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Tag: Thailand

  • Deliveree raises cash for expansion

    Deliveree raises cash for expansion

    Thai-founded Deliveree has raised US$14.5 million in a series A funding round, the cash earmarked for further Southeast Asian expansion.

    Since its launch in Bangkok three years ago, Deliveree has moved into Manila (operating as Transportify) and Jakarta. It will now expand into other markets in the region, likely to include Malaysia.

    The concept links private drivers with businesses moving small parcels, tapping into the growing e-commerce economy, and is also moving into larger consignments, targeting online retailers receiving inventory prior to sale.

    The latest funding round was led by Gobi Partners, which has a stake in Deliveree’s rival GoGoVan. Asia Summit Capital and foundation shareholder Inspire Ventures also invested.

    “Over the past few years, there has been a substantial investment in small-parcel, last-mile

    consumer logistics,” said Deliveree CFO Gagan Singh.

    But, he said but the industry suffers from poor operating economics. He believes Deliveree’s technology is more easily scaled than that of rivals, like Hong Kong headquartered Lalamove and GoGoVan.

    Deliveree claims to have 15,000 vehicles on its roster.

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  • Berli Jucker eyeing Asean expansion

    Berli Jucker eyeing Asean expansion

    Thai company Berli Jucker (BJC) plans an aggressive expansion of its retail network in the Asean region.

    The push will include its hypermarkets and convenience stores, including the opening of Big C hypermarkets in Malaysia.

    BJC president/CEO Asawin Techajareonvikul says the company is evaluating whether to give Malaysia or Vietnam priority in its retail network expansion.

    Described by the company as “downstream business”, the expansion will help its main interests, manufacturing, distribution and logistics.

    Group chairman Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi says BJC has had a foothold in Malaysia since acquiring a glass factory there in 1966. Big C stores would be the group’s first retail venture there.

    However, Asawin says there are already many competitors in Malaysia. “Meanwhile, in Vietnam, we already have 19 MM Mega Market hypermarkets as well as 173 B’s Mart convenience stores. The market has a lot of potential.”

    He says that between 200 and 300 hypermarkets are run by different companies in Thailand, but with about 90 million people in Vietnam, the number of hypermarkets there is quite small.

    “Our strategy is to build ‘connectivity’ within our retail network,” says Asawin. “Our Big C stores now cover all major provinces throughout the kingdom, but the transportation lead time from one store to another is currently about three hours. We want to reduce this to only one hour, and that means we need to open more stores to fill the gap, especially in cities in border areas.”

    BJC has 1200 retail outlets in Thailand, Laos and Vietnam under different brands, including Big C in Thailand, MM Mega Market and B’s Mart in Vietnam, and M-Point Mart in Laos. The group also has more than 10 factories in Asean.

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  • ThaiBev acquires restaurant chain

    ThaiBev acquires restaurant chain

    Thai Beverage Public Co (ThaiBev) has bought a 76 per cent stake in Thailand restaurant chain Spice of Asia for THB114.5 million (US$3.4 million).
    Funding for the acquisition will come from internal resources, says the F&B giant.

    Spice of Asia has 10 restaurants under four brands – Cafe Chilli, Chilli Thai Restaurant, Eat Pot and Pot Ministry, serving Thai food and hotpot concepts. The acquired stake will be held by ThaiBev subsidiary Food of Asia.

  • Tesco Asia sales slump, profit soars

    Tesco Asia sales slump, profit soars

    Tesco Asia sales plummeted in the last half year – but profit soared by nearly a quarter.

    The UK headquartered supermarket operator, which operates Tesco Lotus in Thailand and Tesco in Malaysia – said in its trading statement that Asian operating profit before exceptional items was £141 million, up 24.8 per cent at constant exchange rates and 39.6 per cent at actual rates.

    “This improvement has been driven by refocusing on our core retail offer and significantly

    reducing the level of short-term promotional coupon activity. Furthermore, we have continued to focus on reducing our cost base as part of the group’s overall cost savings program and to help offset inflationary cost increases in the region.”

    Overall Tesco Asia sales fell by 6 per cent at constant exchange rates, with like-for-like sales falling 8.3 per cent.

    “The sales performance in Asia reflects our decision to withdraw from bulk selling activities in Thailand at the start of the financial year. Before this impact, underlying like-for-like sales in the region were down circa 2 per cent, largely as the result of a reduction in the level of short-term promotional couponing activity and the deflationary impact of lowering our food prices for customers. New store openings contributed 2.3 per cent to sales growth in Asia,” the company said.

