V-More aims to recruit new Thai e-commerce merchants as part of its expansion strategy and has rolled out onboarding programmes for new merchants and users.

“We are pursuing a plan of expansion and hope to achieve revenue growth through mass adoption by users and merchants in our ecosystem. Thailand is fast becoming the leading e-commerce market, and we seek to increase our user and merchant base through user incentive programmes, brand awareness and marketing programmes,” said Eldee Tang, CEO and founder of Noble Vici Group.

“We are very focused on the Southeast Asia market. We, as an Asian company, believe in growing a strong foothold in Asia before we venture further. V-More’s uniqueness is its expansion model and product supply is localised. The global e-marketplace brands in this region for purchase are available to local and global consumers,” said Tang.

V-More is a one-stop marketplace for high-quality products that are value for money. Its unique “shop, save and earn” programme has won the trust of many online shoppers. Through V-More, consumers can shop and be rewarded at over 500 marketplace and shopping sites including leading online brands, hotel and flight booking sites, technology as well as food and beverages merchants. Thai merchants can participate in its e-commerce programme and increase their exports to other countries in Asia and beyond.

According to research, there are more than 57 million internet users in Thailand well versed with digital technologies, mobile and e-commerce. The market is valued at US$3.5 billion (Bt111 billion) and is expected to generate revenue growth at 13.2 per cent annually, reaching $5.8 billion (Bt184 billion) by 2022.

“We look forward to new local merchants coming on board our platform and we welcome sellers and buyers to experience the online marketplace for the first time,” Tang added.

“The key challenges in the e-commerce business are market changes and new initiatives surfacing every day. We are mindful of keeping ourselves open to changing trends,” he said.

Tang said that disruptive technology changes trends faster than the legal framework implementation. Hence striking a balance between technology and trends is the challenge.

“It’s tough to say what we want to achieve in 3-5 years. We have our numbers, we have our targets, but these change according to the market needs. In short, we are already a public company, we want to be a multi-billion dollar Asian company,” he said.

Tang said that Thailand is a very religious country.

“Being religious also means loyalty and strong belief. We want to build a brand that people can believe in and be loyal to. We want to build a business model that the Thai people are proud to be V-More users, merchants and promoters,” said Tang.

Tang is a Singapore entrepreneur who has several businesses in diversified industries including healthcare and wellness, electronic trading, IT and jewellery design. Currently he is focusing on the e-commerce and fintech sectors. The company launched a unique international e-commerce shopping site called V-More with a strong presence in Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan and the Philippines.

V-More is the brainchild of Tang and an e-commerce aggregator of leading merchant brands, such as Nike, iHerb and Booking.com. It uses a revolutionary affiliate incentivised marketing system and rewards users who shop, save and earn on the V-More mall.

New digital platforms are going to be launched to improve service, making it faster and more convenient to match customer lifestyles in the digital era.

Aira & Aiful Plc is a loan cash card provider of “A money”, which they market under the concept of “A money, your financial buddy”. Coming into its fifth year, the company is setting the goal of becoming Thailand’s fastest growing provider of personal loan services, said CEO Katsuhiko Madono.

To achieve that, Aira & Aiful began last year to step up its brand-awareness and brand perception activities through character marketing – by introducing “Saruu”, a snow monkey mascot.

The Saruu icon has been promoting A money at branches and through brochures and videos under the “Witty-Smart-Friendly” concept, which reflects A money’s brand personality of active, smart, witty, and friendly.

The snow monkey mascot is also a symbol to convey A money in terms of being the loan cash card provider that provides easy application, quick approval and instant hand-over of their card.

Joining Saruu in promoting the brand is Ter Chantawit, who has been A money’s presenter for three years. CSR projects under “A money, buddy for does good” campaign have also been launched to support the company’s direction. The CSR projects encourage employees to be a part of delivering good things to society and creating a sharing culture within the organisation.

Furthermore, the company is planning to develop services by integrating new platforms and technologies to increase their efficiency in serving customers.

