According to Ms Neeta Lachmandas, Executive Director of SMU’s Institute of Service Excellence, retailers have moved beyond the simply creating websites and social media handles but are also now embracing technology such as artificial intelligence and robotics to help them gain further insights into consumers’ behaviour. She believes the technology savvy local population is driving the push for retailers to up their game and offer personalization and customization of their products. Retailers are also turning to disruptive technology to build an omni-channel presence in the market, providing a seamless, unified, consistent service experience for its consumers. She added that consumer satisfaction will increasingly be a critical factor compared to other metrics like profitability or revenue as these satisfied consumers will act as active marketing roles to influence other potential customers’ decisions.