The first ULI Philippines _DEBATE session, in partnership with ASPACE Philippines,  “The Future of Retail”, brought together a panel of retailers and industry leaders to discuss where they foresee the trends in the market heading last September 26, 2017.

The audience listens as the panelists defend their side.

It was unanimous – physical stores are here to stay but will evolve and change over time. Physical retail, however, will need to embrace e-commerce. In the future, every retail concept will have a digital component.

Foreign brands will continue to dominate retail in the Philippines (except for F&B) so local retailers will have to excel in experience: look, feel, and service in order to create communities of supporters and customers.

The panel was split on betting between physical retail real estate and e-commerce for the future. Most likely it will be a future with both. Physical has the advantage of customer touch points and social connection while e-commerce has the advantage of speed and scale.