This Retail Brand Knows Exactly What Gen Z Wants
Photo-ready stores, IP tie-ups, and live commerce drive conversions among Gen Z.
Southeast Asia’s young shoppers are not just buying products. They are buying moments they can share. One popular and ubiquitous lifestyle chain, Oh!Some, is building stores around that simple idea.
The brand, part of Blue Origin Group, runs more than 150 stores in seven markets. Over 130 are in Indonesia, with growth picking up in Vietnam and Malaysia. Oh!Some is betting on interactive layouts, character partnerships, and live events to turn visits into longer stays.
The stakes are high. Southeast Asia’s retail market was worth US$1.13 trillion in 2024 and is forecast to reach US$1.69 trillion by 2033. That is steady growth at 4.56% a year.
Why experiences convert browsers into buyers
Malls in the region face a browsing problem. Up to 80% of visitors walk, look, and leave without buying. That is why many retailers are adding entertainment and events to convert foot traffic into sales, a trend often called retailtainment.
The numbers behind experiences are strong. Industry data shows experiential marketing statistics that matter to a CFO. After live events, 85% of customers are more likely to buy. 70% become repeat customers. The channel ranks as the most successful at 38.3%, ahead of digital ads.
Experiences also create their own media. At brand events, 98% of consumers create content to share online. That matters in a region where many people access the internet only on their phones. With 83% of Instagram users saying they use the platform to discover new products, it turns shoppers into amplifiers.
Demographics support the shift. Southeast Asia has a huge youth base, with more than 220 million people aged 15-34 expected to peak by 2038. In the Philippines, the median age is 26. This audience prizes fun, social connection, and newness.
Inside Oh!Some’s playbook
Oh!Some’s formula is abundantly clear. The company is building immersive, experience-led stores to reach young, middle-class shoppers who crave novelty and sharing. Its approach features interactive layouts (including a veritable smorgasbord of claw machines), collaborations with popular intellectual property (characters and stories), and regular live events like DIY workshops and festival-themed activities. The focus is on dwell time and repeat visits.
Character tie-ups are a central pillar. Oh!Some signed a strategic partnership with Disney in 2024, enabling collections built around classics such as Stitch and Winnie-the-Pooh. The company is using timed drops and in-store displays to sustain interest. One series, “Pooh Sweet Picnic,” launched on January 17 to align with Winnie-the-Pooh Day on January 18. In Indonesia, stores in Surabaya, Makassar, and Jakarta set up photo zones, while one Jakarta outlet hosted “OhSome Clay Dates,” where shoppers made clay Pooh figures. The company says these tie-ins deepen engagement and keep the range fresh.
The Thailand market shows the visual strategy in action. Oh!Some opened its first Bangkok store at Samyan Mitrtown with an “ice and snow world” theme designed for photos and social sharing. Launch activities included a “Ladder of luck” game with jumbo dice and influencer surprise visits. Workshops and fan events tested in other markets are also rolling out locally.
Oh!Some says brick-and-mortar remains its main sales channel. A membership program gathers fast feedback on products and layouts, helping the team adjust ranges and displays. This fits broader retail trends where first-party data helps track foot traffic, shelf engagement, and audience segments in real time.
Leighton Cosseboom
Connecting store floors with screens
Shoppers in Asia prefer to shop across multiple platforms, not online only. Many retailers report that offline still captures most sales in categories like grocery, fashion, and home improvement. Oh!Some keeps stores in the lead while expanding on Shopee, Lazada, and TikTok Live. The team runs long-form livestreams by category to mirror an in-store browsing session.
Mobile matters. The region is mobile-first, with smartphone-led shopping now the norm and e-commerce GMV forecast to hit US$230 billion by 2026. Social shopping is now everyday behavior. Among Southeast Asian Gen Z, many rely on e-commerce platforms for research and buying decisions. Livestream shopping is widely known, and one-third of users in Indonesia, Vietnam, and China watch livestreams weekly.
The IP play extends online, too. Disney’s licensing arm is a global heavyweight, and characters like Stitch are breaking records. These stories bring built-in fandoms that show up in stores and in livestream chats. That helps solve a common retail problem, getting younger shoppers to act now, not later.
Signals for industry stakeholders
The experience-led play is not just a branding exercise. It is a conversion strategy aimed at a young, growing market with rising spending power. The store becomes a stage, the phone becomes the media channel, and the membership program becomes the feedback loop.
Two leadership points stand out. When marketing leaders are part of the core strategy and accountable for customer growth, companies see higher returns. McKinsey finds 1.4x higher top-line performance in these cases, and 2.3x higher growth with a single customer-centric executive on the top team.
What to copy from Oh!Some’s approach without copying the brand:
- Build for shareability. Photo zones, themed rooms, and limited-time events push user content at low cost.
- Partner where passion already exists. Character IP and fandoms can accelerate traffic and conversion. For context, rival operators are investing heavily, as seen in Miniso's Bangkok flagship with multiple immersive character zones.
- Treat data as a product. Use memberships and in-store feedback to refine product picks weekly, not yearly.
Oh!Some’s bet is simple. If you give young shoppers something fun to do and post, the basket follows. The early playbook blends themed stores, strong IP, live and social commerce, and hard feedback loops. The test ahead is scaling this across markets while keeping the experience fresh.
Want to stay up-to-date on the stories shaping Asia's media, marketing, and comms industry? Subscribe to Mission Media for exclusive insights, campaign deep-dives, and actionable intel that reveal how craft, culture, and commerce move markets.
