Let’s see how E-Commerce movement in Thailand in year 2014

1. M-Commerce will see strong growth Smartphones accounted for half of all mobile phone sales in Thailand last year and that trend will continue in 2014, when the mobile phone will be the main device that people use to access the internet. Rakuten Tarad.com recorded an increase of 158% in m-commerce sales as Thai people become more familiar with using their mobile device to shop online, in addition to their regular user habits of checking news and social media sites.

2. Mobile Chat and Social Media will help merchants boost sales Thai people have always loved to chat online and that nowadays means using mobile chat applications like LINE. With almost 20 million Thai users by the end of 2013 LINE is central to the lives of many people. At Rakuten Tarad.com we saw this as a great opportunity to support merchants and we set up our own official account to help promote products on our platform and invite customers to special sales events, tapping into a direct way to communicate with potential customers.

3. An increase in stores offering specific products for target groups (Vertical E-commerce) The online marketplace is progressing quickly with lots of stores popping up all over. At Rakuten Tarad.com we saw merchant numbers increase by 43%, with a large range of new categories. Merchants with physical stores realize that they can save costs and directly target key customers by selling online, and we have seen specific stores for mother and baby products, pet stores, kitchen tools and for the gay community.

4. Digitized products will sell well (Digital Content) Buying digital software, applications, E-books or online services will rise in popularity this year. Thai people are already used to buying a lot of digital product but at this time most products are made internationally. This presents a good opportunity for Thais to create digital product or content and sell locally. There are many advantages of selling digital product as there are reduced delivery costs, there is no need to keep a large stock of the product, merchants can respond to customer requests quickly and there is the opportunity to sell worldwide.

5. Increased competition The Thai e-commerce market is a hot topic and this will see more competition. In Thailand we have seen a number of international vendors join the scene and this will mean everyone will have to up their game and provide better service. At Rakuten Tarad.com we are set to launch a new platform that will make buying and selling online even easier, great news for both consumers and merchants.

6. Online payments continue to grow (Online Payment) Convenience is key and we are seeing more and more Thai people choosing to pay via their debit or credit card, whether online or through mobile. Nowadays, greater security means people are more comfortable making their payment online, and they also enjoy the ease and speed of completing their transaction. Addtionally, there are more channels available these days and people can pay via the bank systems, or other avenues like ThaiEpay.com or Paysbuy.com.

7. Competitive prices give more choice for customers Everyone loves getting the best price when shopping and new sites are popping up that can help consumers find the right deal for them. As e-commerce grows in Thailand more customers are searching for products they want to buy. Websites such as http://www.attackprice.com and http://www.priceza.com can help consumers compare prices by different merchants – and of course you will find our Rakuten Tarad.com merchants on their too!

8. Advance Online Marketing Online marketing helps merchants to better understand their customers and help identify the right tools to approach their target audience. It also helps save marketing budget and boost sales. Some advance online marketing techniques include marketing via Re-Targeting Strategy, which focuses on approaching customers through every channel consumer’s visit in order to persuade them to buy. Another sample of Advance Online Marketing is Targeted Marketing, which sets target customers of specific products in a bid to increase sales.

9. Conversion The most important thing metric that merchants should pay attention to is conversion (CVR) which shows the rate of site visitors becoming buyers. As an example, your shop can have 10,000 visitors per day but it means little if no-one is buying your product. Therefore the CVR number becomes an important for business tool for merchant to keep an eye on. Luckily, finding your CVR is very easy as you divide your total orders by your visitor numbers, giving you a CVR percentage.

10. Fulfillment system Managing growth of your business can be difficult, especially if sales quickly increase. If you are dealing with 50-100 orders per day, managing the product, deliver, and communicating you’re your customers will be more challenging. Rakuten Tarad.com has recently introduced a fulfillment sytem that helps merchants pack, arrange, and send the product to their customers. All merchants have to do is give the team their orders, and then fulfillment will support the rest of the process.