Survey: retailers took varying promotional tacks amid floods

Major retail players have applied different promotional strategies to deal with the terrible floods that struck Thailand and affected millions of lives.

According to a study on retail insights conducted by Hypertrade Consulting, a leading local in-store research agency, the flood disaster affected the Thai economy as a whole, and the retail sector was no exception.

In the research, two main promotion indicators were compared for the hypermarket, supermarket and individual-store channels. These were the number of brochures published in October 2010 and 2011, and the number of promotion items offered to shoppers in those two periods.

Danai Kramgomut, chief operating officer for retail insights, said the study was conducted to assess the different degrees of impact of the flooding on retailers' promotions in various types of retail outlets.

"While some retailers drastically reduced their promotional activities, Tesco noticeably, it is interesting to see that other retailers reacted differently," he said.

"Beyond promotional offers to shoppers, we have been impressed by the huge level of engagement of all major key players in the support of the communities where they are located. Bringing a light of hope in these terrible times tends to show - and this is only our opinion - that CSR policies are taken very seriously," Danai said, referring to corporate social responsibility.

According to the survey, the number of promotions launched by hypermarket chains this October dropped significantly by 32 per cent from the same month last year. However, for supermarkets, the number of promotions surged 11.8 per cent year on year. For individual stores such as Boots and Watsons, the number of promotions dropped significantly, by 29 per cent.

Tesco Lotus reduced the number of brochures it launched this October by 28.2 per cent to 28, while Big C increased the number of brochures by 25.8 per cent to about 39.

Meanwhile, the number of promotional products offered to shoppers by Tesco Lotus dropped 69.3 per cent year on year in October to 788 items. However, at Big C, the number increased 23.1 per cent to about 3,388 items.

Among supermarkets, the number of brochures launched by Tops remained the same at seven compared with October last year. Home Fresh Mart reduced the number of brochures by 20 per cent to four. Tops, however, reduced the number of promotional products this October by 4.5 per cent to 834 items, while Home Fresh Mart increased them by 50.7 per cent to 422 items.

Among wholesalers, the number of brochures launched by Makro surged significantly by 30 per cent in October this year to about 13. Meanwhile, the number of brochures launched by Thai Mart remained the same - just one. The number of promotional products launched by Makro increased 81.5 per cent to about 4,228 items and at Thai Mart 120.3 per cent to 163 items.

For individual stores, the number of brochures launched by Boots dropped 50 per cent this October to four. Watsons also reduced the number of its brochures by 10 per cent, to nine. Boots also reduced the number of promotional products launched this October by 47.7 per cent to 134 items. Watsons, however, increased the number of promotional products by 1.4 per cent to about 496 items.