Petchaburi, 13 Dec. 2010 – Department of Business Development (DBD) is a government agency under the Ministry of Commerce which primarily works on promotion of potential entrepreneurs and enhancement of the business competitiveness in Thailand. In so doing, the DBD introduces the Electronic Commerce, known widely as E-Commerce, to entrepreneurs nationwide. Realizing that the E-Commerce is capable of extending business opportunities through the Internet and online communication, the DBD has thus launched the E-Commerce Clinic for SMEs – a project to provide and develop knowledge about on-line business for local entrepreneurs of Thailand.
It is already carried out in Petchaburi and Lampang. According to the data provided by the Internet World Stat, over two billions people are using the Internet now. In Thailand alone, the National Electronics and Computer Technology Center (NECTEC) reported that over 16 million people in Thailand used the Internet in 2010. So, if business owners can apply the E-Commerce with their business, they can access to more target groups.
Accordingly, the E-Commerce Clinic for SMEs focuses on how to make a website of business owners appears on the first page of widely used search engines like Google or Yahoo, how to benefit from the social network website like Facebook and how to use a blog and advertise through the search engines. Having started in Petchaburi for the first time at the seminar entitled, “Thai Business towards World Standard with E-Commerce,” on 13 December 2010, the project, held at the Grand Pacific Resort and Spa in Cha-Am, saw a lot of highly qualified speakers share and provide knowledge and experience on E-Commerce with the participants.
One of the speakers, Mr. Suebsak Lewlak, a marketing specialist from Hroyy Incorporation, said that over 80% of the Internet users in the US sought for products via search engines apart from magazines and TV adverts.
Should the website of business entrepreneurs appear on the first page of the search engines, more profit will be reaped. How to succeed in this is not at all difficult: write concisely and update the website frequently to allow the search engines to get as much information from the website. Mr. Burin Kledmanee, the webmaster of ReadyPlanet.com, informed that one of common problems on E-Commerce was the website’s credibility because buyers can not see the seller face-to-face. So, the seller needs to make his/ her website as convincing as possible by providing high resolution pictures of every product. Having the website certified from the DBD will also encourage customers to buy products more from it.
Dr. Waranyu Sujiworapanpong, a researcher on E-Commerce for the DBD, said that products sold better and much more from the on-line business were usually those that customers bought less via common purchase channels. Normally, shops sell highly favored products, ignoring those lesser known due to limited space. However, this does not mean that less favored products can not be sold at all. Using E-Commerce which can combine every product together in one website can help a lot as business channels will be more extensive. Even the top hit music of the world is sold on-line for 20 times a day. Plus, E-Commerce does not require its owner to open more shops. The next activity under the project will be a workshop on how to analyze business websites.
This workshop will be organized in January, 2011, in both Lampang and Petchaburi. Moreover, the DBD is allowing undergraduate students to join the workshop as speaker assistants and work with local entrepreneurs in the form of a project work. This will help students learn more on how to do business in the real world – the main objective of the DBD to connect academic and professional worlds together. Business owners interested in taking part in the upcoming program can contact khun Chawanun Santinanalert at tel. 086 506 7302 or fax 02 9649110 or e-mail: chawanun@ hroyy.com. For more information on the news, please contact khun Suebsak Lewlak at 086 556 4565 or e-mail: suebsak@hroyy.com.