    “Strong progress”

    Tesco CEO Dave Lewis hailed “strong progress” for the group as it reported an eightfold rise in overall first-half profits to £562 million and resumed dividend payments after a three-year hiatus.

    “Our offer is more competitive and more customers are shopping at Tesco. Today’s announcement that we are resuming our dividend reflects our confidence that we can build on our strong performance to date,” he said.

    “Market conditions have been challenging with inflationary pressure being felt throughout the half, but we have worked hard with our supplier partners to minimise price increases for customers.

    “Our overall sales inflation in the half was around 1 per cent less than the rest of the market, helping us become even more competitive.”

    However some analysts were a little more cautious in their assessments, suggesting the retail will soon have to raise its prices in the UK.

    Molly Johnson-Jones, senior retail analyst with GlobalData, said Tesco UK could not afford to maintain the 1 per cent inflation gap with its rivals and simultaneously reach its ambitious 3.5 – 4 per cent margin target and £1.5 billion cost savings goal by the 2020 year.

    “Tesco’s ability to maintain its price competitiveness will be challenged by cost inflation, which will continue through to 2019, and shelf-edge inflation, which will reach a peak of 2.9 per cent in the first half of 2019. Using our price tracker, we have seen that Tesco raised its prices circa 2 per cent during the first half, and we estimate that they are, therefore, absorbing about 1 per cent of cost inflation. At the moment, this ability to absorb cost inflation comes from the volume benefits that it has gained from suppliers.

    “We predict that Tesco’s prices will begin to increase towards 2019 as volume benefits from its supplier negotiations start to dissipate.”

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  • Thumbs up for 7-Eleven Thailand draught beer

    Thumbs up for 7-Eleven Thailand draught beer

    Convenience store chain 7-Eleven Thailand is not breaking the law by offering beer on tap as long as it is poured by cashiers rather than customers, and beer brand names or logos are not visible.

    Debate is raging after 7-Eleven outlets on Bangkok’s Yaowarat Road in Chinatown introduced a draught beer service, but an official says a beer dispenser worked by store staff members is fully within the law.

    Deputy-director Dr Asadang Ruayajin of the Department of Disease Control (DDC), which works under the umbrella of the Public Health Ministry, says an inspection of the stores in question – after receiving a petition to do so – shows the dispensing machines have labels attached to obscure the beer brands’ logos, which complies with the Alcohol Control Act.

    The department has been watching about 10 stores but has not found any transgressions.

    Coconuts Bangkok offers a backstory to the protest, following a video of draft beer being poured from a 7-Eleven automatic machine went viral on the Facebook page Thai Smile.

    Thai netizens got just a little too excited about the new Leo beer-pouring machine,” it reports. But when an official visited the store the beer machine was covered with a big white cloth hiding the beer logo. Also, customers need to pay at the cashier where IDs can be checked.

  • Thai AirAsia adds two new destinations in India

    Thai AirAsia adds two new destinations in India

    Thai AirAsia commenced two new routes from Bangkok Don Mueang (DMK) to India. Flights from the Thai airport to Tiruchirappalli (TRZ) commenced on 28 September, followed by the inaugural service to Jaipur (JAI) on 29 September. Both routes will be served four times weekly by Thai AirAsia A320s. There is no competition on either route. The airline now serves six destinations in India from Don Mueang, accounting for 32 weekly flights.

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  • Rich Sport seeks IPO for international expansion

    Rich Sport seeks IPO for international expansion

    Thailand’s sole distributor of Converse footwear and sportswear, Rich Sport has submitted its filing for an IPO on the Stock Exchange of Thailand this year.

    It is hoping to raise funds to expand internationally.

    Rich Sport has been making and distributing the Converse brand in Thailand for 14 years. It has 41 retail shops and 11 counters in department stores. It reported revenue of THB601.12 million and net profit of THB122.16 million for its first half this year.

    According to its filing, the company is looking at issuing 200 million IPO shares, equivalent to about 26 per cent of its registered capital. Of that, 195 million shares will be offered to the public while the balance will be allotted to employees and subsidiaries.

    Rich Sport Holdings owns 30 per cent of shares, and the rest is held by three members of the Wongpaitoonpiya family at 23.33 per cent each. After the IPO, Rich Sport Holdings’ share will be diluted to 22.21 per cent.

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  • Central Group buying Dean & Deluca rights outside US

    Central Group buying Dean & Deluca rights outside US

    Thailand’s Central Group is set to acquire the Dean & Deluca chain of deli-cafes outside the US from Thai luxury property developer Pace Development for US$50 million.

