Retail Asia Expo 2011 to kick off 14 June

Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre will host event to unite players in the US$5.4tn sector.

Retail Expo Asia 2011, Asia's leading event for the retail industry, is back for the third year running and will open on 14-16 June 2011 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, showcasing the technology solutions and all elements of shop design and visual marketing needed by retail operators. It brings together over 8,000 retail operators representing major chainstores, multinational brand owners, and advertising agencies from across the Asia Pacific.

According to the "Strong and Steady: 2011 Outlook for the Retail and Consumer Products Sector in Asia" report by PwC, the Asia Pacific region is the largest and fastest growing retail market in the world and, in value terms, retail sales are expected to reach US$5.4 trillion this year and US$8.5 trillion in 2014. 

"Asian retailers face continuing pressure from rent increases, staff pay increases, inflation and increasing manufacturing costs. There is also added competition from an invasion of non-Asian retail brands seeking to drive growth due to sluggish demand in their own traditional markets," said Stuart Bailey, General Manager of Diversified Events, the organiser of the expo.

"Retail Asia Expo 2011 gives retailers an opportunity to witness first hand new technologies from leading solution providers that will help them to cap costs, fend off competition, and networking in an environment totally focussed on their industry."

Retail Asia Expo 2011 will allow all visitors to participate in the world's first large scale trial of a new technology that allows high bandwidth data transfer through visible light. Working similarly to a WiFi hotspot, LED light works in communicating with connected devices in a process that is as easy as switching on a light.

The event is carefully designed as a one-stop shop for everything retailers need to see and learn except the merchandise they sell in their shops. In the Retail Technology Expo area are booths displaying brand new products from major solutions providers including Microsoft, Intel, NCR and Panasonic from mobile devices to process credit card payments to tracking systems.

Over in the Retail Design and In-Store Marketing Expo are new advancements in shop design and visual marketing and this year sees a bigger emphasis on lighting with Philips, Osram, Megaman and Acelab all displaying new products. One of the world's top architecture and design firms Callison and HAYA Retail Solutions will also exhibit in the show.

Intel (Booth No. K01) will showcase its latest Intel(r) Retail Interactive Fashion Experience, an in-store shopping experience based on the 2nd Generation Intel Core i7 processor, which enables shoppers to visually browse and filter through store inventory for access to thousands of fashion items, combine them into outfits on a virtual mannequin, and share snapshots of the outfits with friends by email for real-time feedback, according to a Retail Asia Expo 2011 report.

Microsoft (Booth No. J01) will launch Dynamics(r) AX for Retail and end-to-end retail solutions comprising Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Point-of-Sale (POS) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems that work with retailers' existing technology.

Other exhibitor highlights include:

• The world's largest 152-inch Full HD 3D plasma display screen from Panasonic (J33);
• The latest iPad/Android e-Catalogue solution for retail industry from Accentrix (H04);
• A POS solution based on the light-touch technology form Adpl-solutions (D21);
• Two new LED lighting products from Megaman (G01);
• A brand new eco-friendly shopping bag from Chun Hing (B01)

Visitors can also join an extensive programme of free seminars and workshops with presentations from renowned experts giving insights and opinions into the industry.

The Retail Asia Expo is supported by the Hong Kong Retail Management Association and from other influential retail associations and media across the region. Retail Asia Expo was recently honoured by Trade Show Executive magazine for being the fastest growing trade show in Asia.