Whether it is an online store or a brick-and-mortar store, online-to-offline (O2O) commerce is all the buzz these days. Even though the e-commerce market continues to grow, it will eventually reach its limit as the restrictions of online resources will make it difficult to meet customer demand, meaning that this market cannot be long-lived. For this very reason, a combination of online and offline channels is beginning to emerge as a means of significantly boosting the consumer experience. This is what is referred to as "new retail."

 Today, more companies are selling their products using a variety of e-commerce platforms. Some of these companies also provide specialized services through their official websites or mobile applications. This has been shown to not only increase customer satisfaction, but also help the companies understand the behavior of their customers by analyzing the aggregated data from said websites and applications. Take this for an example. Starbucks Taiwan launched 'My Starbucks Rewards Program' in 2015 to manage their customers who show a great level of loyalty to the brand. Through the program, customers are able to access product pricing and promotion information in addition to discount coupons. Another renowned Taiwanese e-commerce company, Momo, use their TV home shopping and online shopping channels to provide a home shopping program streaming service in real-time that customers can watch anytime, anywhere, on TV, using the mobile application, or simply over the Internet.

 Even though many companies focus on developing their online resources, there is also a trend toward the periodic opening of pop-up shops to gain customer attention using cute, small installation art pieces. Some companies have successfully executed viral marketing campaigns by using the "Check In" feature of Facebook to increase the exposure of their brands and products. Even companies that were traditionally based online have begun opening offline stores to generate additional revenue by combining online and offline channels to provide real-world experience-based services.

 As was discussed above, live streaming has been gaining more attention as a means of marketing in this "new retail" era. According to a report by the Institute for Information Industry, Taiwanese people use their smartphones for around 205 minutes each day. Marketing campaigns that make use of video blogs (or "vlogs") are able to reduce the distance between the company and their customers by quickly communicating product information using the online influence of vloggers. For example, the person in the image below is Tyra, a famous Taiwanese vlogger. She promotes LANEIGE products via Facebook Live, which are simultaneously sold via a TV home shopping program. Companies can actively make use of this kind of marketing strategy to provide customers with information more quickly when used in collaboration with other marketing strategies.

 Of equal interest is the progression many countries are experiencing as they shift more and more toward a cashless society. Of course, the "new retail" era is partly responsible for this shift. However, the prevalence of mobile payment services is also driving this push using third-party payment systems. Even the Taiwanese government has begun relaxing related laws and regulations as a result of more global companies using these services. At present, 35% of payments are made using mobile services in Taiwan, which is still relatively low compared to other Asian countries such as Korea (77%), Hong Kong (65%), and Singapore (53%). Even though laws and regulations traditionally inhibited the use of such resources, the use of mobile payment services is still not popular in Taiwan due to a lack of trust from Taiwanese customers in said services. In fact, according to an analysis on mobile payment services in Taiwan conducted by the Institute for Information Industry, 83% of respondents have indicated the importance they place on the safety of payments despite there being numerous payment services such as Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Line Pay in Taiwan.

 For companies to reinforce their competitiveness and prosperity in the e-commerce market in the "new retail" era, they need to introduce marketing vehicles that can be used frequently at a low cost while taking advantage of mobile payment services or other third-party payment systems. At the same time, companies need to improve consumer experience by reducing business expenses with smart services that combine big data and cloud technologies.

 This now is the end of my column. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my Amorepacific colleagues for their encouragement that has made it possible for me to make it this far. Happy New Year everybody!