But I think it's also ugly.

Then spread it out a bit.

map {
   my $range = 'A'.$count.':B'.$count;
   $count++;
   $sheet->Range($range)->{'Value'} = $_;
} @$retrieve_ref;
[download]

Your useless use of map isn't helping. Let's get rid of it

for ( @$retrieve_ref ) {
   my $range = 'A'.$count.':B'.$count;
   $count++;
   $sheet->Range($range)->{'Value'} = $_;
}
[download]

The latter is even more efficient.