Thai e-commerce sales continue to rise, boosted by mobile Internet, social media
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E-commerce business in Thailand is still on the rise, increasing by at least 20 per cent from last year's level as the number of mobile Internet users keeps growing in line with the increasing popularity of social media, according to the latest research b
Last year, total retail sales in the Kingdom reached about Bt3.3 trillion, of which online retail business accounted for about Bt150 billion.
Suwimol Junperngprakiat, director of business planning at Mindshare Thailand, said yesterday that e-commerce in the country was expected to grow by 20-30 per cent this year, and that next year would follow the same trend.
“We have found this insight after conducting a study on the trends of e-commerce in Thailand. We aim to investigate how it impacts shoppers’ behaviour, and what actions marketers can take to adjust their communication strategies,” she said.
The findings are based on both qualitative and quantitative research, involving in-depth interviews with Bangkok consumers aged 15 to 39 and six experts in e-commerce, in line with related information and research data from Mindshare 3D, Euromonitor, MillwardBrown, Nielsen, eMarketer, Google and Comscore.
Suwimol said there were three key factors driving the rising e-commerce trend: the strong expansion of high-speed Internet coverage throughout the country; the steady rise of smart-phone ownership; and the increasing popularity and use of social media.
The study found that more consumers were shopping in the world where digital, social and mobile are combined. Choices are based on peers’ opinions and experiences rather than on advertising, as consumers can easily flip between the online and offline worlds, she said.
While physical stores remain an important part of a consumer’s journey, the lines between online and offline are increasingly blurred, she added.
She suggested that marketers and e-commerce business owners should think and act differently to make sure they can tailor their activities in rapid and unparalleled ways to meet ever-changing customer demands, based on real-time data.
Big retailers, meanwhile, are also putting more focus on online stores, which are available on both mobile-based and Web-based service platforms.
At the same time, new players are looking to promote their brands and products via mainstream media like television, radio and newspapers, so that they can build trust among target consumers.
New terrestrial-based digital-TV channels will offer more windows for such e-commerce business owners to introduce their brands publicly and reach a wider audience, as the advertising rates at the digital-TV stations are more affordable, she added.
