Mall Group gears marketing strategies for Bangkok's changed retail landscape

"The subway and Skytrain systems in Bangkok have totally changed the retail landscape in the city as shoppers can access the shopping malls, wherever they are, from everywhere," said Chamnarn Maytaprechakul, executive vice president of The Mall Group.

The group operates five The Mall shopping centres in Bangkok and one in Nakhon Ratchasima. It also runs Siam Paragon, The Emporium, and The EmQuartier malls, also in Bangkok.

The Mall Group targets sales growth of 6-7 per cent to Bt53 billion this year.

Chamnarn said setting up zoning or catchment areas of target shoppers was an outdated model for retailers. Mass transit allows consumers to access particular stores easily from anywhere in the city. Retailers have instead begun conducting other kinds of marketing campaigns, especially lifestyle-based activities, to build customer loyalty.

The Mall Group yesterday announced Bt100 million worth of marketing activities to celebrate its 35th year in business, including a special campaign called The Mall Anniversary "Happy Surprise", to be held from tomorrow to August 5.

"The Mall Group will still focus on conveying our marketing messages to our family-based customers," Chamnarn said.

"Looking at our customer lifecycle, after being in the business for 35 years, we are now serving the third generation, as the second generation has become parents. These parents are city folks who live around our malls.

"We have adapted merchandise, retail stores, services and marketing campaigns to cater to these modern families whose lifestyles differ from the prior generation."

Chamnarn gave the example of the group’s target customers spending more time dining out and purchasing products at supermarkets. They also focus more on shopping promotions. As a result, it is essential for The Mall Group to create greater experiences in line with modern consumer behaviour.

The group’s customers typically spend between Bt500 and Bt3,000 per trip. They typically visit the shopping centres one or two times a week, especially during weekends. Currently, The Mall serves about 100,000 shoppers per branch on weekdays and 20,000 more per day on weekends, for a total of about 240,000.

He said that during the first half of this year, there had been high competition in the retail market, as the Thai economy was improving and the world economy was also looking good. Despite many views that consumer confidence in the economic outlook is poor, the indices measuring such factors are in an acceptable range, given the boosts in consumption from the private sector, especially during the first half, coupled with government policies.

Competition is made more intense by end-of-season sales and fragmented consumer lifestyles.

Hence The Mall employs an IDD (integration identity and differentiation) strategy, in which campaigns are addressed to all, but offer unique benefits to different groups of potential customers. These campaigns aim to attract customers while appealing to different lifestyles, with consideration of what each shopping-mall branch offers.

Chamnarn said that under the Bt100-million budget to be allocated to overall marketing activities to celebrate the group’s 35th anniversary, many specific campaigns would be launched to cater to the needs of particular shopping centres.

For example, The Mall Anniversary "Happy Surprise" campaign and special promotions are geared towards The Mall customers, "Sale Extraordinaire" is available at The EmDistrict and "Paragon Shop A Thon" will be held at Paragon Department Store.

Towards the end of the month when customers have high purchasing power, all four mall brands will hold "Midnight Sale" campaigns. To cap off the first half of the year, there will be a huge sale at Muang Thong Thani for customers who prefer to shop away from malls.

All these tactics are IDD strategies implemented to boost sales.

The Mall shopping centres have undergone renovations to appeal to families and working people. New stores have been added and the old ones renovated for variety and a modern look.