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5th China Retail Development Summit 2011

, Shanghai, China

SHANGHAI, CHINA, 01-02 DECEMBER 2011 – China is on its way to becoming the single largest retail market in the world. There are a number of new projects underway in regards to the development of shopping centers which are bringing huge potential opportunities for retail industry.

The 5th China Retail Development Summit took place on the 1st and 2nd of December at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Shanghai, China. There were around 150 delegates in attendance at all from well known shopping malls, department stores, retail brands and commercial property developers. They were all intent on discussing China’s shopping mall projects and the latest industrial policies.

Day one began with a speech from Guo Zengli, President of Mall China Information Center. He gave a speech into the current retail market and the development of shopping malls, department stores as well as brands. His presentation was well thought of and showcased his in depth research into the subject as he presented a large amount of statistics which gave strong support of his prediction about the future retail development. The delegates were highly impressed by him and his predictions gained support from most of the audience. He was followed by Chen Zhi, President of Causeway Bay Group who shared his experience on how to define the market position for each multifunctional shopping mall. He especially emphasized that China needs to build some iconic shopping malls similar to those ones at Las Vegas. He added that it will attract the international tourists but also helps China’s retail industry to step onto a worldwide stage. The delegates were highly impressed with his advice and future vision of China’s retail industry. Another impressive speaker was Mr. Jonathan Wang, Chairman from Land Vision, who has more than twenty years’ experience in retail and commercial real estate industry. His wealth of experience aided him in delivering a remarkable presentation in regards to the interaction between shopping mall and retail industry. His speech was practical and gave great guidance into how the retail industry is developing in terms of diversity. He pointed out that every retail brand should have a clear market positioning before making a strategy. He backed up his presentation with solid research statistics and he ended by suggesting a successful strategy should aim for being the industry leader or differentiating from your competitors. The delegates thoroughly enjoyed his speech and listened intently to all the advice he gave them. In the afternoon of the summit Yang Dehong, President from eFuture spoke about the multi-channel development of retail. He mentioned the rise and boom of e-commercial business as well as how it will influence and change the traditional retail industry.

The summit came to a close with a panel discussion. Ms. Yang Hui, Director of Research Department, held the panel discussion as the Chairman of day one. The panel included Mr. Yang Dehong and Ricky Cheng, Senior IT Manager for NOVO, and they discussed topics pertaining to the conflict of traditional retail business and emerging e-commercial business. The discussion was full of pertinent questions and witty repartee, which lasted for a whole 60 minutes. Mr. Yang pointed out that the traditional retail should adapt their strategy to the market based on the real understanding of its consumers’ needs. “The congress is a good platform and excellent opportunity to meet both buyers and vendors, and professionals of this industry” Daphne International Holdings Ltd

Day two opened with the CEO of Mango China, David Sancho who gave a joint lecture alongside Sue Liu, Expansion Director of C&A. They presented on global challenges in retail as well as Mango’s future strategy in China’s market. Sue’s bilingual presentation showed a clear picture of Mango’s development in China for the past years and then David continued with Mango’s next step to handle the challenges in retail industry. He stated that Mango will expand their production line to a larger market. The Q&A session lasted for 15 minutes after his speech, which showed that China’s retail developers pay much attention to Mango’s development in China. They were followed by Yu Guanghua, General Manager, Coastal City who presented his management method form a philosophical aspect. He emphasized that the success to a company should also be a success to its employees; the development of a shopping mall should be based on how to better serve its customers. His presentation was enlightening and full of passion which resulted in the audience applauding him several times during his speech. It became apparent during the conference that his opinion had strong resonance with the top retail management. Another great speech came courtesy of Rowan Verwoerd, Expansion Director from C&A and he spoke of the exciting future of fast fashion retail in China. During his presentation, he showed the audience two videos, showing the passion of his love in the company and C&A’s creative spirit of designing customer-based products. He stressed on the localization strategy of C&A and expressed his confidence in China’s market. In the afternoon of day two Dr. Ying Xiaoyun, Executive Director from Suntimes, discussed commercial properties which was considered to be a hot topic. As the Director of a professional consulting service provider to Huarun’s commercial property business, he scientifically showed the way how real estate developers could meet success in the area. He presented his point of view from an angle unexpected by the delegates and they found this to be enlightening.

An interesting panel discussion also occurred on day two of the event which included Rowan Verwoerd, Sue Liu, Chen Zhi and Yu Guanghua, sharing their opinions on how shopping malls and brands could cooperate to realize a win-win strategy. All of them expressed their expectation from the other party as well as the support they’ll manage to provide for the other. Mr. Yu’s business philosophy of retaining a customer-bringing tenant rather than a profit-bringing tenant was thought-provoking and gained applause when talking about being a merchant who cares about the feelings of its customers. Rowan and Sue talked about C&A’s and Mango’s development history in China and looked forward to a win-win strategy with shopping malls. Both of them mentioned that a good location is one of the most important factors that they consider when looking for cooperation. “This congress introduced us to number of cutting edge ideas, and shall make us think outside of the box.” Shanghai Golden Eagle Square

The summit also served as a platform for new innovations and products to be showcased. GE Lighting sent their Product Manager for Asia, Jenny Tang to come and give a presentation on the importance of lighting in the retail industry and shared case studies about how GE provide their clients with a much more charming and attractive shopping environment with their professional lighting solution. Additionally Tyco, sent their Channel Manager James Gao to make the presentation of their innovative touch systems which could be widely applied in the retail industry. James’s speech aroused the interest of the delegates by practical examples of Tyco’s Elo touch system’s application in stores, shopping malls and restaurants worldwide.

Lastly Armstrong, sent their Strategic Marketing Manager, David Shi to introduce their products’ application in the commercial environment. He also showed the audience with some instances of how Armstrong’s floor products make a better overall visual effect in the stores and shopping malls. “We have benefited a lot from the event in terms of knowledge and industry connections.” Shenzhen Dongfangyishang Fashion Co Ltd.

Noppen would like to express special thanks to Mall China Information Center and to all the sponsors of the 5th China Retail Development Summit sponsors GE Lighting, Tyco Electronics, Armstrong, Amtico, Philips, Leo Vation, HIK Vision and Shopper Trak.

5th China Retail Development Summit 2011

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