OnTheList, the pioneering members-only flash sales platform, is redefining luxury retail across Asia Pacific by connecting premium brands with engaged consumers through a seamless omnichannel model. As the region’s ecommerce landscape rapidly evolves, retailers face new challenges, and opportunities, for sustainable growth. 

In this interview, Bernadette Walsh, Marketing Partnerships Manager at Payments Consulting Network and Merchant Advisory, discusses with Delphine Dultzin, Co-Founder and CEO of OnTheList, ahead of NRF 2026: Retail’s Big Show Asia Pacific, taking place June 2–4 at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore. During the conversation, OnTheList discusses how retailers can navigate the evolving ecommerce landscape, the importance of delivery speed, robust infrastructure, payment solutions, and strategies to build a resilient retail ecosystem.   

BMW: Please provide an overview of your business.  

DD: OnTheList is a members-only platform designed to help premium and luxury brands manage inventory in a controlled, brand-safe environment. We operate across both digital and physical channels, combining an always-on ecommerce platform with curated, time-limited events in key cities across Asia Pacific and the Middle East.   

What differentiates our model is the way we bring together a qualified member base, strong data capabilities, and a highly curated retail approach. Our membership structure enables us to engage a targeted, informed audience, while our data insights help us continuously refine assortment, pricing, and event strategy for our brand partners. At the same time, we ensure a seamless connection between online and offline experiences so that discovery, engagement, and conversion feel consistent across channels. Ultimately, we position ourselves not just as a sales channel, but as a strategic partner helping brands protect their image while unlocking value from excess inventory. 

BMW: Your platform offers both online access and exclusive pop-up events for members, yet it stands out for its strict policy of no returns, refunds, or exchanges. With free and flexible returns now a widespread retail expectation, how have your customers responded to this approach? What inspires their trust and willingness to purchase without the usual safety net?  

DD: At first glance, our policy may seem counter to broader retail trends. However, within our model, it is both intentional and well understood by our members. The key is transparency and expectation setting. Our customers know they are accessing curated, time-limited opportunities with compelling value. In exchange, purchases are final. This creates a very different purchasing mindset, one that is more considered and aligned with the event-driven nature of our platform.   

What makes customers comfortable is trust. Trust in the authenticity of the products, trust in the curation, and trust in the consistency of the experience. In practice, this model also contributes to operational efficiency and enables us to maintain pricing advantages, reinforcing the value proposition for both customers and brands.  

BMW: What payment methods do you offer both online and at your pop-up stores, and who processes these payments in each region?  

DD: We tailor our payment options to each market, offering major cards, digital wallets, and region-specific solutions both online and at pop-up events. For example, Yetpay and Adyen serve Hong Kong’s offline and online payments, while Hana Bank and Portone are used in South Korea. Across all regions, we partner with leading providers to ensure seamless, secure transactions and prioritise fast, low-friction checkouts, especially critical during high-traffic flash sales. 

BMW: What payment challenges are you experiencing, if any in each region?  

DD: A key challenge for our business is the nature of flash sales, which create a sudden surge in transaction volume over a short period. This places significant stress on payment infrastructure, requiring partners with the capacity to handle these spikes reliably. Ensuring strong transaction success rates and a seamless customer experience during these high-traffic events is an ongoing priority as we continue to expand into new markets.  

BMW: Which payment methods have proven most popular and effective at your pop-up events and have customer preferences shifted at all in recent years? For example, are you seeing greater adoption of digital wallets or QR code payments?  

DD: We offer a wide range of payment methods tailored to local market preferences, with a strong focus on convenience and reliability across both online and offline channels. 

 Online, customers can typically pay using major credit and debit cards, as well as widely adopted digital wallets and locally relevant payment solutions, depending on the market.  

 At our pop-up events, we prioritise fast and seamless transactions given the high-traffic environment. As a result, we focus on cashless payments, including cards, contactless options, and mobile wallets, which allow us to reduce friction at checkout and maintain a smooth customer flow.  

That said, we remain mindful of our brand partners’ expectations, particularly regarding privacy and the overall customer experience. Payment options may therefore vary from one market to another, allowing us to adapt to local habits while maintaining a controlled and brand-aligned environment.  

Overall, our approach is to stay flexible and locally relevant while ensuring a consistent, secure payment experience across all touchpoints.  

BMW: OnTheList describes itself as offering a seamless omnichannel shopping experience for high-end brands. Can you walk us through what that looks like in practice from your customised app and omnichannel approach through to how you handle security across both your digital and physical touchpoints?  

DD: Our omnichannel approach is centred around a unified and consistent customer journey across all touchpoints. Members typically discover upcoming sales and products through our digital channels, engage with curated content and previews, and then transact either online or at our physical events.  

