Last month during a three-day promotion, the numbers of sellers rose 110 per cent faster than in last year’s anniversary campaign.

This seller-focused initiative is in line with Thailand’s Smart Business Transformation programme, helping strengthen the digital capabilities of SMEs, which are cited as a major economic driver.

Throughout the campaign, 47 per cent of sellers were from outside Bangkok, of which 37 per cent came from northern and eastern provinces, with central, south and western Thailand accounting for the remaining 63 per cent.

Lazada said its new payment option makes purchases faster and more convenient. It said its warehouses could ship 65 parcels a minute, including bulky items such as washing machines and large televisions, which were the best-selling large items throughout the anniversary campaign.

The fastest same-day delivery parcel was delivered in 2 hours 58 minutes from the main warehouse to a customer in Chatuchak, it said.

Alessandro Piscini, CEO Lazada in Thailand, said: “This year’s anniversary campaign focused on making both the selling and buying experiences seamless and convenient. We are the leading e-commerce platform in the region, and in order to maintain this stronghold, we are constantly innovating.

“Our support for our sellers, in making payments and shipments as fast and efficient as possible, has resulted in a record-breaking anniversary campaign for our sellers. We are proud of this partnership and excited to see what we can achieve in the year ahead.”

Prof Pichet Viriyajitra, CEO of Asian Phytoceuticals PCL (APCO), said increased online activity through the APCO Dropship customer-to-customer project has helped gain new customers for products for HIV/Aids patients.

“We expect to gain as many as 5,000 new customers from this new channel,” he said.

He said the company has targeted sales growth of 15-20 per cent this year, along with 28-30 per cent net profit.

Under the brand “LMGP”, the international adhesive-product manufacturer will for the first time in this region exhibit labels made with a hot melt pressure sensitive adhesive formulation technology that the company inherited when it acquired Mactac Americas in 2016.

Lintec will demonstrate labels that meet local market needs at the Labelexpo Southeast Asia 2018 exhibition.

The wine importing business is flourishing because Bangkok has continued to be the number one tourist destination and Thailand will receive 37 million visitors this year, said Joe Sriwarin, president of Wine Professionals’ Services Limited.

With the 11th Bangkok Grand Wine Tasting fast approaching Sriwarin noted the event remains the biggest and most elaborate wine professional get-together in the country. The annual event attracts overseas boutique wine producers and importers, who exhibit their wines and offer tastings to 1,000 wine professionals – sommeliers; F&B professionals; owners of restaurants, wine bars, and wineshop owners – along with high-end wine lovers.

“We’ve seen the volume of wine [sales] increasing year after year with more wine importers, fine dining and Michelin Star restaurants, more wine bars, wine shops and duty-free shops opening at border crossings as well as international airports all over Thailand,” Sriwarin said.

Tourism is becoming the number one industry in Thailand, due to its location in the centre of mainland Southeast Asia he said.

“Wine is an important part of the luxury lifestyle among local and foreign visitors. With wine consumption increasingly popular among younger Thai executives, with more international restaurants and eateries than all the neighbouring countries combined – this is helping to grow the wine trade.”

Bangkok has firmly established itself as the wine hub of mainland Southeast Asia, he added.

“From [Bangkok] we can travel to Malaysia’s capital in the south, Myanmar in the north, Laos in the Northeast, Cambodia and Vietnam in the East, all within one hour of air-time And with borders connected to four countries (Malaysia, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia), it helps make wins transporting easier and faster,” he said.

The 11th Bangkok Grand Wine Tasting will be held on June 29 in the grand ballroom of the Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok.

Children’s movies offer a market growth opportunity for Major Cineplex, the firm said as it announced the new service innovation at Mega Cineplex Bang Na starting today.

In collaboration with Kodomo, a high-end children’s brand from Japan, Major is hoping the rollout will expand the customer base of children and families, it said in a press release on Friday. With over 250,000 members of “M Gen Kids” – children aged 5-12 – the market for children and families is growing.

Kodomo Kids Cinema will provide an exclusive movie experience and fun together in a private group, said Niti Pattanapakdee, chief media officer of Major Cineplex Group Plc. “It is important to help [foster] children’s thoughts and emotional development. The cinema is also supported by various film studios to show a variety of movies, such as animations, cartoons, and adventures.”

Kodomo Kids Cinema features Playland, a land of happiness, colourful balls and sliders for children to play before the movie, said the release. There are 84 candy-coloured chairs that create a brilliant cinematic atmosphere.

The new kid’s cinema creates a new alternative for parents to use a cinema for recreational activities. It also provides a meeting place for children and parents to share and enhance new learning skills. In addition, it can also serve as a venue for children’s activities to shape their behaviours so that they can choose activities and spend time wisely in the future, said the company release.

Executives of DHL Express and Thailand Post express their confidence on the prospects for the logistics partnership announced yesterday.

Operated by DHL Express, Thailand Post customers using the Courier Post service will “enjoy a premium delivery experience within two to four days”, with access to a global network in over 220 countries and territories, customs clearance expertise at the destination country and an On Demand Delivery (ODD) service, the company said.

With cross border e-commerce sales expected to grow to US$900 billion by 2020, DHL said: “This logistics partnership reflects DHL’s strong commitment to support local entrepreneurs looking to go global. The partnership helps facilitate the significant growth potential of e-commerce sellers in Thailand, in addition to the current cross-border delivery services provided by Thailand Post.”

Shipments sent through Courier Post will be handled by DHL, with its global service standards, and with ODD, receivers can select delivery options that meet their needs.

“For instance, receivers can re-schedule their own delivery or change pick-up address,” DHL said. According to the Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA), Thailand’s e-commerce market in 2016 reached Bt2.56 trillion, while cross-border e-commerce market share was recorded at 13.47 per cent and growing by 25 per cent each year.

DHL said the country’s total e-commerce market value is expected to reach Bt3 trillion in 2018. These trends show the opportunities in international trade for business startups in Thailand and local online merchants with high basket values, it said.

“Cross-border e-commerce is transforming the way in which SMEs and online merchants operate their businesses. We constantly reinvent our service to meet the needs of our customers,” said Smorn Terdthumpiboon, president of Thailand Post.

“With this official partnership with DHL Express Thailand, Courier Post provides e-commerce sellers a premium delivery service, with faster transit time as compared to the traditional postal service– within two to four days and responsive last mile solutions. This collaborative unique service will bring long-term customer loyalty.”

Chananyarak Phetcharat, managing director of DHL Express Thailand, said: “To align with the government’s policy for Thailand 4.0 and drive international competitiveness for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and e-commerce merchants, we’ve partnered with Thailand Post and initiated Courier Post to facilitate international trade and enable e-commerce merchants to reach their full growth potential.”

Courier Post is available at 171 Thailand Post outlets in Bangkok and vicinities, for documents and packages to 25 countries of destination.

The service is expected to start in the third quarter of this year.

It is led by Ali Ziane (4th from right), Managing Director of Mass Connect Co., Ltd., executives of L’Officiel Thailand, together with Ploy-Chavaporn Laohapongchana (3rd from left), Pao-Varith Hongsanan (2nd from left) GOT – Jirayu Tantrakul (left) Prang – Apinara Srikanchana (right) and Pern-Apicha Laohapongchana (2nd from right) at Suvarnabhumi Airport recently.