Agencies give small retail shops a digital foothold

The Commerce Ministry has teamed up with four state units to develop a business-to-business (B2B) online platform for traditional small-scale retail shops, aiming to help 40,000 shops go online in three years.

Commerce Minister Sontirat Sontijirawong said the partnership will enable small retail shops to compete with modern trade and survive amid changing technologies.

The Commerce Ministry yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Digital Economy and Society Ministry, Thailand Post Plc, the Government Savings Bank (GSB), and the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) to develop an online platform that allows small retail shops to purchase goods from suppliers and sell to customers, manage their stock and warehousing, and easy access to logistic services and payments.

Thailand Post is to deliver products, collect purchase orders and take care of the payments for retail shops in communities.

Mr Sontirat said initially, the platform aims to attract 750 shops in three months, expanding to cover 40,000 Thong Fah Pracha Rat low-priced shops over the next three years.

The Thong Fah Pracha Rat shops are part of a 41.9-billion-baht aid package approved by the cabinet on Aug 29 of last year, aimed at 11.7 million low-income earners — 5 million of whom live below the poverty line.

The package also includes allowances for rides on public buses and trains, as well as subsidised utility bills.

Under the aid package, the government transfers 200-300 baht a month to each welfare smart card. Recipients earning less than 30,000 baht a year get a monthly allowance of 300 baht, while those with annual earnings of 30,000-100,000 baht receive 200 baht to buy discounted goods at Thong Fah Pracha Rat shops and other designated stores.

Each cardholder also receives 1,500 baht a month to subsidise transport and 500 baht for inter-provincial public buses, third-class trains and local public buses and electric trains.

Mr Sontirat said the new online platform aims to help small retail shops cut production costs through group or collaborative purchasing, as well as create a mechanism that allows community-based products to be distributed nationwide. The initiative allows local communities to sell locally made products online via applications.

Chatchai Payuhanaveechai, president of GSB, said his bank and BAAC have already set aside 5 billion baht each for loans to small retail shops to adjust their business to digital technology.

The loans provided by the two banks will be offered at five times their sales, with a grace period of 45 days. Overdue payment will be subject to an interest rate of 10-18% a year.

Loan consideration will be based on yearly sales, without any collateral.