Future of Commerce

Topic 5

The Purposeful Future

5 September 2022
Southeast Asian consumers today, particularly millennials and Generation Z, are concerned about the environmental and social impact of businesses, and many vote with their wallets to support companies that take a more active role in sustainability. How has the behavior of Southeast Asian online shoppers changed towards sustainability? How can businesses leverage sustainability as a competitive advantage rather than a cost? How should a business approach the key challenges that it may face when embarking on a sustainability journey?

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Our Panelists

Fang Wei has been working in the environmental sector for 6 years, previously with Singapore Green Building Council and currently at WMRAS. Set up in 2001, WRMAS is a not for profit trade association that advocates best practices, transfer of knowledge amongst industry players. With the vision of creating a more sustainable environment for Singapore, WMRAS plays a pivotal role in facilitating working relationships between businesses, the government and community. Fang Wei has also spent 5 years helping business build and activate impactful networks for sustainable growth at Constellar.
Hazel is the co-founder and Marketing Director for Sustainable Familie Trading Pte Ltd, distributor for well-loved baby brands, Mushie and Frigg, aimed at giving every child the best and safest start in life. She firmly believes in empowering women to lead their businesses and advocates strongly for support towards female entrepreneurship. She is energetic, loves multi-tasking, and enjoys tennis and exercising in her free time.
A 20 year retail veteran and founding working member of Synagie, Weiling oversees the Group’s commercial development, operations, relationships and projects for its key regional clients such as the Estée Lauder Companies, Nike, L’Oreal and Shiseido Group. She has held previous leadership positions at Watsons and NTUC Unity Healthcare. At Synagie, she had directly managed the markets of Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam and has been instrumental in the Group’s growth and dominance in the categories of Beauty, Fashion and Premium Alcohol.

Topic 4

The Carefree Future

5 September 2022
Trust is an important deciding factor in consumer purchases, and it is even more crucial in the digital commerce space due to the lack of physical cues and interactions. What factors influence consumer trust in a seller in digital commerce? What can a seller do to build and reinforce its trustworthiness to drive conversion? How will the role of trust evolve in digital commerce in the next 2-3 years?

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Our Panelists

Kaden is the marketing director of Excel Hardware Pte Ltd and sits on the executive committees of the Singapore Furniture Industry Council (SFIC) and Renovation Contractors & Materials Suppliers Association (RCMA). A Lions Cub Enterprise Member, Kaden received the Successful Entrepreneur Award from One Asia and has been featured extensively in the media including the Straits Times, Business Times and Sin Chew Daily.
At Synagie, Jaydee leads a regional team of 80 to manage customer engagement for close to 1000 e-stores across 6 channels in SEA. As a result, Synagie as an enabler partner, has been rated 3-star (highest) by Lazada for consecutive terms, across SEA, clinching the coveted Regional Partner of the Year Award in 2021. Jaydee is a 12 year customer service and client servicing veteran having worked previously in lead roles at Infosys BPM, Arvato and Visaya KPO.
A 25 year giant in the home and living industry, having held leadership roles at HomeFix DIY, Improvement Solutions and Nippon Paint, Gordon has spent the last 6 years helping brands and sellers bring their business online across Southeast Asia. Prior to Synagie, Gordon was Chief Business Officer at Kinofy and Business Development Lead at Singapore Institute of Retail Studies (SIRS).

Topic 3

The Personalized Future

22 August 2022
Today’s consumers expect more relevant and contextual information and experiences. Technology and data advancements enable businesses to make consumers feel heard, understood and engaged as individuals across moments and channels, which will become even more important for businesses to remain competitive in an increasingly crowded marketplace. How can businesses use digital commerce tools to create a personalized experience across discovery, purchase, and loyalty? How can businesses balance consumer desire for personalization with growing privacy and data security concerns? How will the need for personalization evolve as part of shopping behavior in the next 2-3years?

