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Thai retailers ‘not sold’ on domination by online rivals

By CIMI SUCHONTAN
THE SUNDAY NATION

 

MANY HEADS of big shopping malls in Thailand are still not convinced about online retailing or its future, said experts at global financial services group KPMG.

 

“The CEOs I met in Bangkok may not be ready to take on the digital challenges as more shoppers make purchases via phones and tech devices,” said the group’s online expert Anson Bailey.

 

Thailand should pay attention to countries such as China, where online has revolutionised shopping, said Baily who is based in Hong Kong.

 

About 14 per cent of shopping in mainland China is online because of acute shortage of stores in a country that only recently emerged from a century of warlords and Communist revolt.

 

In other Asian lands that were spared wars, there are ample number of malls, making online sales less spectacular. Thais made about 11 million online purchases a year – about 4 per cent of the total market.

 

But the trend is up, Bailey said, as traditional shoppers grow old and die, leaving the field to younger consumers who are more prone to dial for goods and services.

 

“Many CEOs seem complacent and unaware about how younger consumers use smartphones,” said the Manchester-born marketer who has lived in Asia for 20 years.

 

He cited KPMG’s latest survey by consumer chief Willy Kruh that warns of the need to adopt new technologies in a fast-changing landscape.

To be sure, of the total US$22 trillion (Bt760 trillion) consumer market, online takes up about 8 per cent of the share.

 

But the growth is faster in digital, Bailey said, after meeting young online entrepreneurs from Asia this week. They are aggressively pushing to have a piece of the world’s digital retail space worth $1.8 trillion.

 

Bailey uses China as a role model for success, citing the success of Alibaba and Alipay under the guidance of founder Jack Ma. “Ma succeeded because he made online shopping simple, quick and transparent”.

 

Recent studies suggested Asia could make up more than half the world’s total online purchases by 2030.

 

Bailey conceded that not all Asian markets are embracing online with the same zeal as China. Online retailing in Japan, for example, accounts for just 5 per cent of market share.

 

It also remains hard to convince local retailers that Siam Paragon, MBK, Emporium-and Emquartier will be replaced by digital shops anytime soon.

 

KPMG acknowledges this reality and offered a more pragmatic solution where the new and old systems tie up to survive.

 

The biggest concern among consumers, said Kruh’s survey, is security where cyber hackers have made off with billions of dollars every year.

 

Kruh noted 63 per cent of respondents said “protecting their data and information was most important”. 

 

Consumers are not only worried about fraud but what bankers, insurers and retailers do with their personal information.

 

Bailey said many companies such as Alibaba are now following Google’s example by calling itself a “data company” with the ability to unlock users consumption pattern.

 

These players assume consumers are happy to be exploited with impunity. The issue may have legal implications and affects issue matters such as trust and privacy.

 

Indeed, the greater challenge may be to reconcile the new divide between the “haves and have-nots”. For a huge segment of the world’s population, the digital platform is beyond their means. 

 

Bailey is convinced that as “Baby Boomers” aged between 52 and 69 die off, there will only be two remaining groups that will boost online sales.

These are “Generation X”, aged between 36 and 51 and “Millennials”, aged 20-37.

 

“These people love Uber and AirB&B,” he said. “They grew up with them.”

 

That may be so but Thailand has made both illegal and for every fan of these services, there are many more opponents.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/national/30311032

 

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-04-02

[whatawonderfulday]

Thainess. Head in the sand and hope it goes away because online shopping is the future,

[BEVUP]

Still a bit difficult for them but had success with one ( only tried twice ) & still had to tell them what number it was from the catalogue as they couldn't work out what their Best Seller was 

The other one didn't have a clue about roofing ( the salesmans actual job ) so he lost 100,000 + 

[spidermike007]

Thai retailers have little to fear when it comes to online marketing. Though a few are making some very minor inroads like Lazada, online shopping here lags so far behind the rest of the world, it might take them at least a decade to catch up. Even just finding a simple customer service phone number online is a chore here, much less a functional website. So little effort has been put into the online world here. The websites are cheap, dysfunctional, and poorly designed, most of the time. I went online to try to buy a replacement shield for my helmets, and it took two weeks before I finally got a reply. And that was after I hounded them five or six times. China is infinitely more progressive about online shopping than Thailand. If you look beyond Lazada, and the little bit of sales that are taking place on FB, there is not much happening online here. 

[little mary sunshine]

Wonderful!!!  15 years from now 45% of the Malls

in BKK can be turned into Green Space, Parks and

athletic fields.....People will be shopping online

due to  fast shopping and convenience!!  

 

[smileydude]

The big retailers are not convinced because they believe online shopping in Thailand is still rather limited to less expensive items like brandless clothing, decorative jewelry etc. basically anything that if you were ripped off you wouldn't feel stupid or gullible.  

Thai's still prefer to see the real thing and their belief of the existence of consumer protection is about as true as Santa Claus.

Couldn't  blame em, online customer service here means long waits on hold, answers that don't help and lots of passing the buck.

I'll stick to eBay and bricks and mortar for now, thank you.

[Monomial]

On 4/2/2017 at 10:15 AM, spidermike007 said:

The websites are cheap, dysfunctional, and poorly designed, most of the time. I went online to try to buy a replacement shield for my helmets, and it took two weeks before I finally got a reply. And that was after I hounded them five or six times. China is infinitely more progressive about online shopping than Thailand. If you look beyond Lazada, and the little bit of sales that are taking place on FB, there is not much happening online here. 

 

The little bit of sales on FB?  I think the problem here is that you are not Thai. Thai ecommerce is all about social media. The websites suck because only farangs use websites and email to buy things. Thai ecommerce is entirely about FB/Pinterest followed by communication with the merchant and purchase via Line. I would say China is certainly more traditional about ecommerce, but they are hardly infinitely more progressive.

 

If anything, the Thais are more progressive, having discarded the old fashioned website models.

 

Thailand has developed its own style of ecommerce, and it is working very well for the younger generation. If you are judging them based on your perception of what ecommerce means, then yes, they are not going to measure up. But your perception is not what the vast majority of Thais define as ecommerce.

[spidermike007]

11 hours ago, Monomial said:

 

The little bit of sales on FB?  I think the problem here is that you are not Thai. Thai ecommerce is all about social media. The websites suck because only farangs use websites and email to buy things. Thai ecommerce is entirely about FB/Pinterest followed by communication with the merchant and purchase via Line. I would say China is certainly more traditional about ecommerce, but they are hardly infinitely more progressive.

 

If anything, the Thais are more progressive, having discarded the old fashioned website models.

 

Thailand has developed its own style of ecommerce, and it is working very well for the younger generation. If you are judging them based on your perception of what ecommerce means, then yes, they are not going to measure up. But your perception is not what the vast majority of Thais define as ecommerce.

 

You make an interesting point. The issue is that if you are searching for something specific, google rarely picks up anything on Facebook, so they seem to be driving their own traffic to their FB pages. It makes it incredibly hard to shop online here, if you are not a member of the Thai youth you refer to. Not sure I would describe that as more progressive, but kudos to them if they are generating sales.