“Ushering In An Omnichannel Retail Future" with Helen Lam | Episode 14

In this episode of The Future Of Retail Asia Podcast, we are joined by Helen Lam, Global Lead of Urbanisation Practice & Head of Innovation (Asia) at Lendlease, bringing her unique perspective from her wealth of experience managing retail developments in both Singapore and Australia. This episode with Helen goes deep into the discussions of how the retail future will look like, marrying the physical and digital space to create the most delightful customer experience for shoppers, and how retailers can leverage on the technologies available to enable this.

The Future of Retail Asia, now streaming on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts. View the video and full transcript below. Enjoy!

“Ushering In An Omnichannel Retail Future” with Helen Lam

-- Start Transcript --

IMRAN: Welcome back to another episode of The Future of Retail Asia, my name is Imran.

JUN: And I am Jun. Joining us today on the show, we have Helen Lam from Lendlease. Welcome Helen.

HELEN: Thank you, thank you for having me.

IMRAN: Thanks Helen. Helen has over 20 years of experience working in both Asia and Australia in the property and development industry. And before joining Lendlease, she had honed her craft in Australian companies such as The George Group and AMP Capital, managing a diverse portfolio of properties ranging from commercial, retail and industrial properties. Currently with Lendlease, Helen has been with them for more than a decade, and is now the Global Lead of Urbanisation Practice & Head of Innovation in Asia, quite a handful.

HELEN: Giving away my age!

IMRAN: Where she oversees the Development Operations and Innovation Teams for Lendlease. Welcome again!

JUN: So I want to start by asking, as you have been working in Australia for a long time before moving into Asia. How different is the retail industry between these two regions?

HELEN: Firstly, I think Asia on it’s own is very diverse. There is no one Asia. But the differences coming from Australia to Asia was, I was just so surprised around the dynamics of retail in Asia. In Australia, operating hours are 9-5, people go home at 5pm, and extended hours are not very long, so it’s still focused around a lot of necessitie