Charles Reed Anderson, Tech industry innovator and Host of Techburst Talks: “Tech can’t fix everything, but it can help.”

At the 2025 TFWA Asia Pacific Conference on Monday morning (12 May), three sessions brought travel retail delegates some insights into three diverse and relevant areas for their businesses: the latest tech developments, where retail is (or should be) heading, and the types of leadership as examined through the lens of an orchestra conductor.

As the next generation of travellers transforms consumption patterns, the duty-free and travel retail industry must adapt more than ever. Today’s consumers, driven by digital-first habits and a strong commitment to sustainability, place a high value on convenience, personalization, and immersive experiences.

The opening session featured thought leader and tech analyst Charles Reed Anderson, who looked at how the travel retail industry can leverage technology to meet evolving expectations, especially from younger generations. He started off noting that “it has been a pretty weird year so far”, referencing the Trump tariffs situation, which has led to confusion and created a lot of uncertainty.

“Tech can’t fix everything, but it can help,” he said. But he warned that tech for tech’s sake is not valuable, citing the example of the Bluetooth-enabled HAPIfork, a smart fork that is meant to “help you eat healthier”. Reed Anderson argued that sometimes it wasn’t about the tech but simply the need for more innovation. “Tech exists for human outcomes,” he emphasised.

Having moved from Singapore, where he had lived for 16 years, to Europe, he said: “I miss Changi Airport for the ability to have a consistent 30-minute door-to-door journey. He knew all the stores there and would go early to shop. In the same way, he would also go early to Tokyo Narita for a sushi meal and noted that Doha Airport was a connecting destination where he was able to relax “because the staff make you feel valued. He said: “When I relax, I shop and I eat.”

Trade policy uncertainty is off the scale.

Addressing the specifics of technology, Reed Anderson’s suggestion to the audience was to engage fully using digital signage because. When done right, it can engage, offer wayfinding, promotions, experiences and a host of other services. The tech guru noted that Doha has done something very similar to the Apple store by focusing on the environment and the people to drive certain behaviours, including shopping.

“Digital signage is something I love, but it is underutilised at many airports. Your customers like it too: 70% state that digital signage boosts travel retail.” He also added that high prices, or the perception of high prices, are the main reason for not purchasing in the channel. It means more persuasion is needed in communications.

AI step-change needed

He suggested showcasing price differences with other airports where the comparison is positive, so that the perceived value can tip the balance. “Messaging can push people along in the right direction,” he said.

On artificial intelligence (AI), which is taking off in retail, he noted that only 57% of retailers increased spend in this area last year, “when it should be 100%”. Paradoxically, 80% of companies thought AI was critical going forwards.

“What if we combine digital signage and AI?” he asked. A startup in London called Flow City has done that for the digital out-of-home (DOOH) space. From putting billboards up for two weeks, now it’s down to the minute. High upfront costs and the right placements were barriers, but Flow City takes care of many of these elements, including leveraging data.

A use case was a pharmacy retailer in London with 67 stores that wanted to boost sales of products to alleviate hay fever. They only needed to advertise on days with high pollen counts because Flow City simply added a data source that tracked pollen.

This way, brands can focus on the content, making it accessible to everyone with budgets as low as $100 to $1000s. Traditional OOH operators are also onboard because Flow City is bringing new advertisers into the ecosystem.

Reed Anderson provided other examples where AI and digital signage have been used to create marketing opportunities, including social media and leveraging influencer behaviours. He also picked up on Gen AI as having “transformed the way I work and everything I do”.

He added: “Gen AI is going to fundamentally transform our businesses and our lives in the next few years. It is the biggest thing since the Internet.” He marked the line between traditional AI and its automation of tasks and GenAI’s ability to do more, and faster.

“The goal for traditional is automation, and for Gen AI is human-machine collaboration. This is what will change our lives going forward. GenAI is like having the world’s best intern: it’s available 24/7 and never gets bored.” In travel retail, it can be used in customer service to provide quick answers on stock availability, and add-on items to bump up sales, and also for staff training.

The next thing coming down the line is Agentic AI. Regular AI automates and offers recommendations, GenAI will give you ideas of what to make for dinner, and AgenticAI contextualises that dinner by asking what the weather is like to determine a more relevant, tailored meal. It can understand complex situations to deliver shopping and other solutions to travellers.

Future-ready travel retail

Among the most visionary designers in travel retail, Ibrahim Ibrahim, Managing Director of London-based Portland Design and the author of the book Future-Ready Retail, outlined the pace of change that retail is undergoing, and which directions it should take.

