The Mall expansion strategy hailed in the press

What: CBRE Thailand recognizes that, although they were a driving force for the Thai consumer market in the last decade, traditional department stores are losing ground.

Why it is important: the identified key success factor for tomorrow’s department stores is the ability to stick to the younger consumers’ behaviour, a feature well understood by IADS member The Mall with their recently opened Ngamwongwan store at the end of 2020.

CBRE Thailand, while assessing the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, predicts that, in order to stay relevant, Thai department stores will have to fine-tune their business model in terms of customer experience, activities and added-value when compared to e-commerce. 

Gone are the days when Japanese department stores were ruling the Thai market, now dominated by Thai-owned Central and The Mall. But even these local groups have to evolve and adapt. CBRE identifies 3 topics to be addressed in order to do so:

• Customer Shopping experience
• Inventive sales and marketing activities
• Value-added programme.

The Mall, which launched a strategic simplification plan and rebranding process in the second part of 2020 is mentioned as especially innovative on these topics, as exemplified in their new store in Ngamwongwan, which opened in December 2020.