Thailand news & analysis

Health and beauty specialist Watsons plans to refresh its brand with colourful formats and streamline its online shopping platform as part of its anniversary celebrations. Growing digitally in line with customers' habits Watsons has earmarked THB 100m (US$3m) to give all its formats a new look, including its online platform. Managing director Rod Routley said home delivery for online buyers...

Central Group, a leading Thai conglomerate with businesses in merchandising, real estate, grocery retail, hospitality and restaurants, is discussing a joint venture partnership with JD.com. Adding resources to focus on digital capabilities Central Group has been placing majority of its investments in real estate in previous years. This year, it has decided to increase its budget on logistic...

Consumer spending in Thailand has been weak in the first half of the year, with fewer hypermarket visits and lower average spend per bill. Tesco-Lotus has rolled out marketing plans for the rest of the year to win shoppers back. Lower prices, better fresh produce Mr Sompong Rungnirattisai, chief commercial officer of Ek-Chai Distribution System Co, the operator of Tesco-Lotus, said market c...

Big C’s total revenues from retail sales, rental and service income, and other income, for the quarter reached THB 30,257m (US$ 909m), representing a decline of 10.7% over the same quarter last year. Retail sales driving down total revenue Negative same stores sales of 15.2% for the quarter pulled down the retail sales. This continues to be driven by the retailer's focus on quality ...

CP All, operator of 7-Eleven stores in Thailand, has just reached a new milestone with 10,007 stores as of June 2017. The company posted gains in both revenue and net profit for Q2 due to aggressive store expansion, although same-store growth has declined. Thai economy still on recovery Convenience store sales grew 5.7% to THB 69.4bn (US$ 2bn) thanks to new store openings, while same-store ...

In June, Saha Lawson, operator of Lawson 108 in Thailand announced that it will start franchising its stores to increase their store network to 500 by 2020. The retailer has kept its promise announcing that it has awarded franchise rights for oil retailer Susco Plc to open Lawson stores at their new petrol stations this year. Still early stages for Lawson in Thailand Under the recently ...

SPAR International plans to establish 300 new convenience stores in Thailand by 2020. This will be done in partnership with the Bangchak Retail Company (BCR) and DHL Supply Chain. DHL has track record in Thailand & internationally Commenting on the development, Tom Rose, Head of Operations at SPAR International said, ‘DHL’s track record in sustaining fast-growing food retailers, both in Th...

Having recently exited their 'bulk selling' operation in Thailand, Tesco Lotus have outlined a key focus area to connect and serve shoppers better. Supporting their investment decisions... The bulk sales segment, predominately made up of tobacco and alcohol products, served mainly traders rather than individual shoppers. With this unprofitable operation discontinued and investment to ren...

JD.com, China's second-largest ecommerce company, plans to enter the Thai market later this year. Use Thailand as a hub Richard Liu, founder and chief executive of JD.com, said the company planned to use Thailand as a hub for servicing other Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam and Malaysia. This would be the second country that JD.com operates in Southeast Asian region, the other one ...

Modern Sevel Indonesia, which operates 7-Eleven convenience stores in Indonesia, cancels the sale of the chain due to "non-agreement of the parties concerned". Challenging times ahead CP Indonesia is an affiliate of CP All, which operates more than 9,500 7-Eleven stores in Thailand. Its plan to buy 7-Eleven stores for US$75 million would have brought much needed funds and expertise for the ...