Retail Without Boundaries – Sri Lanka Retail Forum 2026

About the Forum

The Sri Lanka Retailers’ Association (SLRA) is set to host Retail Forum 2026, its flagship annual gathering aimed at moving beyond temporary trends to focus on actionable next steps for industry leaders. Convening senior executives from across retail and allied sectors, this year’s execution-focused program centers on the theme “Retail Without Boundaries – Building the Next Growth Engine.” To directly drive growth and competitiveness, the forum’s agenda is structured around four critical areas: analyzing the macro-environment and growth engine for Sri Lanka, boosting productivity and performance, elevating the customer, brand, and experience, and exploring the future of retail through automation, artificial intelligence, and robotics.

Retail Experts. Real Insights.

Meet the Speakers

Meet the thought leaders, trailblazers, and retail innovators who are shaping the future of the industry. Our lineup features a diverse group of professionals with deep experience across retail, finance, technology, and consumer behavior — ready to share strategies, spark dialogue, and inspire transformation.

Soumya Dwibedi

Partner, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP

Dr. (Mrs) Roshan Perera

Consultant, Centre for Poverty Analysis

Dr. Asanga Ranasinghe

Director, Post graduate Institute of Management, University of Sri Jayawardenapura

Hansa Wongsiripitack

Senior Vice President , The 1, Central Group

Clehan Pulle

Group Director / Group CEO / Co-Founder : Finetech Consultancy (Pvt) Ltd

Nalin Karunaratne

Director / Chief Executive Officer, Ceylon Biscuits Limited

Avanthie De Zoysa,

General Manager Marketing & Leasing , Havelockcity Mall

Priantha Fernando

Chief Executive Officer, The hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL)

Dr. Romesh Ranawana

Group Chief Analytics & AI Officer, Dialog Axiata PLC

Crystal Nathan

Chief Insights Officer/Executive Director - PepperCube Consultants

Mahesh Wijewardene

Group Managing Director- Singer Sri Lanka PLC

Dilupa Pathirana

Chief Executive Officer · Barista Coffee Lanka (Pvt) Ltd

Why Attend ?

Key Highlights

  • Market Intelligence: Gain clear insight on the economy, consumer demand dynamics, and the next strategic growth opportunities for retail.

  • Operational Excellence: Learn practical, execution-focused approaches to successfully improve business productivity, profit margins, and performance.

  • Customer Retention: Strengthen your customer experience framework, build lasting brand loyalty, and establish clear market differentiation.

  • Tech Innovation: Explore advanced digital commerce trends, digital payments, artificial intelligence, automation, and modern robotics to drive future retail growth and competitiveness.

  • Executive Networking: Connect directly and network with top-tier senior leaders and executives across the entirety of Sri Lanka’s vibrant and evolving retail ecosystem.

  • Business Partnerships: Discover valuable commercial partners, expand your industry reach, and drive collaborative growth through interactive B2B stalls and prominent sponsor showcases.

Who Should Attend ?

Retail Forum 2026 is designed for

To navigate the macro-environment, discover new market growth engines, and drive high-level strategic competitiveness to future-proof their entire retail organization.

To learn actionable, execution-focused approaches that directly optimize productivity, improve operational margins, and achieve true excellence in retail performance.

To analyze economic trends and shifting consumer demand, ensuring smart capital allocation toward profitable automation, robotics, and digital commerce.

To gain insights into elevating the brand, capturing consumer loyalty, and building differentiated customer experiences across modern retail boundaries.

To explore the future of retail by integrating artificial intelligence, advanced robotics, automation tools, and modern digital payment infrastructure.

To master execution excellence and practical approaches that streamline retail workflows, protecting margins amidst shifting macro-environmental demands.

To understand the evolving talent and performance structures required to support an AI-driven, highly automated retail business ecosystem.

To network directly with senior retail leaders, showcase innovations at B2B stalls, and connect with potential strategic ecosystem partners.

Key Sessions

Explore the critical role of retail as a catalyst for economic growth. This keynote session will delve into regional and global shifts in go-to-market strategies and business transformation. Discover the structural changes required to successfully drive and sustain Sri Lanka’s retail expansion in a highly competitive market.

Discover key strategies for tackling operational bottlenecks and driving organizational efficiency. This economic brief will delve into productivity improvements and performance metrics essential for success. Explore how current fiscal policies directly impact retail sector growth and learn to navigate these economic shifts to maximize your business potential.

Explore strategic playbooks for building enduring trust and loyalty at scale. This session will delve into the core principles of brand leadership and exceptional customer experience. Discover how winning brands differentiate themselves by forging authentic, meaningful human connections that foster long-term customer engagement and sustainable business growth.

Delve into the success story of Central Group’s powerful digital loyalty engine. This case study will explore the strategies behind building and scaling a comprehensive 360-degree ecosystem. Discover how they successfully manage and serve a massive base of over 35 million customers across Thailand, Vietnam, and Europe.

Explore how AI-enabled customer service is transforming the retail landscape. This session will delve into the integration of automated call handling, digital support queues, and advanced cloud solutions. Discover practical ways these innovative technologies are significantly boosting service productivity while effectively lowering overall daily operations costs.

Join our practitioner panel to explore the massive impact of AI and big data on retail. This session will delve into how phygital customer journeys have fundamentally transformed traditional business models. Discover the evolving landscape of modern supply chains and how next-generation technologies are reshaping direct customer interactions.

Explore Singer’s comprehensive transformation playbook for navigating modern market challenges. This session will delve into their successful approaches to category expansion, advanced retail execution models, and necessary brand modernization. Discover key strategies and actionable insights designed to keep your retail business highly relevant in a constantly fluctuating economy.

Delve into Barista’s impressive growth story and their innovative approach to experience-led retail models. This session will explore aggressive brand building, crucial customer experience (CX) metrics, and effective franchise strategies. Discover key takeaways that highlight the exciting future and evolving landscape of the specialty coffee retail industry.

Forum Agenda – 10th September 2026

The forum runs as a structured day with keynote style sessions, deep dives, and a panel discussion, designed to conclude by 4.30 pm

09:00 AM - 10:00 AM

Welcome & Opening Remarks

10:00 AM - 10:20 AM

Session 01 : Retail as a Growth Engine

10:20 AM – 10:50 AM

Session 02 : Economic Brief on Productivity & Performance

11:20 AM – 11:50 AM

Session 03 : Customer Experience and Brand Leadership

11:50 AM – 12:20 PM

Session 04 : Central Group's Digital Loyalty Engine

12:20 PM – 01:35 PM

Lunch Break & Dedicated B2B Engagement Slot

01:35 PM – 02:00 PM

Tech Talk Session

02:00 PM – 02:50 PM

Panel Discussion

02:50 PM – 03:20 PM

Closing Keynote Session

03:40 PM – 04:30 PM

Evening Tea Break, Final Networking & Close of Event

Our Sponsors

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Sponsorship Brochure

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Event Brochure

All you need to know about the agenda, speakers, and strategic focus of the event.

Join the Movement

SLRA continues its mission to elevate and future-proof Sri Lanka’s retail sector by fostering collaboration, innovation, and strategic discussions. Join us on 10th September 2026 at Cinnamon Life to be part of this transformative event that will ignite new ideas and drive collective success in the retail industry.

For inquiries, contact:.
Ms. Sanjula Fernando,
SLRA Secretariat,
associations@chamber.lk