'Pantip Hot Sale' coming to Bangkok branches

The nine-day event is aimed at boosting sales of IT products. Revenue of Bt3 billion is expected from an estimated 70,000 visitors a day.

This will be the second of this year's thrice-annual "Hot Sales".

Wisanu Wangwisut, managing director of Thipattana Arcade, owner of Pantip Plaza, said the sale would offer IT products in a range of categories - personal computers, notebooks, netbooks, printers, digital cameras, software and accessories - at special discounts averaging 20 per cent throughout the arcades.

"All of the 800 shops in both branches will together offer special prices for nine days, to enable shoppers to enjoy IT products during the economic downturn," said Wisanu.

He said in the first five months of the year, IT vendors' sales at Pantip Plaza fell 15-20 per cent year on year. Therefore, the plaza needs the "Pantip Hot Sale 2009" to boost sales, as well as maintain annual sales.

Wisanu said sales of net/notebooks and mobile phones there had been affected only slightly by the slower economy.

Some of the highlights of the "Pantip Hot Sale 2009" are half off on major-brand printers like Epson, HP, Cannon, Fuji Xerox and Brother; "Pantip 25th-Anniversary Cash Coupons" worth Bt2,000; and a lucky draw for a Proton Savvy worth Bt399,000 at the end of the event.

Moreover, personal-loan provider First Choice will offer zero interest for instalment purchases.

Besides this sale, Wisanu said the company planned an official opening by early August for its latest and largest IT shopping arcade, Digital Gateway, located in the Centrepoint area of CentralWorld.

Digital Gateway will cover 8,000 square metres and feature 50 brand-name IT and mobile-phone shops. It will differ from Pantip Plaza in that rather than being a centre for hard-core IT and computer buyers, it will focus instead on the latest and most fashionable IT products, mainly net/notebooks, mobile phones and digital cameras.

Digital Gateway will be a "clean" IT mall, meaning no pirated products will be found there, Wisanu said, adding that Pantip Plaza itself would become clean in 2014.

The rental contracts of most Pantip Plaza tenants will expire in 2014. Wisanu said the company would not even consider renewing them for anyone involved in pirated products.