    The deal is in the due diligence process, says Pace, which acquired the chain through its subsidiary Pace Food Retail for $140 million in 2014. Dean & Deluca was founded in the US in 1977.

    Under the agreement, the Thai retail giant will be licensed to run and expand the business outside the US while Pace retains ownership of the brand, runs the chain in the US and owns the right to produce and distribute consumer products under the Dean & Deluca trademark.

    Pace CEO Sorapoj Techakraisri says Central Group has the financial resources, expertise and knowledge to handle the day-to-day business of the stores, logistics and licensee relationships.

    “Having Central as a partner will give Dean & Deluca healthy growth globally,” he says.

    Pace, which develops luxury residential properties, has reported operating losses for five consecutive quarters, reaching THB1.7 billion ($50.9 million) last quarter.

    Currently, the company is developing four projects worth THB34 billion in total, including the Ritz-Carlton Residences Bangkok.

    The original Dean & Deluca was an iconic delicatessen in New York which continues to trade to this day. In Thailand, Pace converted the concept into more of a cafe business, before expanding outside Thailand, including in the Middle East, Tokyo, Seoul, Singapore and the Philippines. It was pursuing an aggressive expansion strategy in Asia.

  • Bangkok Apple Store in planning

    Bangkok Apple Store in planning

    Multiple reports from Thailand tip the opening of the first Bangkok Apple Store in 2018.

    The move began as a rumour when recruitment advertisements appeared in the country seeking creative, expert, “genius”, managers, store leaders and business leader roles in what – based on similar advertising in other markets – could only mean a search for qualified staff for an official Apple store. Advertisements also invited applications for the two-year Apple Store Leader Program, according to MacRumors.com.

    The ads added credibility to rumours published in Thailand earlier this year which tipped the first Bangkok Apple Store would open at the IconSiam shopping centre, currently being built on the banks of the Chao Phraya River, by Siam Piwat, which also owns the Siam Paragon, Siam Discovery and Siam Center malls in the heart of Bangkok. Of those, only Siam Paragon would seem to have sufficient space to host a flagship Apple store, although it would lack the bold street frontage Apple prefers for its retail outlets. IconSiam will feature a row of two-story brand maisons which, while previously earmarked for luxury European fashion brands, could include a distinctive Apple store with bold frontage, such as that used in Apple’s Orchard Road store in Singapore, (pictured above), or its Hong Kong stores, one of which is built on an overpass spanning two buildings across a busy street.

    Apple is also working on its retail debut in Macau and Seoul in this part of the world, following the successful (but delayed) opening of the Singapore store in May.

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  • Passion Delivery doubles offering in two months

    Passion Delivery doubles offering in two months

    Within two months, the number of suppliers and products trading through new Thailand online marketplace Passion Delivery has doubled.

    Directly connecting customers with local producers and importers of artisanal food and drink products, cookware and healthy lifestyle goods, the platform has increased its range from 600 products from 25 suppliers to more than 1200 products from 45 suppliers.

    Co-founder/CEO Ian Soo says the increased choice has inspired more than 1000 people to create accounts.

    “We always knew that people passionate about cooking want as much choice as possible,” says Soo. “Orders grow every month, proving this.”

    Passion Delivery is achieving an average basket size of more than THB2400 (US$70) an order.

    Soo, with wife Sara, founded the business in 2014 after being frustrated by the lack of availability of quality, locally produced food products and ingredients in Bangkok.

    “We’d seen a lot of great food and met some really passionate producers at local farmers’ markets,” says Sara Soo, “but we found it difficult, if not impossible, to find their products in shops. We thought that other people must share our frustration, so we created Passion Delivery.”

    It started as a specialist online order and delivery business from their home, offering just 25 products from three suppliers.

    Eventually, the marketplace was launched as a virtual shop window, connecting customers with suppliers, who fulfil and deliver the orders.

    Passion Delivery plans to expand the marketplace to 4000 products with 2500 customers by year-end.

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  • Xiaomi to open Bangkok Mi store

    Xiaomi to open Bangkok Mi store

    A Bangkok Mi store has been announced, not long after the Chinese electronics brand Xiaomi launched in Thailand.

    The authorised Bangkok Mi store will open on October 8, in partnership with Fanslink, at Imperial World Samrong.

    Xiaomi is also strengthening its service network, entering into an after-sales support agreement with VST ECS, which has 10 outlets in Thailand.

