With new figures showing that the value of Thailand’s E-commerce sector will hit 2.1 trillion baht (US$58.6 billion) in 2015, executive recruitment company Monroe Consulting Group Thailand is well placed to source the best candidates for expanding national or multinational companies operating in the country.
Alex Chutviriyacharoen, who heads a team of six recruitment consultants who specialise in executive recruitment in the technology industry, said companies in Thailand realised that the “future is digital.”
“The Internet has surpassed television as the number-one medium in Thailand and firms from a variety of industries are increasing their online presence as well as establishing their E-transaction mechanisms,” Alex said. “Increased Internet penetration and smartphone usage have opened up new sales channels and companies can now sell their products with apps, websites, emails, blogs, devices, etc.”
Thailand’s Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA) this week released figures forecasting that the E-commerce market would grow 3.7 percent from 2014, which expanded 165 percent from 700 billion baht in 2013 due to greater price competition and faster wireless network speeds. In 2014, Malaysia's business-to-consumer (B2C) market was valued at $9.6 billion, followed by Singapore ($3.4 billion), Vietnam ($2.9 billion), Indonesia ($2.6 billion) and the Philippines ($2.3 billion). China was $322 billion, Japan $18 billion and South Korea $25.4 billion.
Alex said Thai companies were also eyeing key markets throughout Southeast Asia, including Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, countries where Monroe Consulting Group also maintained a strong presence in the recruitment industry.
“With diminishing logistics costs and market integration promised by the upcoming Asean Economic Community (AEC), some of the big players in the Thai E-commerce are going regional,” he said. “There are also international firms looking to enter the Thai E-commerce market looking to emulate the success of the firms like Uber, Lazada and GrabTaxi. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have also gone digital, using social media tools like Facebook and Line to support their consumer engagement and convert online engagement to sales.”
Alex said the flourishing and expanding E-commerce industry in Thailand had brought about an integrated ecosystem of the various sectors such as marketing, web development and logistics, to name a few.
“Firms have realised that they need a team of skilled digital marketing professionals to effectively reach their target group. They also need a well-designed, easy-to-use website with an efficient payment portal. Those engaged in online retail also require strong logistics and customer service professionals. As such, while recruitment demand slightly weighs towards digital marketing and web development, it also encompasses a wide range of job functions.”
Alex said Monroe, which specialises in a number of sectors, including health, consumer goods, industry, banking and finance as well as information technology (IT), had an excellent record working with technology companies in Thailand, Southeast Asia and the wider Asia-Pacific region, including China, Chile and Mexico.
“Having had significant success in filling executive positions, a range of companies have entrusted us with their recruitment needs. Our strongest asset is our market knowledge and versatility; we have successfully placed candidates with both large multinationals as well as emerging start-ups,” Alex said. “Some of our clients include large international companies like C Discount owned by French retail giant Groupe Casino, leading property portal DD Property and Ascend International, which is an E-commerce subsidiary of True and CP. We also work with renowned international marketing agencies such as Starcom Mediavest and Komli as well as established local agencies like Redlab. In addition, our start-up portfolio includes the likes of Primetime.tv, Pomelo and RockYou.”
Monroe Consulting Group Thailand, founded and led by Managing Director John Tolmie, was this week named best small- to medium-sized enterprise at Thailand’s inaugural Entrepreneur Now Awards (ENA) 2015. The wider Group, which operates in emerging markets in the Asia-Pacific region, won Best Small Recruitment Business in the Asia-Pacific for a record third straight year and Best Overseas Operation for a second time at the Global Recruiter Asia Pacific Industry Awards 2015 in Singapore.