Thailand’s Robinson makes online push

Major department store operator Robinson said it was turning its focus to online sales and enhancing in-store services — offering anything from ear-piercing to eye tests — rather than opening new stores this year as the economy remained sluggish.

President Alan George Thomson said that sales from its online platform will contribute 5-7% of overall sales by 2020, from the current 1%. In that time, its online business will become Robinson’s largest segment in terms of sales, exceeding its flagship Rama 9 store in Bangkok.

Adding to the conventional online shopping service, special kiosks will be set up in stores where customers can make orders online. Items will be delivered to the shop as soon as the next day. Customers in rural areas can thus buy items that would otherwise only be found in the cities.

“We are transforming Robinson from a department store to a retail company,” Thomson told reporters on Wednesday. By 2017, the company will have spent 2.5 billion baht to renovate 20 of its major department stores.

Robinson will introduce services such as ear-piercing, eye tests, smartphone-charging stations, coffee stands and even fitness centers. “We want to make retail more than just shopping,” Thomson said.

But sluggish domestic consumption has meant that the company will open just two stores this year, down from the four or five in the past few years.

“The economy is definitely much slower now,” Thomson said. Sales in 2015 increased a mere 5% on the year to 2.15 billion baht, underperforming its initial target of a 15% growth. “Getting sales in Thailand is not easy,” Thomson said. “We will slow down our expansion but get better profits from existing shops.”

To improve efficiency, it will introduce centralized cashiers in its stores.

Robinson is a part of retail giant Central Group. While Central’s flagship Central department stores target the mid- to high-income customer, Robinson’s focus is on the mass market and a younger customer base. Many of the Robinson department stores are in the Central Plaza shopping malls operated by the group’s development arm Central Pattana.