Image by Freepik
Continued from Part 1
Chief Executive China (CEC) conducted an exclusive interview in December 2025 with Mr. Albert Chan of Coresight Research, in which he shared his insights on the latest trends in North American retail and consumer behavior.
Mr. Albert Chan is the Chief Experience Officer and Head of the Greater China and Hong Kong office at Coresight Research, a global retail research and consulting firm. He leads the company’s business development and client support in Hong Kong and across Greater China, providing consulting services to global brands in such areas as market entry, brand promotion, consumer insights, and retail technology trends.
CEC: In your opinion, what are the core advantages of Chinese suppliers from the perspective of the retailers you are familiar with?
Albert: I believe this can be summarized in several points:
First, the supply chain system in China has become highly mature and comprehensive over the past 20 years. This allows Chinese suppliers to efficiently fulfill orders from European and American clients, which is fundamental.
Second, the quality of Chinese products has significantly improved. Many major electronic products are still manufactured in China. Considering the technology level and manufacturing processes, China remains one of the more reliable and profitable production bases in Asia.
Furthermore, Chinese suppliers are quite advanced in both production and supply chain management. Thanks to the massive volume of business accumulated over the years, Chinese suppliers have access to extensive data for analysis, allowing them to optimize entire manufacturing processes through artificial intelligence or machine learning. As a result, Chinese suppliers exhibit greater consistency in production quality compared to manufacturers in Southeast Asia.
Overall, these factors enable Chinese suppliers to maintain strong competitiveness in the retail sector – across both premium and mass-market segments.
CEC: In your view, what opportunities and challenges will the introduction of AI technology bring to the retail industry and its supply chain?
Albert: First, the entire AI technology relies on data accumulation. The decades of trade between China and the US have provided a wealth of high-quality data for AI modelling. This helps manufacturers optimize manufacturing processes and enhance efficiency while reducing operational difficulties.
Second, AI can help reduce labor costs. AI technology can automate processes to offset rising labor costs, allowing production lines to maintain reasonable costs while achieving better profit margins.
Third, in logistics and supply chains, AI algorithms can optimize resource wastage and cut unnecessary logistics expenditures. This also represents a significant advantage.
As for challenges, I believe AI technology will make it easier for US companies to establish domestic production lines. With the help of AI, companies can enable employees engaged in warehousing and other blue-collar roles to learn AI skills, thus allowing the entire supply chain to be localized within the US. For example, a stationery brand affected by tariffs recently chose to shift its production line back to the US rather than continue sourcing from overseas. Although the stationery manufacturing industry requires relatively less expertise and technological innovation, this trend is likely to extend to clothing and footwear industries as well. This presents a challenge that Chinese suppliers will need to confront in the future.
CEC: For the retail industry, what trends or changes do you anticipate over the next five to 10 years?
Albert: The US remains, to some extent, the largest market globally. However, I believe we must recognize that the primary drivers of the global consumer market will come from Asia, particularly China and other Asian countries. In certain product categories, the Asia-Pacific market has already surpassed Europe in scale, and this is likely to become a trend over the next five to 10 years.
Therefore, with the continuous growth of the middle class in Southeast Asia, I foresee the center of consumer demand gradually shifting from the West to the East in the near future.
Established in 2022 by Global Sources, the Sourcing Elite Board (SEB) is a collaborative initiative dedicated to advancing the sourcing industry through shared expertise and innovative strategies. Senior executives, from buying offices to retailers and brands, are welcome to join this distinguished community.
