Introducing myself and looking for guidance on my newsletter, Consumer Chronicles
Hi Folks,
My names Hugo Harris, I lead the retail and consumer goods business for APAC at a large technology and consulting service providers, and over the past year, I’ve seen one thing become clear:
Retail isn’t just evolving—it’s fragmenting, re-forming, and accelerating at a speed most orgs aren’t built for.
A few trends I’m tracking:
• Agentic AI is starting to make real merchandising decisions—this isn’t just hype.
• Quick commerce is pivoting fast (and often failing) under the weight of economics.
• Transparency is becoming a brand differentiator in luxury, not just a compliance checkbox.
• Gen Z isn’t just digital-first—they’re algorithm-native and culturally fluid. Most brands aren’t ready.
• Supply Chains require redesign for more elasticity
• Brick and Mortar is going nowhere, but integration to the virtual is critical
I’ve started a weekly newsletter to cover exactly this: strategy, technology, and transformation across retail and consumer goods—mostly in APAC, but globally relevant.
If that’s your thing, you can check it out here: https://consumerchronicle.beehiiv.com/
Otherwise—curious to hear from this community:
What do you think is the most overhyped or underhyped trend in retail right now? What would you like to know more about in future editions?
Do you have any guidance on my previous editions? Have bulk uploaded them. Appreciate any help getting this newsletter going and guidance on my style and content. Is there anything missing in it?
Replies
Product Hunt
Hey Hugo, welcome to Product Hunt. 👋
I'll be honest, I don't really follow retail trends that closely, but I did find it pretty interesting that you said brick and mortar isn't going anywhere. I feel like the narrative I've been hearing is that brick and mortar is very much on the way out. It kind of reminds me of how everyone was saying that print was dead, but just the other day, I was reading how book sales have actually been increasing, so maybe it's similar to that.
@jakecrump It is right? Still around 85% of all spend is brick and mortar. It's less that it's going away and ecommerce isn't growing, and more that consumerism is still on the rise and eCommerce is growing faster than B&M but makes up a small percentage still. Tariffs will make another big impact on this as people move away from Temu, Amazon, Shein and so on.
Product Hunt
@hugoconsumerchronicles Wow, never would have guessed 85%. Definitely started seeing people around me starting to move away from Temu and Amazon. I've actually been moving away from Amazon for a while though and actually looking for more B&M options or just buying directly from a company. I find a lot of the stuff I order from Amazon gets damaged during delivery for whatever reason, but is fine when I order directly from someone.