More Thai retailers seek online outlets

 

 

 

 

With a physical store located in a less favourable position in one of Bangkok’s busy IT malls, he found he wasn’t able to rely on passing traffic to generate enough sales. After less than a year of trading, Boonyong decided to supplement his existing outlet with an online shop to increase brand awareness.

“There is a lot of competition for my store both in the mall we are located in and, more generally, for the product we sell, but setting up our store on Rakuten TARAD.com has helped us attract a wider audience and increase sales.  Initially, we were assigned an e-commerce consultant (ECC) to assist and advise us on techniques that could help make our online store successful, and even 12 months after opening the online store, we can still call on  our ECC to provide guidance and insight,” said Boonyong.

Since establishing the Real Gadd e-commerce store on Rakuten TARAD.com, Boonyong has seen a 153 per cent increase in year on year revenue at his online store, while he has added out of town buyers to his customer base. Additionally, thanks to comparatively low costs, margins achieved via the online business are 20% higher than that at his physical outlet. 

“It has boosted business performance and enabled us to reach out to new markets – exactly what we needed,” Banyong said

Real Gadd is one of over 250,000 merchants that join Rakuten TARAD.com, one of Thailand’s leading e-commerce portals.

According to Pawoot Pongvitayapanu, founder and managing director of TARAD.com, the growth of e-commerce in Thailand is changing the way retailers think about their location, with small and medium-sized enterprises now able to compete on a more level playing field with established names.

“Choosing where you locate your retail business is a demanding task and can have a major impact on the success of your store with prime locations commanding a premium fee, often prohibitive for small or medium business owners in their initial set-up phase. Establishing an e-commerce store at Rakuten Tarad.com can complement existing stores and enable retailers to reach a wider audience, increasing the visibility of their store,” said Pawoot.

Location, access and passing traffic are among the most important considerations when setting up shop with prominent storefronts in a busy thoroughfare being the most sought after. In Thailand’s numerous malls standing out from the crowd can be challenging. 

Rakuten TARAD.com’s e-commerce consultants work within Rakuten TARAD.com’s unique B2B2C business model and are assigned to business owners to ensure each merchant has all the information and tools they need to stay at the forefront of e-commerce. Each ECC works as part of Rakuten University, a training institute which offers courses for merchants on how to optimise the virtual shopping channel for sales. They also advise each merchant on how they can customize their online storefront, allowing the merchant to take ownership of their brand to help them build brand loyalty and drive sales.