers in the west can learn from those in the east. South-East Asia, China and Korea are clearly appreciative of Wijnand’s expertise: his book The End of Online Shoppinghas been translated into Chinese and Korean. The Korean version sold over 10,000 copies in the first two months of 2019, and a special English edition published by WSPC (Singapore) is tailored to all the countries in South-East Asia.

Using dozens of showcases, Wijnand will describe the rise of marketplaces and stores of Alibaba, JD.com (Chinese Amazon), and WeChat – the hugely popular app with over 1 billion users. These new Chinese retail superpowers are at the forefront of numerous new retail developments. Many of these have gone unnoticed in the West: Jack Ma’s New Retail vision, for one, and the new O2O movement (online to offline), the rise of all-in-one apps and the impact of influencer marketing. How will the rise of China as a retail giant affect the west? What will the effect in the west be of nationally-run state programs such as One Belt One Road, Internet Plus, Social Credit System 2020 and Made in China 2025?

In his keynote, Wijnand will blow your mind with the story of Chinese middle class, who are in fact the basis of China’s retail transformation. Using his own photos, not to mention dozens of unique videos of his journeys, he will present his visits to Chinese retail titans and a brand-new generation of onlife retailers.