E-commerce market on path of growth
THAILAND'S total e-commerce market will be valued at Bt2.1 trillion by the end of this year, a 3.65-per-cent growth year on year.
Computer and electronics, beauty and cosmetics as well as fashion are potential categories for e-commerce in Thailand.
The Thai e-commerce market in 2014 was valued at Bt2.03 trillion, with business-to-business (B2B) deals worth Bt1.23 trillion, business-to-consumer (B2C) valued at Bt0.41 trillion and business-to-government (B2G) valued 0.31 trillion.
Surangkana Wayuparb, the chief executive officer of Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA), said that the agency has spent seven months conducting the e-commerce survey, covering all industries in Thailand, representing 502,676 people from eight sectors: manufacturing, retail and wholesale, transport, accommodation, information and communication, insurance, art, entertainment and recreation as well as other services.
B2B e-commerce was valued at Bt1.230 trillion, a contraction of 0.33 per cent over 2014, while B2C was valued at Bt474,648.91 million, a growth of 15.29 per cent over 2014 and B2G was valued at Bt402,883.74 million, growing 3.96 per cent year on year.
“It is a huge opportunity for e-commerce business in Thailand since the new Thai generation believes in shopping via online channels. The 4G will also be a factor in driving the growth of the e-commerce market in Thailand,” said the CEO.
The e-commerce market in Thailand was worth Bt2.03 trillion in 2014 of which B2B was worth Bt1.234 trillion or 60.69 per cent, followed by B2C Bt411,715 million or 20.25 per cent and B2G valued Bt387,552 million.
In 2015, the top three industries expected to generate the most e-commerce are accommodation services, worth Bt658,909.76 million or 38.4 per cent, followed by manufacturing, valued at Bt350,286.83 million or 20.4 per cent, as well as retail and wholesale industry, valued at Bt325,077.48 million or 19 per cent.
She also said that the top three industries that |gained the highest e-commerce value in 2014 were accommodation services valued at Bt530,159.13 million or 38.1 per cent, followed by manufacturing valued at Bt440,614.78 million, gaining 26.6 per cent, and information and communications valued at Bt264,863.74 million, growing 19.11 per cent.
Computer and accessories, cosmetics and beauty as well as fashion are the three top categories for online retail and wholesale business.
Art and entertainment business, games online, music and e-movies are the main categories in the online entertainment business.
Surangkana said that the global and domestic economies are factors in driving the e-commerce market in Thailand and the government incentives or tax privileges will play a part in driving the e-commerce market of the country as a whole.
She said that the top four online transactions for e-commerce business in 2014 were e-banking at 54.25 per cent, followed by credit and debit card 22.39 per cent, mobile payment at 14.53 per cent, and others at 8.83 per cent.
However, mobile payment has high potential for growth because the modern lifestyle will mean using mobiles to pay transaction fees in the near future.
She said that the total US B2C e-commerce market was valued at US$359.3 billion in 2014. Meanwhile, China’s B2C market was worth $322.1 billion. Japan and Korean were valued at $118.59 billion and $25.4 billion, respectively.
Thailand and Malaysia had B2C market valued at $11.7 billion and $9.6 billion respectively.
