Thailand shoppers move to mobile this holiday season

Online shopping during Thailand’s holiday season is growing at a rate of 32 per cent year-on-year. The Adobe Digital Index predicts that this holiday season will represent almost 20 per cent of total annual online sales, matching China’s growth rates and ahead of countries such as Singapore, Australia, Russia and Brazil, Adobe announced in a press release.

As online shopping becomes more prevalent across the country, shoppers are no longer content with sitting at their computer to browse and buy. The ease of use of mobile payment tools such as Apple Pay and PayPal are increasingly making mobile the preferred platform to shop and make purchases, the statement said.

Tablets still dominate the mobile shopping experience, with more people in Thailand expected to reach for their tablets to shop than in any other country in the region, with New Zealand a close second.

But smartphones are fast catching up. With bigger screens and the rise of better mobile data plans and Wi-Fi hotspots, shoppers now see phones as a genuine channel to make purchases – nearly 8 per cent of all online shopping is now being conducted through smartphones.

Stephen Hamill, Managing Director of Adobe Southeast Asia, said the need for retailers to have an engaging and easy to use digital storefront has never been more compelling.

“While Thailand currently has one of the lowest online spending levels in the world, it is growing at an extraordinary rate,” said Hamill.

“It’s becoming easier for people to connect and shop from wherever they are as phones get bigger screens, easier interfaces and mobile data connections continue to improve. Retailers have to keep up with consumer behaviour and they have to be able to do it across a range of devices.”