Lazada, the e-commerce company majority-owned by Alibaba Group Holding, will launch an interactive TV show next week, which it says is the first of its kind in Southeast Asia.
With a target on millennials -- whom Lazada views as the most potentially active group of online shoppers -- the event will be a blend of entertainment, shopping, social media and advertising.
"We are the first e-commerce company to create the concept of TV interactive show to cater to the millennials as this consumer group is very unique, they want to be inspired and don't like advertising," said Alessandro Piscini, chief executive of Lazada Thailand.
Millennials are 18-34-year-olds, of which there are some 30 million in Thailand, who spend about 7.24 hours online a day, the longest of any group, he said.
"Millennials like to spend and are eager for promotions. They love personalisation and communication. This group of people are important because the time they spend online has been growing every year," he said.
Shopping was ranked eighth among overall online activities by Thais in 2016, but it has jumped to fifth this year, Mr Piscini said, citing Electronics Transaction Development Agency data.
Online shopping is part of the new generation's lifestyle, he said, adding that Lazada is the largest e-commerce company in Thailand today with more than 70 million visits a month.
Mr Piscini said Lazada mobile application is installed on 45% of all iPhones and 30% of all Android phones in Thailand. The number of products provided on Lazada platform is rapidly increasing, rising from 5,000 in 2012, to 5 million in 2016. Today, the site carries more than 40 million products, he said.
The company will launch the TV interactive show, a live event called "11/11 Online Festival", on Channel 3 and Lazada TV at www.lazada.co.th/tv on Nov 10, running from 11pm to 12.30am.
"The TV show is the first event of this type in Southeast Asia and the first for e-commerce," said Mr Piscini. It is an interactive show mixing entertainment with shopping and advertising, with Thailand as the first country where it will be introduced, to be followed by Indonesia.
Mr Piscini said the TV programme is part of the synergy of Lazada and Alibaba in expertise, technology, knowledge and experience.
"We see the partnership of JD.com and Central Group having a positive impact because online shopping in Thailand has been growing very fast and it's definitely a hot market," he said.