B2S budgets Bt110m for new branches and renovations
Bookstore chain B2S is planning to invest Bt110 million on new branches and renovations, and has earmarked another Bt40 million for a series of marketing campaigns throughout the year.
The company will add 15 new branches in shopping centres and community malls by the end of the year, bringing the total number of branches to 41. It will also renovate 26 existing branches.
Managing director Nath Vongpanich said yesterday that B2S believed these investments would result in a 23-per-cent surge in sales to Bt3.8 billion, from Bt3 billion last year.
Stationery and Thai books remain the chain’s key sales drivers, accounting for 48 and 28 per cent respectively, while the remainder includes gifts and music and entertainment products.
This year B2S targets 23-per-cent growth in sales of Thai books; a 21-per-cent surge in the stationery segment; a 60 per cent increase in gifts; a 149-per-cent rise in house-brand products; and a 19-per-cent gain in the entertainment corner.
Nath believes that the overall Thai book industry will grow by 5-6 per cent to Bt22.8 billion in sales from Bt21.2 billion last year while the cumulative average growth rate of the stationery market stays on track with an annual 10-per-cent rise. This means the stationery market will witness Bt165 billion in sales, up from Bt150 billion in 2011.
The company is studying the feasibility of distributing its wide range of stationery products via Central department stores overseas, Nath added. But it will not use the B2S brand in such markets.
Since it launched its eBook Store application, it has been downloaded about 800,000 times. The company estimates that revenue from the app downloads will hit Bt200 million by 2015. It plans to launch the eLife Plus e-publisher soon to allow customers to download music and movies.
The company is also preparing Bt40 million for marketing campaigns throughout this year and its first B2S Expo. The book expo will be held at three Bangkok locations: Central Chidlom, Central Pinklao and CentralWorld. B2S expects to garner at least Bt15 million in revenue from this Bt5-million event.
