Mall's joint campaign

The Mall Group is putting on the Bt35-million "Midnight Sale Royale" at three of its properties, aiming to ride the economic recovery and entice spending from high-purchasing-power consumers this quarter.

"This is the first time for the Mall Group to combine three shopping malls in the group to hold the same event. We want to proactively promote the spending event," Chamnan Maytaprechakul, senior chief marketing officer, said at the campaign launch yesterday.

The event is crucial for The Mall Group to hit its sales target of Bt40 billion this year, he said.

Despite the pick-up in consumer spending, the Mall Group targets sales next year to grow by 5 per cent, the same as this year, out of concern for the political unrest. Sales were up 5 per cent year on year in October.

The Midnight Sale Royale is expected to generate Bt800 million in sales through discounts of 10-70 per cent during its run from tomorrow to Tuesday.

Three more events are planned for next month.

All these activities might eat into the company's margin but some of the costs are being absorbed by partners, he said.

The number of marketing activities this year was not increased from last year but each event needs to develop an interesting theme.

Retailers have to work harder to earn loyalty from customers.

"Next year we will create a database of M Card members in order to build up the relationship between the Mall Group and shopping members," Chamnan said.

The group will also next year turn its website into an e-mall.

The emergence of social networks in cyberspace has led retailers to change in response. The websites of shopping malls should not only give information but also sell products. This will allow them to expand their customer base, he added.