(Picture source: Panoramic Vision)
Economic Observer Network Reporter Qian Yujuan The Southeast Asian e-commerce market has always been the focus of competition for many e-commerce companies because of its huge potential. Economic Observer Network reporters learned from JD Group that JD CENTRAL, the Thai online retail platform jointly built by JD.com and Thailand’s Central Group, will end its trial operation and be officially launched on September 28. This heralds the Thai e-commerce market. The business market structure is about to be reshuffled.
Thai transformation
Different from the development of platforms such as Lazada and Shopee in Thailand, JD.com has adopted the same idea in Thailand as it did in Indonesia - copying the Chinese model and carrying out localization transformation.
JD CENTRAL launched a trial operation in Thailand on June 18 this year. It adopts a self-operated and third-party sales model similar to JD.com in China. Its products cover categories such as electronic digital, fashion, home appliances, books, music, and fast-moving consumer goods. About 80% of users access the platform via mobile phones, with mobile phones, food, homewares and fashion being the top-selling categories.
also adopts a self-built logistics model in terms of logistics and distribution. According to JD.com, due to the insufficient capacity of local warehousing facilities in Thailand in the early days, logistics and distribution throughout Thailand were also covered through cooperation with third-party partners. At present, Jingdong Logistics has established three large networks across Thailand including large-sized items, small and medium-sized items, and cross-border logistics.
"JD.com has taken another step to serve Southeast Asian consumers," JD CENTRAL CEO Yang Qikun believes that JD.com and Central have cooperated to launch JD CENTRAL, and through JD.com's own supply chain control capabilities, on the one hand, it provides Thai users with a truly global e-commerce experience to provide local users with high-quality goods; on the other hand, relying on logistics to create differentiated competitive advantages, working with partners to change the face of the local market and exploring the potential of Thailand's demographic dividend.
In fact, the Thai government has proposed the "Thailand 4.0" high value-added economic model in recent years and continues to introduce investment in emerging industries. At this time, JD.com can use JD CENTRAL to establish a local logistics network and help more small and medium-sized enterprises in Thailand. While the company is developing, JD.com continues to promote its expansion strategy in the region, which can further enhance its influence in the retail market in Southeast Asia.
The pattern is changing
In Southeast Asian markets including Singapore , Thailand, and Indonesia, Statista predicts that Thailand will surpass Singapore in 2022 and become the second largest e-commerce market in Southeast Asia. Because of this, many e-commerce companies have Pay attention to this place, seize the market, and compete for users.
In addition to the two e-commerce majors Lazada and Shopee mentioned above, which operate in the C2C model, 11street from South Korea also has certain brand competitive advantages in Thailand, while Chilindo, a local e-commerce company in Thailand, allows users to purchase goods through auctions. JD.com, which has previously established a branch in Indonesia and made a strategic investment in Tiki, a leading e-commerce company in Vietnam, strictly controls goods and services through JD CENTRAL under the B2C model.
According to the Thailand Retail Association’s forecast, Thailand’s online retail market share will reach 10% within five years, and online B2C sales will exceed 300 billion baht. It is not difficult to predict that JD CENTRAL can directly leverage JD.com’s e-commerce experience and supply chain management capabilities to take the lead in occupying Thailand’s B2C retail market space.
In addition, as JD.com’s partner in Thailand, Central Group has offline sales networks and rich retail experience in Thailand, Vietnam, Europe and other places. It is understood that Wal-Mart, Google, etc. are its strategic partners. There is no doubt that , which can provide a lot of support for JD CENTRAL’s retail ecosystem. In addition, Central Group's supplier resources and its 12 million "The 1 Card" members have brought a lot of imagination to the development of JD CENTRAL.
