MBK is turning a crisis into an opportunity by laying plans and strategies aimed at attracting customers in the digital era. To handle this digital distortion, the shopping centre is focusing on restaurants to demonstrate its expertise in the service and entertainment sector, and will open mobile phone repair centres representing all brands.
The company has also undertaken a major renovation of its MBK Center and, further supporting its plans for major operational changes in 2020, is expanding The Nine Center Tiwanon to satisfy demand of shoppers in Nonthaburi and Pathum Thani.
MBK Public Company Limited Mr. Suvait Theeravachirakul, President and CEO, disclosed that the overall economy in the second half of 2019 was still not expanding rapidly due to a decline in purchasing power, especially among low-income consumers who are sensitive to agricultural product price hikes. For the first seven months of 2019, MBK's revenue was 6,333 million baht, most of which is derived from its shopping centre, with 40% coming from the company’s department store businesses comprising eight business groups consisting of shopping centre, hotel, tourism, golf, real estate, food, finance, and other businesses.
The shopping centre business is one of energy and vibrancy, the problem is how to make shopping malls attractive to people and appeal to their happiness and livelihood. At the same time, when the consumer behaviour changes, all business owners have to understand consumer motivation as thoroughly as possible. All MBK shopping centres including MBK Center, Paradise Park, Paradise Place and The Nine Center Rama 9 are examples of its strengths in cordially building confidence in their service.
Mr. Suvait added that the change caused by digital disruption has forced many shopping centre owners to adjust themselves in order to continually attract customers to use their service. This is why MBK is striving to offer a new shopping experience, both in products and services. It is doing so by adopting Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology to collect data of shoppers’ behaviours which can then be used to plan marketing strategies. This will succeed beyond expectations because MBK is in the hearts of Thai and foreign customers.
“Some products are affected due to the fact that consumers can buy them online. But we still have a chance because people have to come to a department store for certain products and services such as movie theatres, massage services and restaurants. Most importantly, shopping malls are still a meeting point for families, couples, and friends as well as for mobile phone repair services. This is why people still have to visit shopping centres.”
According to Mr. Somphol Tripopnart, Managing Director of Shopping Center Business, MBK Public Company Limited, “The overall performance of shopping centres is likely to be affected by digital distribution. However, MBK Center has a mix of customers, 60% of whom are foreigners and 40% are Thais. The spending behaviour of foreign customers generally concerns travelling and shopping, including dining and using spa services. So we see this as an opportunity to increase sales by continually expanding our customer base to include mainland Chinese tourists as well as those from Hong Kong, Taiwan and India, all of which are considered large groups with high purchasing power. Another important group is UAE tourists who come to Thailand for medical services.”
Mr. Somphol continued, saying, “MBK Center aims to increase brand awareness as one of the top must-visit tourist destinations by studying tourist behaviour in order to create appropriate marketing campaigns. By implementing integrated marketing communication in both offline and online media and keeping up with changing tourist behaviours, we can entice them to use the services.”
Recently, MBK Wechat was launched as a communication channel through which to present information about MBK Center, products and services, provide highlights, various benefits, and promotions targeting Chinese tourists.
Regarding its investment plan through 2020, MBK aims to make improvements to support the operational plans by adding new services in collaboration with public and private sectors.
“This will be a year of great change,” said Mr. Somphol. “For example there are plans to open passport service centres and co-working spaces to meet lifestyle demand of the new generation. Moreover, among our investment highlights, we will build The Nine Center Tiwanon, a new shopping centre expected to open in late 2020.”
Interested parties can find more about activities at www.mbk-center.co.th and www.facebook.com/mbkcenterth.