On-line boom for FMCGs seen

“Online shopping in FMCG categories in Thailand is still small, but it is clearly growing on par with the regional trend,” commercial director Gareth Ellis said recently.
Kantar Worldpanel estimates that by the end of this year, online shopping in such daily-use product categories will be undertaken by 4.4 per cent of Thai households, up from 2.7 per cent last year and 1.4 per cent in 2014.
The increase in FMCG products bought via online and e-commerce channels results from the advancement of wireless Internet broadband, which is shaping consumer behaviour in line with an expansion of social-media users, he said.
Among the top FMCG categories, health and beauty products are the most popular items purchased by local consumers, while powdered milk for babies is among the most frequently bought items by parents.
“Online shopping is now presenting a significant opportunity for growth in FMCG business as its spending per trip averages Bt658, which already outpaces the spending at physical stores like hypermarkets and supermarkets,” he explained.
According to the latest research by Kantar Worldpanel, average spending per trip at hypermarkets and supermarkets is Bt257, while consumers commonly spend Bt95 per trip at convenience stores and Bt51 per trip at mom-and-pop shops.
However, shopping frequency via online channels is 2.3 times a year, which is considerably lower than the frequency at hypermarkets/supermarkets, which is about 26 times annually.
“The latest findings suggest that online shopping has high potential for brands. The key is that the brands should encourage consumers to increase their shopping frequencies via online channels,” Ellis stressed.
Meanwhile, leading retailers in the Kingdom are putting more emphasis on developing their assets and facilities to support their e-commerce.
Retail giant Central Group recently announced the acquisition of Zalora – a leading online shopping site in Southeast Asia.
Pornchanok Tanskul, president of COL, an e-commerce arm of Central Group, said that with the acquisition of Zalora, the group would be able to help stimulate the economy by promoting increased domestic consumption through e-commerce, a retail channel which she said was growing in popularity.
In a recent interview, John Christie, chief executive officer of Tesco Lotus, said his company was continuously developing its online shopping platform with its e-commerce partners in order to cash in on the change in customers’ digital lifestyles and behaviour.
“We are now offering more than 8,000 non-food products via Lazada.com [online platform]. They include electronic devices, beauty and healthcare products,” he said.