Thai retailer opens Tops Club, a membership-only supermarket
Thai retailer opens Tops Club, a membership-only supermarket
https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Retail ... 7&si=44594
Thai retailer opens Tops Club, a membership-only supermarket
Around 70% of items on sale are imports, for which members can get a discount
Around 70% of the items Tops Club sells are imports. (Photo courtesy of Central Retail)
KOSUKE INOUE, Nikkei staff writerNovember 6, 2022 12:28 JST
BANGKOK -- Thailand's Central Retail opened a new membership-only supermarket in Bangkok targeting the Southeast Asian country's growing middle class.
The Thai retail giant also plans to spend 30 billion baht ($790 million) over the next five years in neighboring Vietnam, with the aim of more than doubling the number of supermarkets there. The company wants to become an industry leader in both countries.
Central Retail opened Tops Club in southwestern Bangkok late September. For an annual membership of 999 baht, customers will have access to over 3,500 items, including daily necessities and fresh food, the supermarket sells in its 15,000 sq.-meter warehouse-style building.
"Everything is brought together here to fulfill our customers' needs, as if they were shopping in famous stores overseas," Central Food Retail Group CEO Stephane Coum said in a statement.
Some 70% of its products are imported from about 20 countries, including the U.S., Australia and South Korea. Members will get a 5% discount, like at U.S. membership-only wholesale chain Costco, and also free deliveries to Bangkok and nearby regions.
Thailand's rising middle class is widely sought after by retailers. Thailand's gross domestic product per capita is around $7,000, according to the International Monetary Fund, positioning it as an upper- to middle-income country. Bangkok's per capita GDP is even higher at around $10,000.
Since Central Retail first entered Vietnam in 2012, the operation has grown steadily, pulling in 38.6 billion baht in revenue last year to account for around 20% of its total figure. (Photo courtesy of Central Retail)
Central Retail expects that an average Tops Club customer will spend two or three times more than those at regular supermarkets. The company hopes to be able to grab a big chunk of the high-end supermarket clientele by being one of the first to launch such a business.
Meanwhile, the company plans to increase the number of supermarkets in Vietnam to more than 710 by 2026 from about 340 in September.
"We always put ourselves in the center of consumers' lives and aim to generate 100 billion baht in sales in Vietnam alone by 2026," Olivier Langlet, CEO of Central Retail Vietnam, told Nikkei in an email reply to questions.
Since Central Retail first entered Vietnam in 2012, the operation has grown steadily, pulling in 38.6 billion baht in revenue last year to account for around 20% of the total figure, according to the company. Vietnam is the company's biggest moneymaker outside of Thailand.
By 2026, Central Retail's stores in Vietnam will offer a variety of formats selling both food and nonfood products. It plans to cover 55 of the country's 63 provinces, said Langlet, adding that it is aiming for 30% of Vietnam's total sales.
In Vietnam, conventional small, family-run shops still make a significant share of the industry, but demand for supermarkets is expected to grow as the country's retail industry modernizes.
The pandemic has pushed consumers toward supermarkets and other retailers that are able to secure a stable supply of products. Consumers are also able to buy in bulk in these chains, which was handy during the worst of the pandemic.
Consumption is expected to recover to pre-pandemic levels in Thailand and Vietnam, now that both countries have eased COVID-related entry restrictions, prompting retailers to jostle for more commercial facilities and supermarket space.
Thai retailer opens Tops Club, a membership-only supermarket
Around 70% of items on sale are imports, for which members can get a discount
Around 70% of the items Tops Club sells are imports. (Photo courtesy of Central Retail)
KOSUKE INOUE, Nikkei staff writerNovember 6, 2022 12:28 JST
BANGKOK -- Thailand's Central Retail opened a new membership-only supermarket in Bangkok targeting the Southeast Asian country's growing middle class.
The Thai retail giant also plans to spend 30 billion baht ($790 million) over the next five years in neighboring Vietnam, with the aim of more than doubling the number of supermarkets there. The company wants to become an industry leader in both countries.
Central Retail opened Tops Club in southwestern Bangkok late September. For an annual membership of 999 baht, customers will have access to over 3,500 items, including daily necessities and fresh food, the supermarket sells in its 15,000 sq.-meter warehouse-style building.
"Everything is brought together here to fulfill our customers' needs, as if they were shopping in famous stores overseas," Central Food Retail Group CEO Stephane Coum said in a statement.
Some 70% of its products are imported from about 20 countries, including the U.S., Australia and South Korea. Members will get a 5% discount, like at U.S. membership-only wholesale chain Costco, and also free deliveries to Bangkok and nearby regions.
Thailand's rising middle class is widely sought after by retailers. Thailand's gross domestic product per capita is around $7,000, according to the International Monetary Fund, positioning it as an upper- to middle-income country. Bangkok's per capita GDP is even higher at around $10,000.
Since Central Retail first entered Vietnam in 2012, the operation has grown steadily, pulling in 38.6 billion baht in revenue last year to account for around 20% of its total figure. (Photo courtesy of Central Retail)
Central Retail expects that an average Tops Club customer will spend two or three times more than those at regular supermarkets. The company hopes to be able to grab a big chunk of the high-end supermarket clientele by being one of the first to launch such a business.
Meanwhile, the company plans to increase the number of supermarkets in Vietnam to more than 710 by 2026 from about 340 in September.
"We always put ourselves in the center of consumers' lives and aim to generate 100 billion baht in sales in Vietnam alone by 2026," Olivier Langlet, CEO of Central Retail Vietnam, told Nikkei in an email reply to questions.
Since Central Retail first entered Vietnam in 2012, the operation has grown steadily, pulling in 38.6 billion baht in revenue last year to account for around 20% of the total figure, according to the company. Vietnam is the company's biggest moneymaker outside of Thailand.
By 2026, Central Retail's stores in Vietnam will offer a variety of formats selling both food and nonfood products. It plans to cover 55 of the country's 63 provinces, said Langlet, adding that it is aiming for 30% of Vietnam's total sales.
In Vietnam, conventional small, family-run shops still make a significant share of the industry, but demand for supermarkets is expected to grow as the country's retail industry modernizes.
The pandemic has pushed consumers toward supermarkets and other retailers that are able to secure a stable supply of products. Consumers are also able to buy in bulk in these chains, which was handy during the worst of the pandemic.
Consumption is expected to recover to pre-pandemic levels in Thailand and Vietnam, now that both countries have eased COVID-related entry restrictions, prompting retailers to jostle for more commercial facilities and supermarket space.
Re: Thai retailer opens Tops Club, a membership-only supermarket
So what's that, they're basically just copying Makro or did I miss anything substantial?
-
phuketrichard
- Expatriate
- Posts: 16884
- Joined: Wed May 14, 2014 5:17 pm
- Reputation: 5785
- Location: Atlantis
Re: Thai retailer opens Tops Club, a membership-only supermarket
2 points
Tops has a better selection of western goods
Makro is free
I have found super cheap ( at least in Phuket) is the cheaper even than Makro
In a nation run by swine, all pigs are upward-mobile and the rest of us are fucked until we can put our acts together: not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely. HST
-
- Similar Topics
- Replies
- Views
- Last post
-
- 2 Replies
- 1277 Views
-
Last post by roadman
-
- 0 Replies
- 1215 Views
-
Last post by CEOCambodiaNews
-
- 0 Replies
- 820 Views
-
Last post by CEOCambodiaNews
-
- 42 Replies
- 18849 Views
-
Last post by Jamie_Lambo
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: bona eek, BongKingKong and 434 guests