Global Digital Marketing & Retail by Alex 44
In this edition more on Thailand. I still have some pictures and topics to share from my recent holiday in Bangkok.
As Thailand is looking to join BRICS and with the developments happening in neighboring countries, such as Vietnam, Singapore, the potential for economic growth in Thailand can be huge.
🇹🇭Bangkok: True Digital Park, an innovation and technology hub
I had read about True Digital Park a while ago, and I had time to visit this holiday. It’s an amazing creative complex, just a few stops on the Bangkok Sky train from the city center. I have never seen something like this in Europe, not this style. This is a hub for creativity and innovation. It’s a huge building conveniently connected to the Sky train system via a skywalk. It’s like stepping into the future.
Ok, after you stepped in, it’s like the future. The first thing I saw when entering True Digital Park, was this error message 😂
But after that, it is really like stepping into the future. It’s not only half a park, it also includes shopping, dining, office spaces, community areas, co-working areas, libraries, and much more. I could really see myself working in there when I was walking around the complex. There are daily workshops, libraries, events, exhibitions, and much more, often even free!
I read a bit about the Thai startup and scale-up sector:
Thailand lags (a bi)t behind in the e-commerce and digital sector compared to its neighboring countries. But the government is actively trying to change that. That is one of the reasons why True Digital Park has been set up.The park hosts numerous events and training programs, offering entrepreneurs opportunities to upskill and stay ahead of industry trends. The park also facilitates connections with venture capital firms and angel investors. It’s not only for Thai startups, but also international startups, including visas and mentorships. The park already had a few successes, among which “Zipeventapp” an event organizer.
The ecosystem is about building a community for startups, corporations, investors, and government agencies to collaborate. Their efforts aim to boost Thailand as a regional innovation hub. Hope it works out.
For a video on the complex, check out this video, I stayed there for a while, it is completely safe, and you can leave your stuff unattended if you grab a tea or coffee, a very inspiring atmosphere.
More details: https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/general/1694064/true-digital-park-lures-startups
Or: https://www.truedigitalpark.com/en/about/about-us
and: https://opengovasia.com/2019/06/19/thailand-setting-up-start-up-ecosystem-at-true-digital-park/
🇹🇭Thailand(Bangkok): Apps at a glance (Grab, Lazada, TukTuk Hop)
When I was younger, I was fascinated by tuning into foreign radio stations while traveling abroad. Nowadays, I enjoy exploring local apps in different countries to analyze their UX, functionality, and problem-solving capabilities. A few I tried here in Bangkok:
Grab: Grab is a so-called “super-app”. I use it a lot. For getting a motorbike taxi, ordering food. It solves problems and does so very well.
🙂They think along with you, if you take a screenshot you get a notification there might be an easier way.
🙂Pickup is fun. I ordered a healthy juice at “License to Blend” , picked it up at the tiniest shop, I ever saw, where three people were creating great healthy fruit juices for pickup and delivery (no seating), the dark kitchen concept, but then really tiny. Great to support them. Would have never discovered them without Grab.
🥲Ok, a little confusing, I always order a motorbike taxi and I see a car driving toward me :)
🥲Had to think a bit when I wanted to go to Lumphini Park and there was no motorbike available, so pickup or drop off needed to be changed, why not tell me which one..it was the drop-off location)
🙃🙂After placing a food order, you get an ad “while you wait, watch this”, which is great, but it would be better if these ads are really entertaining or help you learn something (f.e. food cooking) instead of just an ad for a next food order.
Lazada: Lazada is (although not completely correct) the Amazon from parts of south-east Asia. Lazada Thailand places a stronger emphasis on supporting local businesses and integrating regional retail networks. I bought a few things just to test.
🙂They have survey to ask to which platform they are competing after purchase
🥲You can switch the language to English and it works pretty well until you get order notifications, there is not a translation or even copy button, unfortunately.
🙂Live Shopping is fun, although I did not understand most of it , it is all in Thai, I did buy a “bitcoin t-shirt” from a seller who otherwise I would not know who I bought from, now I know at least from whom as she made a video with many other shirts in her little shop.
TukTuk Hop: Everyone who visits Bangkok for the first time, wants to ride a TukTuk. Every other time you skip it, mainly because of the many scams. Now there is a service that is trustworthy, Tuk Tuk Hop. Unfortunately, unlike, grab, it only drives designated routes, it is especially designed for tourists.
I tested the app and service, a few remarks:
🙂Very nice and different onboarding than I expected, it includes WhatsApp. you can directly start chatting and they provide also touristic information via Whatsapp. Solves the communication/pickup problem.
😕Now, it is that I look out for these things and I know of this app, because I actively search for it. But I did not see any advertising, not online, not offline of this service, while I could easily be targeted both before and after my arrival in Bangkok. Missed opportunity, I think huge opportunities for TukTuk Hop to target visitors to use their service during traveling in Thailand.
🙂It has a picture of the pickup point, sometimes a bit too close up, but nice.
😕It misses language opportunity, now I use English but I am sure many tourists are not so comfortable with that, a good machine translation in many languages would already help.
😕During signup, I chose “payment to the driver”, but after signup, there was no clear “what happens next” confirmation page. You receive an e-mail with login details, but that’s a bit unclear, especially for people who are less familiar with apps and maybe more afraid of using it.
🙂They cross sell WiFi or hotel pick ups, which is smart and problem solving for the target group.
😕The pickup interface is somewhat cluttered I think, especially because you also have to select an area, and if you are new in Bangkok, this might be confusing.
App screenshots of apps I used in Bangkok
Great app, fun to use sometimes, especially for tourists, as they cover a lot of touristic places. With two rides, you earned your money back, I paid 389 baht for a full day. Might use it more in the future, but then they need to extend to Sukhumvit area.
🇹🇭Thailand(Bangkok): Apps at a glance (Eatigo)
I also tried “Eatigo”. Eatigo . atigo is a restaurant reservation app that provides time-based discounts at restaurants across Asia. They launched in Bangkok in 2013, it was developed by a team including Thai co-founder Pumin Yuvacharuskul. With the app you can book tables at various dining spots and enjoy discounts up to 50%, helping restaurants maximize capacity during off-peak hours.
🙂The app looks nice and it is very easy to make a booking and choice. No unneeded features so at glance.
😕It did not have so many “local restaurants” in my feed, only larger hotel style restaurants in my area, unfortunately.
🙂They have live agents to support, directly from the home screen, very user-centric.
😕A bit slow sometimes.
😕Only English and Thai language, nowadays it’s so easy to machine translate in good quality.
Bottom line: apps make people do things, especially here, it’s all so easy. In my opinion, there are lots of opportunities for these apps to promote themselves much more.
I did see an Eatigo ad, but not a good one, not focused on me, not focused on Bangkok (see screenshot). I saw a “Bolt” ad, but that one was also not very triggering. But that’s about it, I see many possibilities and opportunities in combination with AI translation and localization for those apps.
I also noticed many Chinese visitors here in Bangkok, and the apps can cater to them as well, by integrating WeChat (Miniprograms) and/or Chinese app stores.
It will make traveling more fun, and it’s better for local economic activities!
That’s it for this edition, next edition a “normal” newsletter again.
Cheers,