“The key is integration. We ensure that what customers see online in terms of assortment, pricing logic, and storytelling is fully aligned with what they experience on the ground. This continuity builds familiarity and trust, which is critical in an event-driven model like ours.”

From a data perspective, we connect insights across channels to better understand customer behaviour, which allows us to refine curation, optimise event planning, and deliver more relevant experiences over time.  

On security, we take a comprehensive and structured approach across both digital and physical environments. This includes secure payment processing, data protection protocols and training, and strict operational controls at our events. Given the premium positioning of our brand partners, maintaining a secure and controlled ecosystem is essential, both in terms of protecting transactions and preserving brand integrity.  

BMW: Sustainability appears to be deeply embedded in your brand identity. How do you communicate this to your customer, and do you find that a shared commitment to sustainability influences their purchasing decisions?  

DD: Sustainability is fundamental to our business model rather than a marketing layer. At its core, we are enabling a more efficient product lifecycle by connecting excess inventory with demand in a controlled way.  

We communicate this through both education and experience. Members understand that by shopping with us, they are participating in a more responsible form of consumption. At the same time, the value proposition remains strong, which is important. Sustainability alone is rarely the sole driver of purchase, but it significantly reinforces the decision.  

We also place a strong emphasis on transparency. Across our platforms, we actively communicate the impact of our activities, and more recently, we have begun quantifying it more rigorously. In partnership with external specialists, we have developed a methodology to estimate the CO₂ emissions avoided by products recirculated via our events. This allows us to provide more tangible, data-backed insights into the environmental value created for both our customers and our brand partners.  

BMW: What is it about the exclusive membership model that resonates with your customers? Is it the sense of community, the access to unique products, or something else entirely?  

DD: The appeal of our membership model comes from a combination of factors rather than a single driver. Access is certainly fundamental. Members value the ability to discover premium products that are not widely available through traditional retail channels, often in a more curated and time-bound setting. That sense of privileged access creates both excitement and relevance.  

At the same time, there is a strong element of curation and trust. Our members know that what they see has been carefully selected, which reduces the noise typically associated with discount-driven environments. This makes the experience feel more intentional and aligned with premium brand standards.  

Community also plays a role, but in a more nuanced way. It is less about social interaction in the traditional sense, and more about belonging to a group of informed, value-conscious consumers who understand the model and share similar expectations around quality and discovery.  

Finally, the platform’s event-driven nature adds a layer of engagement. The limited-time format creates urgency and anticipation, keeping the experience dynamic and encouraging repeat participation.

“Ultimately, it’s the combination of exclusivity, trust, curation, and a dynamic event-driven experience that makes our membership model resonate so strongly with customers.”

BMW: What innovations or technologies are on your roadmap for the next 12 months?  

DD: Our focus is on deepening personalisation, enhancing operational intelligence, and further integrating our omnichannel ecosystem. On the customer side, we are investing in more advanced data capabilities to deliver increasingly tailored experiences, from product recommendations to event curation. The goal is to make every interaction more relevant and efficient. This includes a heavy investment in our data infrastructure and capabilities.   

Operationally, we are continuing to refine how we use data to support our brand partners, particularly in areas such as demand forecasting, assortment optimisation, and performance insights. We are also exploring ways to further streamline the connection between online engagement and offline conversion, ensuring the transition between digital discovery and physical experience is as seamless as possible. Across all of this, the underlying objective remains consistent. To build a platform that is highly customer-centric, data-driven, and trusted by brands as a safe and effective channel.  

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Author: Bernadette Walsh, Marketing Partnerships Manager, Melbourne, Payments Consulting Network   

Bernadette’s diverse experience has given her the opportunity to observe various approaches to business and problem-solving, helping her develop a unique perspective on building relationships and addressing challenges. Her resourcefulness and willingness to think outside the box have been invaluable in finding creative solutions to complex problems.  

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Merchant Advisory is a media partner of NRF ‘26 Retail’s Big Show Asia Pacific, happening in Singapore from June 2-4 at Marina Bay Sands. Retailers can attend the expo for free and obtain their passes on the NRF 2026 APAC website. 

Delphine Dultzin will offer more insights at NRF 2026: Retail’s Big Show Asia Pacific in Singapore, appearing as a guest speaker on a panel moderated by Anson Bailey, Head of Consumer & Retail, APAC KPMG, on Wednesday, 3 June. This session will delve into the challenges and opportunities shaping the future of retail in the region—a valuable opportunity to hear directly from leaders driving innovation and shaping the next era of shopping experiences. 

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