The inspiring future of retail: Insights from the Australian Retail Association Leaders Forum 2025

Recently, I had the opportunity to attend the Australian Retail Association (ARA) Leaders Forum 25 in the vibrant city of Sydney. The association is Australia’s oldest and largest national retail body. It represents a $430 billion sector that comprises more than 120,000 retail shop fronts and online stores and that employs more than 1.4 million people. The forum was part of its mission to inform, educate and unify the independent, national and international retail community.

This event gathered some of the brightest minds in retail to discuss the key issues and trends that are shaping the future. The iconic Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge served as backdrops to the forum, which was hosted at the International Convention Centre. The energy was electric, filled with the anticipation of fresh ideas and collaborative opportunities.

---

A wealth of knowledge

The keynote speakers provided the undoubted highlight. Each presenter brought unique expertise and perspectives, igniting lively discussions on a range of critical topics, from current economic challenges to AI, data mining and sustainability.

The forum kicked off with an engaging session called Retail’s Future Vision, which featured renowned economist Chris Richardson of Rich Insight speaking about the current economic landscape in Australia and its impact on the retail sector. His analysis of consumer behaviour and spending trends provided actionable insights for retailers looking to navigate the challenges posed by inflation, shifting consumer priorities and changing buying habits. In addressing Trump’s tariffs and the shift to the likes of Temu and Shein, Chris said, “competition is fierce and it will be fiercer.”

The transformative power of technology was the focus of an absorbing panel discussion titled Retail 2025: State of Play, well hosted by Vanessa Matthijssen, the Asia-Pacific Consumer Industry Lead at Deloitte. The conversation featured industry giants Scott Fyfe, CEO of David Jones; Richard Goodman, CEO of FoodCo Group; Agnieszka (Agi) Pfeiffer-Smith, Managing Director of Dan Murphy’s (Endeavour Group); and Tim Schaafsma, CEO of Coco Republic. Together, they explored the evolving retail landscape and shared insights on how businesses are adapting to changing consumer expectations in preparation for 2025.

Panel discussions delved into how AI and data mining can enhance the customer experience, optimise inventory management and drive sales. It was fascinating to learn about real-world applications, from personalised recommendations to predictive analytics that can help retailers forecast demand.

With sustainability becoming a key focus in retail, passionate expert Bronwyn Johnson, Senior Business Development Manager at Too Good To Go, shared that “40% of the food we produce goes to waste.” I had the good fortune to talk with Bronwyn and discuss the work she does with some of the major fuel and convenience brands in Australia that allow customers to use an app to buy food that would otherwise go to waste.

Panel insights shared how businesses can incorporate sustainable practices into their operations, from ethical sourcing to eco-friendly packaging, with the discussion underscoring the importance of aligning business strategies with consumer expectations for sustainability. The collective commitment from the industry to adopt greener practices was truly inspiring.

Beyond the speaker sessions, the forum provided ample opportunities to network with fellow retailers, industry experts and thought leaders. Engaging in conversations over coffee breaks and during breakout sessions allowed me to share experiences, challenges and solutions with like-minded individuals. It was a reminder of the power of collaboration in driving innovation and success in the retail space.

---

Leaving inspired

As I wrapped up my time in Sydney, I left the ARA Leaders Forum 25 feeling inspired and equipped with knowledge to take back to my colleagues at Triquestra and our customers. The insights gained from economists, AI experts, sustainability advocates and customer journey strategists highlighted the dynamic nature of retail and the necessity for adaptation and forward-thinking.

This event was not just a conference—it was a gathering of passionate individuals committed to improving the retail landscape. I am looking forward to applying what I learned and staying engaged with the discussions initiated during the forum, as we all strive to create a more innovative, sustainable and customer-centric retail environment.

Until next time, Sydney! Your vibrant spirit and the invaluable lessons from the ARA Leaders Forum 25 will be cherished.

---

A new view on retail process improvement

I recently joined Triquestra as Account and Channel Manager after spending five years with a business process management software company.

Working with customers to simplify their operations and sustain a consistent improvement culture was my goal there. Now I’m looking forward to helping retailers support their processes, culture and innovation mindset with better systems.

---

In this increasingly connected world, it should be getting easier for teams to collaborate, share, and learn from each other, but the reality for many is quite the opposite. A growing problem is operation complexity – having a range of web, in-store and mobile channels, and the desire to reduce duplication and operating costs while increasing efficiency and accuracy. All this can actually make it harder for retailers to innovate and improve.

So how do you simplify operations and sustain a consistent improvement culture across different channel requirements whilst staying competitive?