This direction matches with the expectations of today’s customers, who prefer ever-more convenience along with secured services. Proactive marketing strategies have also been launched to return profit to customers with a good instalment payment history. The latest campaign, “Pay on time, to earn rewards”, launched in January 2018 and there will be additional campaigns launched in 2019.

Madono said that A money’s primary target is a company employee in either urban or industrial areas. The company currently has 86 branches nationwide, divided into 53 branches and 33 booths. An A money customer can withdraw money from the ATMs of partners – Thanachart Bank, Krungthep Bank, Krungthai Bank, and K Bank, along with 15,000 Counter Service’s service centres, 2,000 Tesco Lotus one-stop services and 900 Big C cashiers. A money continues to expand partners to ensure that customers throughout the country can access their service.

Madono sees a bright future based on continued consumption.

Nescafe Gold, the global leader in premium coffee, has launched “Craft Cafe by Nescafe Gold” for the first time in Thailand. It offers the experience of craft coffee made with attention to every detail, from selecting premium Arabica coffee beans to roasting them at the perfect temperature by coffee experts.

The craft cafe features a variety of cafe-style coffee menu items available for coffee lovers who appreciate the difference. At the same time, Nescafe Gold Cafe Au Lait is being introduced with two new variants – No Sucrose Added formula and Intenso, a rich and intense formula, – both offering the indulgent richness that comes from a combination of Arabica beans and milk imported from New Zealand.

Coffee lovers will enjoy their premium crafted coffee in a relaxed atmosphere featuring music selected by Saharat (Kong) Sangkapreecha, Nescafe Gold’s brand ambassador. This move by Nescafe will be supplemented by an integrated marketing communications campaign targeted at coffee lovers who appreciate the difference. The campaign is set to strengthen Nescafe’s position as the No1 premium coffee brand in Thailand.

Goodmood: pioneer for ‘Water Plus’ category

Suntory PepsiCo Beverage (Thailand) Company Limited (SPBT), the producer and distributor of beverages under Suntory and PepsiCo, is making a new move in Thailand’s Bt154-billion Liquid Refreshment Beverage industry with the launch of ‘goodmood’ – a perfect balance of pure water infused with natural goodness. The beverage is the pioneer for a new category ‘Water Plus’, comprising premium beverages with healthier proposition.

Omer Malik, chief executive officer of Suntory PepsiCo Beverage (Thailand) Co Ltd commented “As a market leader, SPBT keeps innovating and introducing new products to satisfy consumers’ needs. This summer, we are proud to introduce ‘Goodmood’ into Thailand’s packaged water market, which is the only expanding segment in the LRB market with a 5 per cent growth in 2018, compared to the previous year. In the last 12 months, the value of this market has risen to Bt34.9 billion.”

Elevated Returns teams up with Seamico Securities

Elevated Returns (ER), a New York-based financial group focused on digitising traditional financial assets, has partnered with Thai financial services firm Seamico Securities Plc and blockchain platform Tezos to expand into Thailand.

Following the success of the US$18 million tokenisation of the St Regis Aspen Resort, ER plans to tokenise the global real estate market. It is targeting $250 million in transactions this year, with $100 million in Thailand and a plan to launch products in Q2 or Q3. ER is also preparing to file for a digital exchange licence with the SEC to facilitate the local digital ecosystem, while SE Digital Co Ltd, a subsidiary of Seamico, is in the process of applying for an Initial Coin Offering Portal (ICO Portal) licence from the SEC.

This partnership is geared to be a first mover of asset-backed digital securities in Thailand’s digital economy. Committed to creating a sustainable blockchain ecosystem, ‘Tezos Southeast Asia’ (TSA) is aiming to create the first blockchain education and research programme in Thailand in collaboration with Chulalongkorn University.

Philippe Palazzi, chief operating officer and member of the management board of Metro AG, said the firm would significantly enlarge its footprint into new and promising markets, including Myanmar.

“Our business in Myanmar is built on the professional delivery operation from our warehouse located in Thilawa Special Economic Zone,” he noted.

“It uses e-commerce and mobile app platforms, and adoption of the latest technology, to establish the first international-standard supply chain management and delivery system in Myanmar.”

