MPG deepens online sales strategy

The year 2018 will be another challenging year for MPG Corporation, originally named “Mangpong”, a well-known chain of VDO (video, VCD and DVD rental) shops, which diversified into the beauty business in 2015.
Chief executive Nalaanlat Nunnonl said that the company’s key challenges are the growing e-commerce market and competing with other retail shops that have excellent service and in-demand products. 
In 21st century, focusing solely on offline stores could be a weakness, but partnering with online retail entrepreneurs is likely to increasingly become a strength, she said. MPG is working closely with strong e-commerce specialists to tackle the problem. And it is also going to partner with strong logistics leaders to complete their online to offline (O2O) model that “will help serve customers at our best”, said Nalaanlat.
She said that MPG entered a new era in 2017, no longer known for its retail alone.
“Our name will become recognised as Clouda every-day makeup products. Clouda has gained a strong reputation and has been widely accepted among beauty gurus.”
Clouda has a full-range of products, including SPF pressed powder, eyebrow pencil, mascara, eye-shadow, blush, lipstick and so forth and plans to launch additional skin-care lines in 2018, said Nalaanlat.
Awards from OK Beauty Choice 2017 and Sudsapda Beauty Award 2017 have are seen by consumers as a guarantee of quality and of industry approval, she said. The repeated industry awards “have marked a very exciting year for Clouda”, she said.
“Huge market potential is waiting for Clouda, both among local Thai users and in Asian Economic Community markets. We are ready to penetrate all tropical countries,” Nalaanlat said. “Our products have been strategised, designed, and positioned to appeal to both female and male users across the globe.”
The core business will focus in 2018 on their two key strengths – retail business and their house brand positioned as high quality beauty products. 
“The plan is to expand beyond Thailand and into other online channels by joining hands with partners whose experience and expertise in those channels will complement Clouda, instead of doing it all by ourselves.”
Developing distribution channels, both offline and online, traditional and contemporary, will be tailored to increase product visibility in domestic and international markets, CLMV and China. 
Meanwhile, its focus on retail business is to increase same-store revenue growth and effectively control cost to improve the revenue-cost spread. 
“Also, our market introduction to the O2O model, combining sales opportunities from offline to online, helps ease the customer pain point of wanting to get a particular product in a limited time by delivering service to their destination within three hours. Our revenue under a O2O pilot project has grown by 10 per cent,” she said.
MPG Corporation has its origins as VDO shop, Mangpong, well known to video fans and MBK shoppers since 1989.
“We are loved by movie and music – home entertainment – lovers since we source all the best products from around the world and continue to provide well-known items in time for customer demand. However, with ever-changing technology, people consume movie and music via online channels,” Nalaanlat said.
To adapt, MPG grew its retail business to two more categories. First, in 2014, came Gizman (the “house of lifestyle gadgets”), and then Stardust (a multi-brand beauty store) in 2015) to replace declining revenue from Mangpong (the movie and music hub).
“Nowadays, our retail family comes in three brands, available in 16 locations. Mangpong and Gizman in 13 locations and Stardust in eight locations with five stores adjacent. We call this adjacent retail model the ‘MPG retail hybrid’,” said Nalaanlat, adding that the 2017 transition to the retail hybrid increased revenues by more than 50 per cent for the same stores.
The coming year will see the retail hybrid model spread to new Bangkok landmark locations frequented by customers from all over the world.
Looking forward, the company is well aware of the advantage that owning their own house brand – Clouda everyday makeup – gives them in marketing products nationally and internationally. Their Clouda Hero Product, was awarded Best Perfecting Powder from OK Beauty Award 2017 leading to a surge to double their usual sales.
With that kind of recognition, Nalaanlat and MPG are preparing to go big and sell widely.