Thailand's Retail E-commerce Expected to Reach 4 Trillion Baht in 2025

Thailand’s retail e-commerce market is expected to reach 4 trillion baht in 2025, up from 817 billion this year. Future online sales will be supported by shopping in the virtual space, known as meta-commerce, says Kulthirath Pakawachkrilers, newly appointed president of the Thai e-Commerce Association (Theca).

Meta-commerce is expected to gain popularity as global investment in the metaverse hits $120 billion in 2021, she added. The meta-commerce market globally could expand to $678.8 billion by 2030 while the global metaverse economy is projected to hit $13 trillion in 2030.

E-commerce is also seen to evolve into various forms, including live commerce and video commerce, which are expected to hit $500 billion combined in 2023. Globally, e-commerce is forecast to reach $7.3 trillion by 2025, up from $5.5 trillion in 2022.

In Thailand, the online retail market involving business-to-consumer (B2C) and consumer-to-consumer (C2C) is expected to hit 4 trillion baht in 2025, with a compound average growth rate of 75% from 2022 to 2025.

Pawoot Pongvitayapanu, first and former president of Theca, said the country’s telecom infrastructure is propelling e-commerce adoption among sellers and buyers.

Meanwhile, live commerce and video commerce are increasing engagement among buyers, adding that live commerce can transform into on-demand commerce, where products are shifted to customers immediately after the order.

Theca is pushing for the enactment of an e-service tax law as Thais pay 200 billion baht a year for digital services provided by foreign platforms. Ms. Kulthirath said Theca would focus on assisting local sellers and driving GDP growth through, among others, “Thai e-commerce big data connection,” which entails creating a startup that provides the government with user behavior insights. At present, this information is owned by foreign e-marketplaces.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/2377256/retail-e-commerce-to-hit-b4tn-in-2025