The business-to-consumer (B2C)-focused segment of Thailand's online retail market has growth potential of 30% this year, thanks to the proliferation of mobile internet users and aggressive discount pricing among e-commerce companies, says Surangkana Wayuparb, president of the Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA).
The country's overall e-commerce market -- which includes B2C, business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-government (B2G) -- was estimated to be worth 2.2-2.3 trillion baht in 2015, slightly higher than the 2.1 trillion projected by state authorities.
The local e-commerce market was valued at 2.03 trillion baht in 2014, an increase of 5% from 2013.
Thailand is the largest online retail market in Asean, said Mrs Surangkana.
"Thailand's large mobile subscriber base of 102 million plus intense competition in the e-commerce market are key factors driving growth in the local online retail market," she said.
The ETDA is currently encouraging small and medium-sized enterprises to market their businesses online as part of the government's efforts to promote creativity, innovation and the use of applications under a new business model coinciding with the Thailand 4.0 project.
The agency has also set a product and packaging standard for online merchants in order to boost consumer confidence in e-commerce.
"We are working closely with other public agencies to find a way of providing tax incentives to online vendors who offer a free return policy," said Mrs Surangkana.
By September, the ETDA plans to launch an online directory providing access to online retailers.
Rattana Theanvisitsagool, deputy director general of the Department of Business Development (DBD), which is under the Commerce Ministry, will introduce an online registration system to allow online vendors to register their companies via the website.
As of June, there were only 18,391 online merchants registered with the DBD's traditional registration system, despite the fact that there are more than 500,000 vendors in the industry.
To boost local online retail sales, the ETDA, in collaboration with the Thai E-commerce Association and the Commerce Ministry, will hold the Thailand Online Mega Sale 2016 from September 1-9, allowing people to purchase products and services at large discounts via www.thailandmegasale.com.
More than 1,000 products from 800 online merchants will be available on the website.
"We expect sales transactions of 450 million baht at the nine-day event, up from 56 million in 2013," said Mrs Surangkana.
"We aim to attract 1 million people to visit the site this year, up from 700,000 visitors in 2013," she added.