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Our Panelists

Sungjong specialises into research on how to bring about cognitive and behaviour change through actionable, impactful interventions by investigating into the principles of human judgement and decision-making. At SMU, he teaches a wide range of courses on data-informed, evidence-based management practices, computational data analytics using Python and R programming, and behavioural insights to undergraduate and postgraduate business students, working professionals, and executives. He also gives lectures for the Citi-SMU Financial Literacy Programme for Young Adults. Sungjong received his Ph.D from Cornell University, is a Fellow of SMU Academy and has been the proud recipient the SMU’s ‘Most Promising Teacher’ Award.
With 10 years’ experience in digital marketing, Sonya currently leads Synagie’s regional team of 25 performance marketeers across SEA. Synagie’s Marketing & Creative Services Division is one of Lazada’s largest, most trusted and goto eCommerce marketing partner with prestigious regional accounts such as The Estee Lauder Companies, Nike, Aesop and Shiseido Group of brands. Formerly from Mindshare, Sonya was also part of the working team that founded Synagie Philippines.
A founding working member of Synagie, Pei Gy currently leads a regional team of 70 to manage close to 1000 e-stores across 12 digital channels in SEA. As a result, Synagie as an enabler partner, has been rated 3-star (highest) by Lazada for consecutive terms, across SEA, clinching the coveted Regional Partner of the Year Award in 2021. Pei Gy has previously worked at Wahl as its SEA lead for eCommerce as well as Watsons in positions of merchandising and business analytics.

Topic 2

The Experiential Future

22 August 2022

Southeast Asian consumers’ expectations for the online experience are evolving as they become more comfortable discovering and buying products online. A great online consumer experience can be a game changer and key differentiator for a business’s future success in Southeast Asia. How can businesses delight their consumers in innovative and creative ways? How can businesses use technology to help them achieve breakthroughs in customer experience? What will be the “next big thing” in consumer experience in the next 2-3 years?

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Our Panelists

A 12 year beauty industry veteran, Evelyn manages Synagie’s business development for Malaysia and Singapore. She spearheads the Group’s continued growth and dominance in beauty, fashion and premium alcohol sectors in those markets. Previously as General Manager of the DFS Group for Singapore and Myanmar, she helped grow brands such as Gucci, Omega, Tiffany, and Moët Hennessy. A proud mother of 2 beautiful girls, Evelyn is an entrepreneur in her own right, having set up her own beauty brand, Hareway, in 2012 for 4 years.
Patrick currently leads Synagie’s business development in the Philippines, managing some of the world’s most valuable brands such as Nike, The Estee Lauder Companies, L’Oreal and Amore Paciific Groups of brands. Patrick has over 10 years’ experience in retail, both online and offline, having previously worked in leadership roles at Lazada, ALTUS Digital Capital and GMR Megawide Cebu Airport Corp.
Lisa is the Vice President and Head of Business Development at Perfect Corp, leading multiple teams and responsible for functions such as business development, business unit management and business Analytics. Lisa joined Perfect Corp. in 2015 when the company was first founded and has since continued her passion in assisting clients to embrace digital innovation and expanding businesses in the Beauty AI/AR arena.

Topic 1

The Connected Future

15 August 2022

The digital and physical worlds have become increasingly entwined, and this trend is expected to continue. Southeast Asian consumers will be expecting a more seamless and enjoyable experience across channels, so businesses must plan ahead of time in order to be well positioned to deliver omnichannel success.

How will the omnichannel shopping trend evolve over the next 2-3 years? What are the most important factors for businesses to consider when developing an omnichannel strategy? What back-end integration is required for omnichannel implementation success?

Join us for an exclusive panel discussion and hear from our expert guests:`

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Our Panelists

With a foundation of global experience in leading branded CPG, wholesale and retail companies, Richard brings a wealth of commercial insight and knowledge in building consumer focused teams. He has held leadership roles at GSK Consumer Healthcare, as CMO at divisional board level for Massmart / Walmart International, and at Target Australia. Since 2017, Richard has been Managing Director for Meyer Cookware Australia/NZ/Singapore, where he has driven the shift to an omnichannel customer experience. Richard is based in Melbourne, he is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and holds. a B.Com (Hons) degree as well as an MBA, with electives from Duke University (USA).

A 20 year retail veteran, Neo has worked extensively across APAC, championing and reshaping route to market and consumer experience for companies like Perfetti Van Melle, FrieslandCampina, Samsung and Reckitt Benckiser. As Synagie’s Chief Business Officer for Omni-Channel/C2M, Neo now enables brands across APAC realise their full omni channel commerce potential by integrating distribution, tech, logistics, consumer touchpoints and customer engagement.

A 20 year retail veteran, Neo has worked extensively across APAC, championing and reshaping route to market and consumer experience for companies like Perfetti Van Melle, FrieslandCampina, Samsung and Reckitt Benckiser. As Synagie’s Chief Business Officer for Omni-Channel/C2M, Neo now enables brands across APAC realise their full omni channel commerce potential by integrating distribution, tech, logistics, consumer touchpoints and customer engagement.

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