Shopping ambassadors at Siam Paragon

BANGKOK: -- Shoppers will receive personal service from one of 40 Siam Paragon “ambassadors” when the world-class shopping centre opens on December 1.

The Siam Paragon ambassador programme will be a special service providing information on merchandise and where to purchase items in the shopping centre. Shoppers will be made to feel like VIPs and find it easier to locate products.

Onthira Bharaksuwana, director customer-relationship manager, for Siam Paragon Development Co Ltd, said the company would begin recruiting Siam Paragon ambassadors this month, with a target of 40 staff aged under 25.

Ambassadors will undergo a full month of intensive training prior to the centre’s grand opening.

The course will focus on customer communication, product details and appropriate gift ideas for special occasions.

All ambassadors will have a command of both specific and general information and be bilingual in English, Chinese, Japanese or Spanish.

Onthira said the training budget for the 40 ambassadors would be Bt1.5 million.

The centre will also include more than 200 touch screens providing additional information on events.

“We believe this service will satisfy customer demand and promote us as a world-class Southeast Asian shopping centre,” she said.

Siam Paragon Development is a 50-50 joint venture between the Mall Group and Siam Piwat Co Ltd.

The shopping centre will be located on 52 rai in the central business district, cost Bt14 billion and contain 500,000 square metres of retail space.

An average of 100,000 visitors a day is expected.

--The Nation 2005-09-01

The Post story said they'd already hired their ambassador's and they 'nearly all had masters degrees.' Wow, imagine that........