The Sri Lanka Retailers’ Association (SLRA) brought together more than 500 retail leaders, business decision-makers, entrepreneurs, technology experts, policymakers and investors at the Sri Lanka Retail Forum 2026, held recently at Cinnamon Life, Colombo. The Forum was held under the theme “Retail Without Boundaries: Building the Next Growth Engine.”
The Forum examined the forces shaping the next phase of Sri Lanka’s retail sector, with discussions covering retail growth, productivity, customer experience, brand transformation, digital commerce, artificial intelligence, data, automation and technology-led business transformation.
Krishan Balendra, Chairperson of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, attended the Sri Lanka Retail Forum 2026 as Chief Guest and shared perspectives on the macroeconomic outlook and national policy vision for trade, commerce and retail growth in Sri Lanka.
Soumya Dwibedi, Partner, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP, delivered the keynote address on “Retail as a Growth Engine,” exploring regional and global shifts in go-to-market strategies, business transformation and the structural changes required for retail expansion in Sri Lanka.
The speaker lineup featured leading regional and local voices including Dr. Roshan Perera, Consultant, Centre for Poverty Analysis; Dr. Asanga Ranasinghe, Director, Postgraduate Institute of Management, University of Sri Jayewardenepura; Hansa Wongsiripitack, Senior Vice President, The 1 Central Group; Clehan Pulle, Group Director, Group CEO and Co-Founder, Finetech Consultancy (Pvt) Ltd; Mahesh Wijewardene, Group Managing Director, Singer (Sri Lanka) PLC; and Dilupa Pathirana, Chief Executive Officer, Barista Coffee Lanka (Pvt) Ltd.
Their sessions explored productivity and performance, customer experience and loyalty, AI-enabled customer service, retail transformation, brand modernization, growth strategies and the future of speciality coffee retail.
A key highlight of the Forum was the ‘Technology and Future Retail’ panel, moderated by Crystal Nathan, Chief Insights Officer and Executive Director, PepperCube Consultants. The panel featured Avanthie De Zoysa, General Manager, Marketing & Leasing, Havelock City Mall; Nalin Karunaratne, Director and Chief Executive Officer, Ceylon Biscuits Limited; and Priantha Fernando, Chief Executive Officer, The Hotels Association of Sri Lanka.
The discussion explored how AI, big data and phygital customer journeys were transforming retail business models, supply chains and customer interactions.
The Sri Lanka Retail Forum 2026 was supported by a broad network of industry partners. Keells and BYD were the Platinum Sponsors, with Singer as Gold Sponsor and Abans and Healthguard as Silver Sponsors. Category Partners included NDB Wealth Management, Samsung, Unilever and John Keells Logistics, while Associate Sponsors included Havelock City Mall, Vision Care, Hameedia, DSI, Cool Planet, Barista SPAR, Nestle and CBL.
Finetech was the Tech Talk Sponsor, P&S the Strategic Sponsor, The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce the Event Manager, Lakarcade the Official Gift & Souvenir Partner, Azbow the Digital Partner and Impressions Public Relations the PR Partner. Rupavahini served as the TV Media Partner, while Wijeya Newspapers was the Print Media Partner.
With the participation of more than 500 senior industry stakeholders, the Forum provided a platform for knowledge exchange, business networking and dialogue on the opportunities and challenges shaping the future of retail. Through its focus on growth, customer experience, technology, AI, productivity and collaboration, the Sri Lanka Retail Forum 2026 contributed to advancing a more innovative and future-ready retail sector in Sri Lanka.
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