- 7 billion baht will be infused based on the vision, CRC Thai Watsadu: Build the Future, to make five initiatives for 2022 a reality and build a new future dimension to sustainably drive the Thai economy
Bangkok, Thailand, April 27th, 2022 — CRC Thai Watsadu Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Central Retail, which operates construction materials and home furnishings retail under the brands Thai Watsadu, BnB home, AUTO1, and go! WOW, has announced a 2022 strategy to continue its CRC Retailligence. With the goal of becoming Asia's leader in the omnichannel home improvement market, the company will invest more than 7000 billion baht on 5 initiatives based on the vision, CRC Thai Watsadu: Build the Future, to achieve leapfrogging growth while also propelling the Thai economy in a long-term sustainable manner.
Mr. Suthisarn Chirathivat, Chief Executive Officer of CRC Thai Watsadu Co., Ltd. under Central Retail noted “CRC Thai Watsadu has expanded its retail business to include construction materials, home furnishings, and other products that complement people's lifestyles, from home to car, over the past 12 years since its inception. It has also been contributing to the development of a robust Thai economy,” “In the last two years, global retailers have encountered challenges. However, with ongoing adaption, the company was able to turn the business around and expand much further. In 2021, the company had a 20% increase in sales over the previous year, thanks to the addition of five Thai Watsadu outlets and the launch of a new business under the brand “go! WOW,” which caters to consumers' rapidly changing home convenience demands.”
CRC Thai Watsadu wants to achieve substantial commercial growth by 2022, with the goal of being a leader in Asia's omnichannel home improvement market by offering a broad range of building materials and home décor products. It also plans to maintain the CRC Retailligence strategy, which aims to achieve a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in the next 10 years (2017-2026). In the first 5 years, the company achieved a 12% growth rate then expected to reach a 18% within the next 5 years (2022-2026) with a significant 30% Ebit growth. To do this, it has set an ambition to move the business forward through the following 5 important initiatives:
- Thriving The focus is on bolstering the business to support future growth and position it as a leader in the omnichannel home improvement market. The company has a 7-billion-baht investment for budget, which includes the addition of new branches, renovation of current branches, rebranding (Multi-Key Drivers) and developing new service experiences in (Multi Brands) including Thai Watsadu, BnB home, AUTO1, and go! WOW. (Multi-formats) will be used across all platforms, both offline and online. New sales channels (including Chat & Shop, Call & Shop, e-Ordering, and Direct Sales) will be added, as well as a diversification of product categories (Multi ranges) to meet all consumer needs (Multi segments).
- Seamless Omnichannel Shopping Experience With the success story in 2021, the online channel has grown by 400 percent, with 70,000+ product listings, 17 million monthly views, 2 million monthly customers, and over 60,000 orders per month. The company plans to create a seamless omnichannel shopping experience by 2022, with a 150 percent increase in online channel growth. In addition to the launch of the mobile application 'Thai Watsadu' in May, the strategy includes upgrading the omnichannel platform. It is now working on BnB home and AUTO1 apps, which will be available in the near future. Moreover, additional website features have been created. The IT infrastructure, as well as Order & Transportation Management System, will also be upgraded to world-class standards.
- Supply Chain & Logistics Expansion This entails renovating and expanding a new warehouse on a space of more than 160,000 square meters, which means a 120 percent increase in storage capacity, to support the explosive expansion of existing and new business groups over the next 5 years. Additionally, with an investment to achieve a 25% fleet expansion of trucks and the start of a test project for the adoption of clean energy EV trucks, logistics operations will be significantly improved. To reduce carbon dioxide emissions, the goal is to grow the electric truck fleet to 30 vehicles by 2023, which is comparable to planting more than 200 trees per year.
- Driving Sustainability, A focus will be on developing sustainable businesses that work with all stakeholders, including employees, partners, society, and the environment. This is part of the mission to create shared values in accordance with Central Tham's social spirited policy, which focuses on the following 3 areas:
- People Centric Over the previous 12 years of commercial operations, a strong emphasis has been placed on human potential development. This comprises generating income and developing job opportunities for the disabled and the elderly, as well as growing job prospects and continually expanding branches. More than 1,000 employments were created even during the COVID-19 crisis. In addition, the organization emphasizes the value of producing quality and capable graduates by awarding scholarships and promoting hands-on learning from real-world experiences in order to fulfill today's labor market demands. Scholarships totaling more than 62 million baht have been awarded to date.
- Sharing Society This can be accomplished by participating in heartfelt projects such as the "Uniting Hearts for Homeland" project, which allows employees to benefit their own communities by assisting in the improvement of public facilities, donating equipment to hospitals and schools, and constructing homes for the poor. Supporting and assisting society in times of crisis, such as providing money to those impacted by natural disasters, are also part of the sharing actions. Donating finances and equipment to help people and medical organizations affected by COVID-19, building waiting centers and field hospitals, assisting in the production of Andrographis paniculata capsules, as well as supplying hand sanitizing gel is also on the list.
- Environmental Oriented The company is focused on developing a business model that is both profitable and environmentally friendly. For more than four years, it has partnered with the Wilderness Society Organization of Thailand to donate 1,130 weirs in Chiang Mai Province to ease the crisis of watershed deforestation and restore nature’s balance. Simultaneously, the company has responded to the BCG policy, which is one of the country's most important agenda items, by beginning to install solar roofs. To help combat global warming and greenhouse gas emissions, it plans to install solar roof panels on every branch by 2023, which is the equivalent of growing 2.5 million trees.
- New Market Penetration This includes new business expansion in the AUTO1 fast-fit category, which is a leader in free car inspection services (38 items) including free nitrogen inflating and free tire patches. By the end of 2022, there will be a total of 30 branches due to the continuing expansion of branches. The debut of Super App AUTO1 and Line Connect (live chat) will make placing an order, scheduling a service appointment, receiving mileage reminders, and notifying an emergency easier. Furthermore, go! WOW, a new business under the concept of “A household and variety products starting at 5 baht” is expected to respond to the rising home convenience trend. This includes nearly 20,000 different home-related items that are utilized in everyday life. The expansion of branches is now being accelerated, and by the end of 2022, there will be a total of 70 branches.
“CRC Thai Watsadu is committed to building a steady growth for its business in tandem with the development of Thai society, using the CRC Retailligence approach. This is expected to open up a new dimension in the building materials and home furnishings retail market, provide an all-in-one solution for improved housing, and build a future that drives the Thai economy,” said the CEO.
