The Change of Consumer Buying Behavior towards Thailand Department Store Operations in a Digital Age

Thaniya Khanthahutthee

Over the last 20 years, Thailand department stores have progressed quickly and have beaten local stores and dominated the Thai retail market. In 2016, Thailand’s retail sector had a combined value of THB2.2 trillion (Modern Trade 40% and Traditional Trade 60%) which accounts for 27.4% of GDP. The country has developed a positive reputation with pro-investment policies, well-developed infrastructure and has become commercial hub in Asia. Both multinational corporations and local retailers are integrating into market due to the government opening the domestic market to foreign investors and operators (Ninkitsaranont and Sathapongpakdee 2016). On the contrary, thousands of major chain stores in the United States such as Sears, J.C. Penney, and Macy’s have closed down as the businesses have been hit by plunging sales and loss of profitability to Amazon (Wahba 2016). The loss of market share to Amazon signified the clear trends of consumers search and buy products is influenced by social media and e-tailing platforms. The emergence of disruptive technologies are transforming business model by having a disruptive impact on the configuration of consumer buying a product from the seller. This article aims to 1) explore the current situation and the growth prospects of Thailand’s department store, 2) state the changing needs of customers through their spending on new channel, 3) recognize the major trends that will shape the future of the department store industry, and 4) draw the challenges faced by the modern market growth. Firms that know where the ‘disruption’ has taken place and understand their customers desires will search for the underlying customer’s motivation and start to leverage technology which involves the customer’s experience, and focus on their differentiators in order to engage the customers’ mind, thus expanding the store sales.

DOI : ttps://doi.org/10.21102/jbpr.2017.12.122.06