Thailand news & analysis

JD.com and Central Group have officially launched a new website under JD Central in Thailand. Positive consumer interest at soft launch JD CENTRAL offers both direct sales and marketplace models. Online orders have exceeded expectations by 15 times since it was first opened for testing in June. About 80% of shoppers accessed the site through their mobile phones to buy FMCG products, mobile ...

Shopee For Men is a new one-stop portal launched by Shopee with 20,000 products for men from more than 300 retailers in Thailand. Designed for men Shopee For Men offers a collection of product categories and items that have been selected to meet the needs of all male shoppers. The retailer is teaming up with Unilever, Nivea for Men, Warrix, Gatsby, G-Shock, American Tourister and ASUS for t...

New wholesale deal to supply Big C chain announced. Deal struck with Thailand’s third largest retailer The UK’s fourth largest retailer, Morrisons, will begin supplying its private label range of products to Big C hypermarkets. About 100 different products have been confirmed for export to the Thai retailer. This deal is expected to boost Big C’s messaging of offering “More Than Just Low...

Morrisons has reported impressive interim results, with a surge in the scale of its wholesale operations lifting group like-for-like growth. Profits also rose significantly, enabling Morrisons to pay a special dividend to shareholders. Key numbers Group LFL(ex VAT and fuel): +4.9% (Q2: +6.3%) Revenue +4.5% to £8.8bn Retail LFL: +2.1% (Supermarkets 1.9% and Online through Dordon CFC...

Tesco Lotus has opened its 2,000th store in Thailand on Bangkruay-Sainoi Road.  Expansion plan on track The retailer committed   to adding about 55,000 sq m of retail space in 2018. It has opened 45 stores so far: six hypermarkets, one department store, one talad store and 37 Tesco Express stores. Sompong Rungnirattisai, CEO of Tesco Lotus, is optimistic about the Thai economy and bel...

CP ALL, the operator of 7-Eleven in Thailand, announces net profit growth of 2.8% - its weakest quarterly results in years. Significant slowdown from Q2 2017 The retailer reported profits of THB 4.78bn (US$144.2M) for Q2 2018, growing by 2.8% from THB 4.65bn in the same period last year. Higher costs due to labour, administration and electricity are cited as some of the contributing factors...

CP (Charoen Pokphand) Group has entered into a joint venture with Inagora, a Japan-based platform specialising in selling Japanese goods to Chinese consumers. Boost to Inagora's Chinese business Inagora has about four million registered users and carries 40,000 products including food and household goods on its mobile app and other channels to Chinese shoppers. It has opened a physical stor...

First store of Lots Wholesale Solutions opens in Delhi. Targeting the kiranas The Charoen Pokphand Group (CP Group), a Thai conglomerate, has opened its first store in India. Located in Delhi, it is a 4,600 sq m cash and carry store operating under the banner of Lots Wholesale Solutions. Lots Wholesale Solutions is targeting the traditional channel, local retailers and local suppliers an...

SPAR International has enjoyed ‘ strong, continued growth ’ in 2017, with sales rising 5.3%, on a constant currency basis, to €34.5 bn. SPAR International said its performance had benefited from its continued focus ‘ to grow [its] presence through targeted expansion, and to drive retail development through expanding our multi-format retail strategy ’. Sustained expansion underpinning results ...

Tony Hoggett, CEO of Tesco Asia has been appointed to a new chief operations role, while Alison Horner, chief people officer will replace him to head up the retailer's Asian businesses, according to press reports.  The changes will take effect from June 1st. "Leveraging operational strategy across the group" In his new role Hoggett will work alongside chief product officer Jason Tarry and c...