'New Retail' experience set to boost cross-border trade

Chinese companies can leverage their expertise in merging online and offline commerce to prompt cross-border trade in economies related to the Belt and Road Initiative, according to industry experts.

The combination of big data, blockchain technologies and local supply chains will result in a so-called "New Retail" world in which products are designed based on the analysis of customer behavior and are created before people even realize they have such needs, said Yi Qing, executive president of Osell, a cross-border e-commerce site.

"Many countries and regions (participating in the initiative) still lack mobile payment and logistics capabilities that are essential to a seamless O2O (online-to-offline) shopping experience," Yi said during a New Retail-themed discussion during the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2018 on Wednesday.