These statistics confirm that Thai users are becoming more familiar with online-shopping and many companies are starting to use online business strategies to attract more customers.
The factors driving the increase in Thailand e-commerce
1. Online payment system development
In the past, Thailand e-commerce companies just had credit cards to support online payments however credit cards in Thailand have not in the past been that popular.
Now more payment systems are developing and users have many choices to make an online payment such as using credit cards, debit cards or online payment service companies.
All of the Thai banks give priority to online payments, and have developed systems that can accept debit cards or allow internet banking to make an online payment. The money will directly be deducted from user accounts after products have been purchased.
Online Payment Service Companies are another choice for users that don’t have credit cards. There are currently 3 companies in Thailand providing these services including Paysbuy, PayPal and TARADpay.
Moreover, Thailand also has MPay and True Money services to support users that would like to make a payment via mobile. Users are obviously finding it more convenient to shop and make payments online.
2. Ease of creation of e-commerce websites
A lot of companies in Thailand provide instant e-commerce websites where you can create a new online shop with in 24 hours. It’s easy to create by just following the instructions. This in turn has enabled the number of online shops to increase substantially each year.
Additionally, last year big shopping malls in Thailand including Central, The Mall, Big C, and Lotus began to start online shopping campaigns to increase sales volumes which has provided users with more choices to select products they want.
3. E-commerce shops always have promotions
E-commerce shops have a lot of competitors so most online shops try to attract customers by offering lower product prices or conducting special promotions. This is another reason that the number online shoppers in Thailand is increasing.
4. Group buying Trends
In Thailand Group buying trends on social e-commerce is also increasing. The price of products will decrease when buyers join together to buy the product with the greater the number of buyers, the lower the price. Therefore most buyers will spread the news about such promotions via social networks like Facebook. Such a strategy can attract more users to buy products on the internet.
The Top 5 Thailand E-commerce websites as ranked by truehits.net ref:http://shopping.truehits.net/ are:
1. WeLoveShopping
URL: http://www.weloveshopping.com/
2. Tarad.com
3. Pramool.com
4. PantipMarket.com
URL: http://www.pantipmarket.com/
5. ThaiOnlineMarket.com
URL: http://www.thaionlinemarket.com/
Popular products on Thailand e-commerce sites
From the Thai internet user survey in 2010, Books are the most popular products that Thai user order from internet which represents 34.7% of online sales with the next being reservation services online at 31.3% and 26.7% for buying clothes. And the percentage of orders for cosmetics, electrical appliances and toys is also increasing.
I believe that the trend of using e-commerce in Thailand will continue to grow in 2011 and beyond. Therefore if your business has not yet joined an e-commerce site or set one up of its own, now is the right time to do so.
