UOB bank
UOB Thailand and Shopee, the leading e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia and Taiwan, have teamed up to help Thai online retailers manage their businesses more effectively as they tap the growth in online spending.
The value of Thailand’s e-commerce market is expected to rise 35 per cent year on year to 220 billion baht by end of 2020 as consumers spent more online during COVID-19. According to the UOB ASEAN Consumer Sentiment Study, one in two Thai consumers increased their online grocery shopping during the pandemic, while about two in five bought more health supplements (39 per cent) and tech gadgets (35 per cent) online. About nine in 10 Thai consumers said they will continue with buying online in the next six months. This trend reflects the immense opportunities for e-commerce businesses to grow their sales and customer base.
During the free digital transformation tutorial, more than 50 online merchants learnt about digital business solutions, such as ZWIZ.ai, a chatbot content management system, and UOB BizSmart, a suite of integrated cloud-based solutions that can help them be more efficient in their administrative processes such as accounting, invoicing, employee and payroll management. They also learnt how to calculate the tax on their growing e-commerce sales. In Thailand, businesses are required to register for value-added tax if their annual income exceeds 1.8 million baht.
Ms Piyaporn Ratanaprasartporn, Executive Director and Country Head of Channels and Digitalisation, UOB Thailand, said, “At UOB Thailand, we recognise that businesses, especially those who are new to e-commerce, need to deepen their digital marketing skills and online sales management. This is why UOB Thailand has partnered Shopee to customise a complimentary training programme to help Shopee’s merchants overcome their pain points in customer engagement and tax management. With the knowledge gained, these online merchants can attract more customers, respond to their queries faster and grow their business.”
A team of Shopee’s experts also shared their first-hand insights into online sales techniques, which include how to name products for better search results, the use of discount codes to close more sales and the use of online store promotions to increase the number of followers.
Mr Jirapat Sunarat, an owner of WMThailand, a male apparel brand available on Shopee, said, “Due to the impact of COVID-19, I recently shifted the focus of my business online, where I have seen initial signs of success in sales. However, it had been a challenge for me as I am not familiar with the e-commerce system and the digital marketing tools, especially given my limited investment budget and resources. The tutorial by UOB Thailand and Shopee taught me how to use digital solutions to increase my online sales performance, while saving on costs over the long term.”
Online retailers keen to learn about more digital solutions, such as digital marketing tools, and tax management can visit www.facebook.com/thefinlab.th or https://shopee.co.th/m/fin-edition.
15 December 2020
For More information, please contact
Strategic Communications and Brand
United Overseas Bank (Thai) Pcl.
Nida Puwanich Tel. 0-2343-4963