It is not enough to run improvement initiatives and simply ‘hope’ that changes will be embraced and sustained. The right environment and structure is needed so that people are motivated to participate, and are personally invested in sustaining ongoing change and improvement.

---

3 reasons why Infinity will give you a process improvement edge

1: Simplify your operations with greater visibility

If you’ve had separate databases for your call centre, or your staff couldn’t see what customers were doing on your website, those frustrations can be a thing of the past with Infinity. 

Infinity connects your point of sale, inventory, order, and customer data in one centralised hub so that previous channel limitations or legacy system incompatibilities no longer get in the way.

By giving your team access to consistent information whether they work at head office, in-store or in your distribution centre, you’ll streamline processes, reduce errors and be able to deliver more seamless, accurate customer experiences across all channels.

2: Building that improvement culture

With the building blocks for a strong improvement culture in place, your teams will feel more empowered to collaborate on improvement efforts. Engaged teams armed with the right attitude and tools can do amazing things for your customers and your bottom line.

The Infinity unified commerce platform is very easy to learn. It eliminates pain points and silos for your staff so they get greater enjoyment out of working together and have more time to think about what will surprise and delight your customers. 

3: Continue to innovate quickly

Because Infinity is a mature platform, your teams can focus on delivering innovation because the core functionality they need already exists. Add the access you’ll have to Infinity’s open API environment, and your developers and third parties can act quickly to create and deploy new services, channels and devices with confidence. 

---

Take a closer look at what Infinity can do to improve your retail operations:

New video series discusses technical aspects of APIs

Mike Baxter, head of Infinity product, shares his thoughts on using APIs for retail so you can get new products and services to market faster and improve customer experience. In this first video, Mike discusses the advantages of microservices for APIs and why this design pattern isn’t the only one to consider when you want to innovate quickly.

Five things to look for in a retail technology partner

If the beginning of the year means it’s time to re-evaluate your retail systems, start here.

No matter the scale of what you want to accomplish – boosting POS functionality, getting a single view of inventory, or starting your unified commerce journey to connect POS, inventory, fulfilment, order and customer data – you need a partner with the right people, processes and technology. A partner who understands retail’s demands and can give you the system that will improve customer happiness, staff satisfaction and your bottom line.

Here are important indicators of a good technology partner plus questions to ask

1

Maturity and market responsiveness

Look for a partner who’s been around retail for a while, with a sound platform, business model and proposition. They’ll need to understand your fast-paced, data-intensive environment where any significant level of downtime is unacceptable.

Their people will have the capability to help you plan and implement your projects so they suit you right now and into the future. When you choose a partner with a mature platform, they can focus on delivering innovation because the core functionality you need already exists.

2

Customer experience

Make sure your partner has a recent and proven success record for planning, implementing and managing complex, large-scale deployments across multiple stores, multiple formats and multiple geographies.

Do they have stable and well-tested strategies and technology or are they just adapting existing supply chain and fulfilment models? Ask if they’ve worked with related technology, systems and service providers. And how their capability integrates with eCommerce, payments, supply chain and finance software.

Request case studies or references and ask about the consultancy, customisation, deployment, training and support services they provide.

3

An agile and innovative mindset

You want a partner who’s got the people and processes to move fast, while cultivating an environment where innovation flourishes. They should use agile methodologies and have experience working with agile retailers.

Get evidence of their history of responsiveness and their ability to assess and quickly correct any unforeseen issues. Ask how they’ve managed things for a client when faced with unexpected changes, a competitor’s action or customer demands.

4

Broad product capability

Choose a partner that can give you a broad and holistic portfolio, perspective and experience. One that gives you all your core requirements out-of-the-box plus the ability to customise and easily add new functionality.

For the best customer experience, you need to intrinsically link inventory, fulfilment, orders, supply chain and planning. You don’t want to be tied to a point player that can only provide portions.

Your partner should let third parties connect to their technology via APIs and cultivate a community with those parties so you can give customers more shopping, payment and fulfilment options.

You also need to know that your partner has a strategic roadmap and investment committed for new capabilities.

5

Best of local, best of global

Look for a partner that’s an Australasian business, focused on our region’s potential to succeed. A local partner means you can have more influence on the product roadmap and enjoy direct engagement with people on the ground who are committed to your success (and not distracted by offshore business activity). And a mid-size partner is more likely to view you as an important customer of influence. It’s far better to be a big fish in a small pond (and not have to fight for attention as a small fish in a big pond would).

---

If you’d like a benchmark to rate your current or potential technology partner against, contact us. For more than 23 years, Infinity has been dedicated to the development, implementation and support of retail systems. We’re renowned for being both pioneering and reliable. You can count on us for consulting, platform implementation, integration, training and support that helps you get great results.