Credit card operators aim to cash in on online shopping surge after Covid-19
Credit card operators are rolling out promotional campaigns to boost usage during mid-year sales, especially in online shopping and food delivery.
Pittaya Vorapanyasakul, executive vice president at Krungthai Card Plc (KTC), said the company was focusing on post-lockdown marketing campaign to restore sales lost during the Covid-19 crisis. “As the mid-year sale is drawing close, we will promote convenience in digital shopping via KTC mobile application where shoppers can pay via linkpay system and exchange their points for rewards at any time,” she said. “We estimate that third-quarter sales will see negative growth but it will improve over the second quarter. The sectors that will see largest increase are supermarkets, online shopping and food delivery due to changing customer behaviour after the Covid-19 lockdown.”
Thakorn Piyaphan, chairman of Krungsri Consumer Group, said the company will organise promotional campaigns for online shopping and food delivery by cooperating with partners such as Central, The Mall and Home Pro. “Customers will enjoy up to 5 per cent discount for online shopping with zero interest for six months,” he said. “Furthermore, customers can use their points in exchange for discount up to 13 per cent and receive up to 17 per cent cash back reward.”
Thakorn added that the company’s survey revealed that the sectors in which credit card sales have grown significantly are online shopping (90 per cent increase), fund investment (51 per cent) supermarket and hypermarket (21 per cent), and convenience store (7 per cent).
“Due to Covid-19, credit card sales overall in 2020 should decrease by 35-40 per cent compared to last year, which expanded by 10 per cent from the previous year,” he added.
Anisa Choochan, assistant general manager of credit card products at Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), said the bank would focus mainly on online shopping in response to customers’ behaviour in the new normal era.
“SCB will promote contactless and digital payment to reduce the risk of germs spreading via cash,” she said. “The sectors that we will be focusing our promotions on are supermarket, insurance and hospital, as people have become more health conscious due to the outbreak.”
“SCB will also allow customers to exchange their points for rewards via electronic channel as well as provide e-coupon that can be used as instant discount for their next purchase,” she added.
Kanjana Rojwatanyu, chief marketing officer at TMB Bank Pcl, said that TMB/Thanachart credit cards will continue to promote spending under the new normal lifestyle. “We have cooperated with leading online shopping platforms such as Lazada, Uniqlo, Grab Foods, Foods Panda and Lineman to provide benefits to online shoppers,” she said.
“Meanwhile, the bank will also organise promotional campaigns for other sectors such as department stores and supermarkets to boost sales after the lockdown in many businesses has been lifted.”
“TMB estimates that credit-card spending in the online sector in 2020 will grow by 25 per cent from last year,” she added.
