Distributor puts faith in direct marketing

Nitida Asawanipont

The Nation

Bunyarit Chansuwan, the company's general manager, said the overall consumer electronics market had dropped 20 per cent in the period due to the rising cost of living and falling consumer confidence, especially among those in the middle- to low-end level. The company, however, was not affected much, as its main target are consumers in the middle-income and high-income brackets.

The company will add more teams to approach targeted customers directly, particularly corporate customers such as hospitals, schools and various companies.

The company is the distributor for three major brands in three categories: Honeywell air purifiers in the health category; Honeywell fans, Siemens switches and smart home automation in the consumer electronics appliance category; and BaByliss beauty products.

It also plans to add more outlets in The Mall Group's department stores and shopping complexes in addition to its current outlets in the Central Groupand plans to put emphasis on in-store marketing.

Sangchai allocates 20 per cent of its expected sales as marketing budget. Half of the budget will be used for advertising through various media channels and the other half for arranging marketing activities.

Bunyarit expects the overall consumer electronics market to recover in the second quarter, although the  political situation and the constant rise in the cost of living will be factors.

Health and consumer electronics products contribute 40 per cent each to Sangchai's overall Bt150-million sales while beauty products, , now contribute 20 per cent.

Sangchai expects its revenue to rise to Bt200 million by the year-end.