The Global Summit by The Consumer Goods Forum was held in Dublin, Ireland. Malina Ngai, Group Chief Operating Officer and CEO of AS Watson (Asia & Europe) was invited to join the CEO panel on 21 June and shared how AS Watson has overcome the COVID-19 pandemic with agility and resilience and create a seamless O+O (Offline plus Online) shopping experience for customers at the Global Summit.
“With inflation or no inflation, customers are expecting more. The saying that Customer is King is now very real, Customer is King and more. They expect the best value, relevant products, excellent O+O service, and just as important, we have to appreciate their time.”
"We used to talk a lot about share of wallet, but now it's also about share of time, because time is a currency. We have to make every part of the customer journey fast and easy. The reminder we give ourselves every day is, ‘Worship the King’, or else, they will shop with someone else.”
She continued, "O+O is the new standard for retail. Forget physical versus online. It's not either or; O+O is what all retailers need to provide to customers, or else they will easily switch to other channels. And collaboration is crucial because things move very fast these days.”
AS Watson has been committed to reducing its business’ environmental impact and fighting against climate change, including launching Greener Stores Global Framework, advancing its sustainability targets, and introducing Sustainable Choices products to inspire customers to do good to the planet.
“It's also important to engage our customers to go green with us. The definition of sustainability is moving from just a very technical to a practical one. It’s moving from just corporate targets to actions and ownership by consumers. Initially we need to give them some incentives and reasons to recycle plastic bottles for example, but after launching the programme for three months, customers build the habit and return their empty plastic bottles without asking for incentive,” she added.