Palazzi said the firm has implemented international food-safety standards and measures throughout the supply chain addressing all critical links from farm to fork. He said the firm’s engagement in Myanmar’s trade sector would help boost local economic growth, including agriculture, tourism and hospitality sectors, and help upgrade the food wholesale infrastructure for the local community.

The executive stressed the importance of fostering local talents, which make up the vast majority of the firm’s workforce in Myanmar. The firm conducts training programmes for farmers and food suppliers to transfer know-how and ensure quality standards, he said.

Central to the wholesale operations in Myanmar is a 5,800-square-metre warehouse in Thilawa where incoming goods are stored and packed in compliance with food safety standards for delivery to customers. Currently, customers across the country can select from over 2,000 products through the firm’s digital platforms including its website and mobile application.

Jens Michel, chief executive of Metro Wholesale Myanmar Ltd, reaffirmed the firm’s commitment to becoming the market leader in Myanmar, through fostering relationships, entrepreneurship and sustainable business. He pledged the firm would never stop learning, and would be accountable for both success and failures.

“This market is developing gradually with professionalised services, and we are in a strong position to lead this shift,” he said.

“We see ourselves playing an important role to elevate the food distribution industry here. According to our independent research, 90 per cent of professional customers order currently on delivery, with wholesale and wet markets contributing the largest share of the B2B segment.”

He also stressed the importance of digitalisation in every aspect of Metro’s business.

“As businesses and consumers rapidly adopt technology in this mobile-first country, we will be at the forefront to bring convenience and efficiency to customers and partners using our digital assets,” he said.

“We have already made inroads towards our vision of digitising our full operations from inventory and order management to human resources and fleet management.”

To ensure the maximisation of its digital platforms, the firm will conduct on-boarding training with customers so they understand how to best utilise them. It will also guide customers on how to use live chat and cloud messaging services. Its e-commerce platforms will allow Metro to tap analytics so as to better engage its customers, he said.

Setting a target for local sourcing for 75 per cent of its products, the firm will also increase the number of products to 2,400 by June this year. Its workforce of 150 employees is of 90 per cent local origin, he said. The firm recently secured a US$20 million (Bt634 million) loan from International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of World Bank Group. With IFC’s investment, the firm expects to increase agricultural incomes and help reduce poverty, as well as improve the quality and availability of local produce and thus benefit buyers and end consumers, said Michel.

“It will help us source the majority from local farmers and companies, raising food safety standards and create more than 300 jobs and significant indirect employment in food processing and logistic services,” he said.

“GIVEN the largely positive travel and tourism outlook in Asia Pacific, I am optimistic about the overall potential for growth and expansion in the upscale hotel segment. As one of the region’s fastest-growing hospitality companies, we have 477 hotels in the pipeline and will open more than two hotels a week in 2019,” Wooden said.

“An integral part of our growth is the expansion of the DoubleTree by Hilton brand – in fact, of all of Hilton’s portfolio of brands, DoubleTree by Hilton is the second-fastest growing in China, one of our main source markets, with 68 properties in the pipeline,” Wooden added.

He said one of the key factors driving development in this segment is that Asia Pacific continues to be a critical engine of growth for the global economy, with overall per capita income growth of 5.4 per cent this year.

Asia Pacific also leads the way in international tourist arrivals, buoyed by strong growth in intra-regional travel. The rise of an affluent Chinese middle class has also seen tourism emerge as a key source of spending, with outbound travel significantly contributing to the boom in the region.

“Of course, it is not enough to know that more people are travelling in the Asia Pacific; we must also know how, Wooden said. “We have a clear understanding of the distinct and varied preferences of modern travellers, such as their growing demand for leisure travel.” In Asia Pacific, travellers on average made 2.7 international leisure trips over the last two years.

“We seek to offer an abundance of options for leisure and recreation, and accessibility to key attractions,” Wooden said. “With food tourism fast becoming a priority for millennial travellers, even more so than sightseeing and shopping, we also aim to offer guests opportunities to sample local cuisine and dine in authentic settings,” he added.

