The canny male shopper, will keep on buying new clothes

"Men consumers are more careful about spending money but they don't decrease their spending," said Somkiat Chokeprachakchad, The Mall Group's general manager for menswear.

He said men typically buy one long-sleeve shirt and one short-sleeve shirt each time they go shopping for new clothes.

Withthree shopping malls - The Mall Department Store, Emporium and Siam Paragon - The Mall believes it will have to increase its marketing campaigns and promotions.

It has to consistently work on itself and with its trading partners to arrange various activities, which also include social activities to build their brands.

Within its three shopping complexes, the department has over 90 brands and expects to see more setting up selling points this year.

Its major categories are business wear, casual, trendy and jeans, but the retailer has been trying to create more magnets for all three shopping malls to become the places for men to get clothes for all occasions by offering products that match different lifestyles such as J Rock, K-Pop, American and European.

The company has set a sales target of Bt2.7-billion this year, up 20 per cent over last year.

In terms of menswear competition, Chakrapong Chalermchai, senior vice president of Central Trading Co Ltd which distributes many men's and women's brands, said no new rivals were on the horizon, unlike the women's clothing market.

He said it does not work to introduce imported men's brands as they were too expensive. At the same time, launching new local brands could be difficult.