He said: “In retail, we are experiencing tectonic shifts: fundamental changes in the relationships between consumers, brands, and places. We are seeing consumers’ expectations shifting faster than businesses can adapt; something we call retail Darwinism.

Ibrahim Ibrahim, Portland Design: “In retail, we are experiencing tectonic shifts: fundamental changes in the relationships between consumers, brands, and places. We are seeing consumers’ expectations shifting faster than businesses can adapt; something we call retail Darwinism.”

“The future isn’t what it used to be, and this applies to the transumer (the travelling consumer) who is a domestic consumer borrowed for a couple of hours from our High Streets. But they think and act differently in airports, and we have to understand that.” This he called ‘travelization’ and it means that brands must offer a different experience to meet travel needs.”

These needs are based on three aspects: easy-to-locate products or services for those passengers who know what they want; an offer that allows exploration of a category for shoppers who are open to trialling products; and the most important aspect: providing inspiration to convert travellers to buyers using newness, surprises, and constant change. The ‘inspire’ customer is also the least price sensitive, noted Ibrahim.

Travellers now have a mindset of asking, How can you surprise me? So, engagement is vital through the practicality, ease-of-use, or exclusivity of products. Portland does a lot of work in the domestic retail market, where up to 40% of physical shops will need to be replaced, but not by more retail.

“Other commercial offers will align and catalyse retail. We need to mix the rhythm and find what works. We call this SWELCH: shopping, working, entertainment, learning, culture, hospitality, and healthcare. They can come together to create a more vibrant place,” said Ibrahim. This, he said, was the future of hybrid retail, at airports as well.

Layered over is the fact that consumers want things fast and seamlessly. People want quick commerce, often via an app, but 74% say they have walked away from retail because they felt overwhelmed. “That is a big part of why they don’t shop in airports; the nature of the environment and its dehumanising effect. Many airports are too large and not at a human scale,” said Ibrahim.

Paradoxically, slowness and shareability are also factors in enhancing desirability. More than half of consumers say they would rather spend money on a good experience than buy a material possession. Ibrahim cited the new Netflix store and Ikea’s new space in London’s Oxford Street with its 25sqm of livestreaming space as examples of immersive retail that airports can learn from.

“This is ‘eventizing’ retail and it’s the future,” he said. “Stop thinking about making retail entertaining but making entertainment shoppable instead.” Blending is coming into its own where co-working, retail, F&B, and the night-time economy can work as one. At airports, lounges can be integrated with retail and F&B for a “dip in, dip out” culture. The business traveller is not the only worker at an airport, said Ibrahim.

Wellness and ethics are also playing a role in consumer choices, with Accenture data showing that 40% of consumers have stopped using a brand because of the way it behaves. Purpose-driven products and brands like Patagonia are in demand and will be the winners, according to Ibrahim.

He added: “Retail is, and always has been, about four things: recruitment, transaction, fulfilment and retention.” But with the middle two largely going online, brands in the physical space will increasingly behave like media platforms (with an abundance of data to go with it), and that is a big challenge.

How do you masterplan a commercial offer in an airport in the next decade, where part is media and part is transactional? What’s the proportion? “This is what we’re grappling with in domestic shopping centres, and these challenges will find their way to airports,” said Ibrahim.

Leadership learnings from an orchestra conductor

The final session of the day involved an orchestra on the stage so that conductor and leadership expert Jason Lai could draw parallels between orchestrating a symphony and leadership roles in business environments such as travel retail.

Jason Lai, Principal Conductor, Yong Siew Toh Conservatory: “We sometimes forget we have real estate below our necks.”

He posed the question: Why do we need conductors? before bringing to the stage several audience members – including Tab Musleh, Qatar Duty Free’s Senior Vice President – to explain how different conducting techniques impact an orchestra.

In what was a very interactive session with the audience, Lai offered up insights into the ways conducting has evolved from a command-and-control mentality to a coaching-and-mentoring approach over the years. He said that as music became more complex music it needed overseeing, just like managements in growing corporations. More responsibility given to the conductors meant more power and control.

The key was to learn how leadership styles – from passion, energy, and even aggression – could be harnessed to get the best out of orchestras or business teams. “Conductors who value their teams, think about how they sound and what kind of performance to give, to get audiences to come back for more,” said Lai. In the same way, a CEO has to commit to a moment. Otherwise, the team doesn’t know where to go or how to react.”

“This is all about inter-personal and intra-personal relationships with the orchestra… the interpretation and understanding of their performances. It is also about the relationship with ourselves and listening to our bodies to be more harmonious. We sometimes forget we have real estate below our necks,” he added, referring to engagement with all aspects of oneself.