Department stores at The Emporium and Siam Paragon in Bangkok are confident that first-half sales will reach their Bt9.2-billion target.

Natsamon Vongkittipat, group general manager of The Emporium/Paragon Department Stores, said yesterday that Siam Paragon would achieve accumulated sales of Bt5.5 billion with growth of 10 per cent, while The Emporium would achieve Bt3.7 billion in sales with growth of 5 per cent.

"The overall political atmosphere is getting better as people have a clearer picture of the political situation. Above all, the major political problem has already been resolved after the Constitution Tribunal ruling last week," Natsamon said.

Bangkok's high-end Gaysorn shopping centre showed a sharp drop in traffic and sales in the first quarter amid forecasts that retail sales could record much smaller growth than last year.

Satima Tanabe, deputy general manager of Gaysorn's operator Gaysorn Land Asset Management, said yesterday the mall experienced a 22-per-cent drop in traffic and 13-per-cent fall in sales in the first quarter, compared to the fourth quarter of last year.

At the same time, compared to the first quarter of last year, its traffic dropped 26 per cent and sales dropped 19 per cent.

Satima said the consumer shopping mood was very poor, which resulted in fewer people visiting Gaysorn, although spending per person was likely to remain at the same level as before.

"We would like to see the country hold a general election as soon as possible to elect the next government. We also want the government to reconsider many mega-projects in order to stimulate the economy as a whole," Satima said.

Retail experts expect revenue growth of about 5 per cent this year, against over 10 per cent last year. Retailers and shopping centres have launched marketing campaigns to woo shoppers. Yesterday, Big C Supercentre announced an injection of Bt300 million, the largest in its 14-year history, in an effort to attract buyers.

Gaysorn wants the next government to quickly outline economic strategies. A democratically elected government with clear development policies, particularly on the economy, would significantly lift Thailand's image, Satima noted. While expecting last week's Constitutional Tribunal ruling to revive the shopping mood, Gaysorn is adopting weekly marketing reviews.

More exclusive activities will be organised to attract target shoppers of all nationalities. On June 26, Essences Insensees (Pure Senses) will showcase 13 well-known designers and 13 world-class perfumes.

"We have to stimulate consumers to spend. They have money but they don't want to spend. However, if we keep offering new things, consumers will be very happy to spend their time looking around and purchase," Sarima said.

Gaysorn is joining with 20 five-star hotels in Bangkok to provide shopping privileges to the hotels' guests, targeting foreign shoppers.

A special plan to draw deep-pocketed shoppers from the United Arab Emirates is being drawn up.

Gaysorn is hopeful that the strategies will take its number of visitors to 360,000 this year, below last year's figure of 400,000.

The Emporium and Siam Paragon are also stepping up their marketing campaigns. A budget of Bt100 million is being spent on Beyond Voyage, whereby shoppers are entitled to discounts of 10 to 30 per cent and privileges from partners such as Volvo, Advanced Info Service and Airports of Thailand.

The campaign started yesterday and runs until July 25. Siam Paragon expects to gain Bt1.2 billion in sales while The Emporium expects to gain Bt800 million, according to Natsamon.

"For the entire year, [department stores at] Siam Paragon and The Emporium should generate Bt10 billion and Bt7.5 billion in sales," Natsamon said.

From overall shoppers at The Emporium, local shoppers represent 80 per cent and the rest are foreigners - mostly Japanese, American and British.

Siam Paragon has a higher proportion of international shoppers, at 30 per cent. Most are from Korea, Singapore and the Middle-East.

Nitida Asawanipont

The Nation