Currently, there are almost 560 existing DoubleTree by Hilton properties in its global portfolio, spanning 45 countries. In Asia Pacific alone, there are 60 DoubleTree by Hilton hotels.

He said 2019 marks an exciting year of growth for the DoubleTree by Hilton brand in the region.

“As DoubleTree by Hilton celebrates 50 years of success, we continue to expand the brand’s footprint in Asia Pacific, with nearly half of our global pipeline of 200 hotels located in the region.”

He said this year alone, they will open 14 new DoubleTree by Hilton properties, across China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and, of course, Thailand.

“We are committed to innovating for the future … and look forward to bringing the DoubleTree brand of hospitality to more travellers throughout Asia Pacific and the rest of the world,” said Wooden.

He said Thailand has always been an important part of their Asia Pacific growth story. “We currently have nine properties across our portfolio in Thailand, including DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Sukhumvit Bangkok, which marked the brand’s foray into the country.

“… We continue to recognise the immense tourism potential that Thailand holds. The country has always been a hotspot for international travellers and between January to November last year, Thailand received more than 34 million visitors, up by 7.5 per cent over the same period in 2017. This trend is set to continue, with Thailand set to welcome a predicted 40 million tourists in 2019 and to experience at least 10 per cent growth in tourism revenue,” said Wooden.

He said to meet the demand for upscale properties in Thailand, they will be opening two new DoubleTree by Hilton hotels in Bangkok and Phuket this year.

Bangkok retained its top spot as the most visited city in 2018 for the third year running, attracting more than 20 million visitors.

Meanwhile, Phuket is increasingly asserting its position as an all-inclusive destination. In the first four months of 2018, passenger arrivals in Phuket grew nearly 19 per cent, partly from the addition of more direct flights at their newly expanded international airport.

“These locations will continue to take centre-stage and attract both international and domestic travellers who demand comfort and convenience,” said Wooden. “We are excited to introduce DoubleTree by Hilton Bangkok Ploenchit and DoubleTree by Hilton Phuket Banthai Resort, our first DoubleTree by Hilton property in Phuket.” Both are scheduled to open in the second half of the year.

“Moving forward, we will continue to identify key tourism destinations that could potentially welcome a new DoubleTree by Hilton – such as Pattaya, which is increasingly experiencing strong demand from the Thai domestic sector,” Wooden said.

As one the world’s leading hospitality companies, Hilton has a portfolio of 17 world-class brands comprising more than 5,600 properties worldwide.

Alongside DoubleTree by Hilton, their flagship Hilton Hotels & Resorts brand remains the entry point to most key destinations.

“We currently have over 100 Hilton Hotels and Resorts properties across Asia Pacific, and 90 hotels – that’s another 28,900 rooms – in the pipeline,” Wooden said. This includes Hilton Goa, as well as Hilton Dili Palm Springs – the first international hotel brand to enter Timor Leste.

“Of course, a part of our expansion and growth story in Asia Pacific also includes introducing new brands and experiences to the region. We recently opened Canopy by Hilton Chengdu City Centre, marking the Canopy by Hilton brand’s first foray into Asia Pacific, bringing a groundbreaking lifestyle concept to the region that completely redefines the hospitality landscape,” Wooden said, adding: “Thoroughly researched, this lifestyle brand caters to guests’ growing demand for authenticity, personalisation and locally-inspired experiences.”

Wooden said they currently have two more Canopy by Hilton properties in the pipeline – Canopy by Hilton Hangzhou Jinsha Lake set to open in the latter half of the year, and Canopy by Hilton Kuala Lumpur Bukit Bintang, opening in late 2021. In addition, they are also looking forward to adding Waldorf Astoria Maldives Ithaafushi to their luxury portfolio.

“In this Golden Age of Travel, we are seeing tremendous growth opportunities for all our brands. … We believe Asia Pacific presents a long runway for growth that will see sustained demand for exceptional experiences of all kinds,” he said.

As Hilton celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, Wooden said they looked forward to the continued growth of all their distinct brands.