Profiling Thailand’s Retail Industry: An Analysis of Market Change and Opportunities for Future Growth

Abstract

Thailand is one of the fastest growing retail markets in the world, increasing from $25.5B USD in 2000 to $63.3B USD in 2010 and accounting for 5.2% of the country’s total employment and 20% of the country’s GDP (Eurornonitor 2010). Thailand's retail sector is seeing the level of transformative growth in the past two decades that took 50 to 80 years in the U.S. and Europe (Reardon 2006). Beyond these direct economic contributions, retail trade plays a critical role in determining consumer behavior as well as fostering productivity, growth, and innovation in the country (Eurornonitor 2010). Although retail is clearly important to Thailand’s economy, very little academic research has examined its evolution in terms of market change and opportunities for future growth.