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| • EXCH RATES |
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Baht/$ 33.53/56
Bid/Ask
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GOLD |
14,400
- 50
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BUILDING MATERIALS
NAREERAT WIRIYAPONG
Mr Krit (second from left) and Mr Somchai promote the new SIM campaign. |
Looking to build a new house but don't have time to wander around building material stores? Simply make a phone call to talk with building experts.
The prepaid Home Mart SIM was developed in co-operation between Siam Cement Group (SCG) and Advanced Info Service Plc (AIS) for dialling Home Mart call centres. Users also receive privileges in the form of credit bonuses, the alliance partners said yesterday.
The collaboration is aimed at helping SCG, Thailand's top building material producer, jump-start the stagnant market by encouraging potential customers to spend more.
"Construction material sales are expected to shrink further in the second half of this year. The market was stagnant in the first half as consumers lacked confidence," said Krij Kulanet, managing director of SCG Network Management, which includes the Home Mart network.
"With the launch of Home Mart SIM, our sales might not get a big boost but they won't drop (compared to the previous year) and it is better than doing nothing," he said.
Higher prices for steel and cement led to sales growth of 20% to 29 billion baht in the first six months of 2008. The company targets total sales to reach 53 billion baht this year, up 9% from a year earlier, Mr Krij said.
Starting from today until Sept 30, customers can get the SIM for free after buying products at 67 participating Home Mart stores or 13 branches of Home Mart service counters in department stores nationwide.
By calling 0-2586-2222, consumers can find information on construction materials, namely product properties, prices, instructions, promotions and branch locations. Services related to sales activities such as purchase order follow-up, trouble shooting, suggestions and customer complaints are also offered by the centre, said Mr Krij.
Somchai Lertsuttiwong, executive vice-president of AIS, said customers would receive 50 baht worth of free calling credit valid for a 30-day period for registering for a Home Mart SIM. A credit bonus of 10% is offered for every credit top-up. Outgoing calls to fixed lines and other networks' mobile phones cost 1.5 baht per minute.
Mr Krij said the joint effort with AIS could be further enhanced in the next three to five years to allow consumers to buy building materials by calling the call centre. He said the Home Mart SIM was meant to target the retail market, especially new homebuyers.
Home Mart accounts for 75% of SCG's building material sales, with the rest through projects and to factories.
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