Increasing incomes in Thailand are instilling hope in the population and driving up market demand for a wide range of goods. With the increase of incomes, consumers especially the rich people are spending their luxury lives such as eating out and traveling into different places. Thailand’s main selling points are price, cost, and service availability. Consumers, on the other hand, are willing to pay more for their preferred brands and seldom switch brands, even though the prices are lower. In Southeast Asia, Thai customers are the most brand conscious and loyal. They also invest more than their neighbors, as shown by their higher levels of debt. Furthermore, consumers are more likely to indulge and make impulse purchases rather than save their income, as is the case in other Southeast Asian countries. Besides purchasing in a store, e-commerce is rapidly expanding especially in social media. Social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter and Facebook have been selling ads and young people are eager to buy it from there. The revenue in the e-commerce market is projected to reach at about $7,228 million in 2020 (Santander, 2021). The situation for Thai consumers will be more difficult, according to the Asia Development Bank’s (ADB) September forecast for the Thai economy, which is recovering from COVID-19.
According to the National Economic and Social Development Council’s forecast before the COVID-19 pandemic, Thailand’s economic growth was around 2.5% for 2020. (Santander, 2021). But overall, Thailand’s economy is projected to contract significantly by 7.1% due to the COVID-19 pandemic (World Economic Outlook Database, October 2020). The Thai retail industry’s expansion has been largely driven by economic growth. Although the COVID-19 outbreak has had a significant effect on the entire retail sector, with an approximate contraction of 5-10 percent in the first quarter of 2020, growth in Thailand’s food retail sector is expected to be mild to moderate, with online food retail experiencing rapid growth.
