Equal Ventures’ Post

My annual far East trek led me to a trifecta of elite Asian shopping cities - Shanghai, Seoul, and Tokyo. In the name of Equal Ventures research (aided by the weak yen!), I did some serious retail therapy - a few observations: Asia retail 🛍️ lives in the future - Folks are still hanging out at malls (or Asia's version of them)! While the US catches up on mixed-use and open-air retail, Asia has moved deeper into experiential retail with exclusive pop-ups / limited stores. Pop-ups were ubiquitous in high traffic areas like Shanghai's Xintiandi and Seoul's Gangnam Shinsegae and highly curated, limited stores thrived in hip neighborhoods like Daikanyama and Shimokitazawa in Tokyo. These formats get a bad rap for quality / consistency in the US, but Asia pop-ups / collabs are a consistent and cost effective tool for brands, esp. luxury ones, to engage consumers, localize offerings, and test products while maintaining exclusivity. The Louis Vuitton x Murakami pop-up in Shanghai drew insane lines and even required police presence! Only 7 cities (incld. SH, Seoul, Tokyo) got these pop-ups. The NYC one, the lone US city, is in Soho if anyone wants to drop by :) Consumer mobile 📱 as an utility - Seoul and Tokyo are both super convenient, but Shanghai is unmatched given the unique prevalence of Chinese super apps like WeChat and Alipay. My fave Hangzhou coffee spot had ~40 tables, but was manned by a single barista as every table had an unique QR code allowing customers to order, pay, and request services digitally. This technology is EVERYWHERE - not just fast casual foodservice. It extends to high end restaurants, shopping at formal retail locations like malls and department stores to informal commerce like street vendors and service providers like hair dressers and taxi drivers. The consumer has been well trained and the friction of transaction is close to zero. Collectibles 🎴 remain on FIRE! - With a budding reseller in my own household, I (was forced to) spent many hours in Akihabara, Tokyo where collectors, resellers, and enthusiasts of all ages / walks of life flooded the countless card and memorabilia shops there. The prevalence of English and a few other languages signs posted everywhere suggested that a significant number of visitors were foreign buyers, and their transaction volume pointed to professional resellers. Anecdotally, it seemed like prices for popular cards and products had skyrocketed over the past few months alone! Of course, not everything is transferrable to the U.S. but I'm looking forward to seeing how (and if) these Asian retail trends make it back to America :) Uncredit pics below are my own :) 1 squid game x malbon collab in Seoul 2 squid game x netflix popup at Gangam Shinsegae 3 urban outfitter popup at Xintiandi; Mika Osborn 4 beams limited store in Shimokitazawa 5 LV x murakami pop up in Shanghai; Pinto Gallery 6 Fejo coffee shop in Hangzhou 7+8 Hareyua2 in Akihabara #retail