    Senior VP with Xiaomi, Wang Xiang, said the brand is planning considerable presence in the country, expecting it to become a key regional market over time.

    “We are all very excited to have this momentum in Thailand and to continue bringing new products with great technology to the people at price points that provide outstanding value,” said Wang.

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  • Paragon Shopping Centre merging tech and fashion

    Paragon Shopping Centre merging tech and fashion

    Paragon Shopping Centre on Orchard Road has branched into robotics and virtual reality for its latest fashion promotion.

    Shoppers can watch fashion runway shows projected onto the floor, and with virtual-reality goggles can have a 360-degree view of a fashion show in which mannequins morph into models.

    Using Samsung VR Gear, the experience was created by multimedia and fashion-design students from Raffles College of Higher Education. It features apparel and jewellery from 11 capsule collections, each created by a student from the school’s fashion-design course.

    Central to the display is a large robotic arm, typically used for precision engineering. It picks up and moves boxes containing fashion pieces such as bags and shoes, giving shoppers a 360-degree view of each item. The arm is on loan from automation firm Weltron Equipment.

    Running until October 1, the display features items from Moschino’s fall/winter collection. The next day, until October 15, athleisure collections take over the spotlight, featuring such brands as AX Exchange, Diesel, DKNY, Puma and Star360.

  • Online retail sales going strong in Thailand

    Online retail sales going strong in Thailand

    Thailand has seen an explosion of Internet shopping in recent years as consumers become more tech-savvy. If that is anything to go by, e-commerce in South-east Asia is taking off as well.

    Online retail sales in Thailand of everything, from washing machines and televisions to fish sauce, are growing more than 100 per cent, far outpacing purchases made at traditional stores, where sales are rising by about 10 per cent.

    That is down to a combination of stronger and faster Internet speeds in the country and the success of online merchants, such as Lazada.

    Thailand’s third-biggest mobile-phone company, Total Access Communication, estimates that Thais spend up to six hours a day on social media websites, including Facebook and YouTube.

    Thailand is the only country in South-east Asia that breaks down retail sales data into an online category, providing a useful guide of what e-commerce growth may be like in the region, according to Maybank Kim Eng.

    Bigger markets, such as China and South Korea, already have higher penetration rates of online retailing at 16 per cent and 18 per cent, respectively.

    That shows the potential for South-east Asia, where e-commerce sales could grow to 5 per cent to 10 per cent of overall retail purchases over the next five years, according to Maybank.

    Alibaba founder Jack Ma recently signed up to be a member of a government panel in Indonesia tasked with steering the e-commerce industry in South-east Asia’s most-populous nation. Macquarie Research estimates online retailing in the country can reach US$65 billion (S$88 billion) by 2020.

    The surge in e-commerce and a lack of official data means the health of the consumer in South-east Asia may be underestimated, according to Maybank. Tracking consumer patterns will involve more than just looking at official retail sales, it said.

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  • Muji Thailand opens CentralWorld flagship

    Muji Thailand opens CentralWorld flagship

    After a decade in Bangkok, Muji Thailand has opened a flagship store at CentralWorld.

    Covering 1000sqm, it is the Japanese brand’s biggest outlet in Bangkok, offering for the first time clothing lines like Found Muji, which borrows materials and techniques from around the world, Muji Labo, which offers everyday basics in neutral colours, and ReMuji, which revives vintage garments through indigo dyeing techniques.

    There is also the first Green Space, a corner devoted to plants ideal for tiny indoor gardens. The store also offers the Muji basics of toiletries, stationery, kitchenware, clothing and bedding.

    Meanwhile, the What is Muji? exhibition at Central Embassy mall showcases Muji’s brand philosophy through a range of products. It continues until October 1.

  • Asia key to expansion, says Walgreens Boots Alliance

    Asia key to expansion, says Walgreens Boots Alliance

    Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA), which owns Boots health-and-beauty chain, plans to continue expanding its business in Asia because of the growing middle class.

    As Boot Thailand celebrates 20 years, WBA co-COO Ornella Barra says Asia, particularly China, South Korea and Thailand, are integral to the company’s expansion plans, with the Asia-Pacific region forecast to account for more than one-third of the global economy by 2021.

    Growth rates in the region continue to outpace the mature economies of the west, driven in part by the rising middle class.

    Moreover, led by regional and domestic players, the market is still fragmented, says Barra, noting that strong beauty brands have huge opportunities for growth in many Asian markets, especially those that can build on brand awareness built in established markets.

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