Thailand's online cross-border shopping is expected to grow by 84% this year from 60 billion baht in 2016 as users gain confidence in the online channel and seek certain products unavailable domestically, says PayPal, the US-based digital payments giant.
Somwang Luangphaiboonsri, country lead of PayPal Thailand, said online cross-border shopping by Thai users purchasing products from overseas websites has been found to have grown much more than the country's overall e-commerce market, which combines the business-to-business and business-to-consumer segments.
Thailand is the third Southeast Asian country where PayPal has chosen to open a local office, after Singapore and Malaysia.
Payment transactions in Thailand have experienced double-digit growth in the past three years.
According to a 2016 research jointly conducted by PayPal and Paris-based market researcher Ipsos, the number of online shoppers in Thailand reached 7.9 million last year, with 2 million purchasing goods from overseas websites.
Online cross-border shopping averaged 30,893 baht per head annually against 41,215 baht paid by the overall e-commerce.
Thailand's e-commerce spending is predicted to increase by 16% to 377 billion baht in 2017 and 426 billion in 2018 from about 326 billion in 2016.
According to Mr Somwang, the survey also found 55% of Thai respondents said they are willing to spend more online this year thanks to three reasons: convenience, the expectation of faster shipping and saving money.
Thai online cross-border shoppers have mostly bought three key categories of products: fashion, digital entertainment and education and consumer electronics.
Mr Somwang said China and Thailand are leading the Asia-Pacific region when it comes to making cross-border purchases on a mobile device. An average of 47% of cross-border purchases were made on a smartphone or tablet in China in 2016, followed by 46% in Thailand.
PayPal predicts Thailand's mobile commerce segment will grow 22% this year to 174 billion baht from 142 billion in 2016, with that figure amounting to 206 billion baht in 2018.
Nonetheless, the online payment service provider said there are still barriers to online cross-border shopping in Thailand, including relatively high shipping costs and customs duties and a lack of clarity in customs duties and taxes.
In a move to address buyers' concerns, Mr Somwang said PayPal has introduced a Refunded Returns programme, which allows buyers to return products after purchase, with PayPal reimbursing shipping costs.
PayPal also offers buyers protection covering e-travel tickets, digital music, digital books, digital games and software downloads.
According to Mr Somwang, PayPal aims to ramp up its payment services this year to cover more Thai small and medium-sized enterprises and companies.
Merchants who have a PayPal account are allowed to hold a balance in their accounts in 25 currencies.
Consumers are also offered the convenience of using PayPal accounts to buy products without the need to fill in credit card details every time they make a purchase.