Mr. Chatchai Tuangrattanaphan, Vice President of the Thai Retailers Association, revealed that the association has worked with the Bank of Thailand. The Retail Sentiment Index (Retail Sentiment Index) of retailers for February 2022, as a whole, found that although the Omikron epidemic situation has found more than 20,000 new infections per day and has increased dramatically. fast But the confidence of Thai retailers Overall, it increased by 9.3 points, and in the next 3 months, still slightly improved by 5.6 points due to government measures that came at the right time throughout the project. “half each person” and “Good shopping, have a night” including the cooperation of the Thai Retailers Association and network partners to fix the prices of essential consumer goods Along with doing heavy promotional promotions to alleviate the suffering of the people.
++Reiterate 3 proposals to the government
However, although the overall purchasing power will recover but not much The government therefore needs to continue its economic stimulus policy. The association has recommended the government in 3 points as follows
1. Accelerate budget disbursement and government investment to approve and implement projects to generate money into the economy asap
2. Supporting energy prices to be stable and long as possible The government should consider all measures such as the use of the fuel fund mechanism. and the issuance of measures to control the price of transportation to support energy prices as long as possible
3. Maintain government economic stimulus measures continuouslyD The government should consider stimulating the purchasing power of the people in order to achieve local consumption through project “half each person” and “Shop Good Me Night” project
“Consumer purchasing power has not recovered much. Government stimulus is still needed and needs to be continued. It also has to focus on increasing the purchasing power of the people quickly and all around. The government must have a clear policy to encourage the private sector to invest in the country to increase employment. which in the long run will result in a strong recovery of people’s purchasing power. Ultimately, this is the cooperation of all sectors that will be the power to drive the Thai economy forward.”
++February retail index recovered
Mr. Chatchai added that the results of the survey of the Retailers’ Confidence Index for February 2022 Entrepreneur’s confidence improved 9.3 points. caused by the joint efforts of the public and private sectors to reduce the burden of people’s cost of living by fixing the prices of energy and consumer goods
The Thai Retailers Association and network partners It has been in close coordination with more than 30 major suppliers to fix prices to cover more than 500 daily necessities since the end of 2021, as well as affected by government spending stimulus measures. add more strength As a result, same-store sales of Same Store Sale Growth (SSSG) rose 15.2 percentage points, but were still 50 percentage points below the mid-point average, driven by a 16.3-point increase in Frequency Of Shopping.
While spending per bill, Spending Per Bill or Per Basket Size remained stable at 5.2 points, the resulting spending was a gradual but frequent purchase. This is in line with caution when shopping for essential items only. Because many categories of products are constantly increasing their prices.
The summary of the index of confidence in the key issues is as follows.
1. Retail Sentiment Index (RSI) February rose to 52.7, up only 9.3 points, compared to the January index of 43.4, reflecting the uncertainty of confidence. due to concerns over purchasing power that has not recovered coupled with the price increase of the product The Retail Confidence Index for the next three months rose only 5.6, from 53.1 in January to 58.7 in February. This reflects the concern over the rapidly spreading Omikron epidemic in Thailand. Including the global economic situation that is constantly changing, such as oil prices and inflation, etc.
2. RSI Confidence Index by Regions The index of entrepreneurial confidence in February same sales increased in all regions compared to January. from government spending stimulus measures But it was an increase that was still below the 50-point mid-point average across all regions, reflecting concerns regarding a recovery in purchasing power. And the cost of living has increased because energy prices and fresh food prices have continued to rise.
There is also a summary of the key points of “Evaluation of the purchasing power and trends of the epidemic of Omikron from an entrepreneurial point of view” in february surveyed during 17-24 February 2022 as follows:
1. The trend of considering the minimum wage adjustment
– 44% may consider a wage increase of not more than 5%
– 33% wait for the official minimum wage announcement
2. Business Impact of Omicron Outbreaks Compared to Delta
– 63% less omicron effect than delta
– 33% omikron effect close to delta
– 4% more omicron effect than delta
3. Survey results of entrepreneurs towards the “Shop Dee Mee Night” project 2022
3.1 Number of customers compared to January 2022 and December 2021
– 59.5% more customers come to shop
– 20.1% the number of customers who come to shop, same as before
– 20.4% less number of customers come to shop
3.2 Number of tax invoices
– 82.7%, the number of tax invoices increased by 1-5%
– 11.4% The number of tax invoices increased by 6-10%.
From the survey results, it was found that Over 44% of entrepreneurs would consider a wage adjustment but not more than 5%, while 33% of entrepreneurs said they would not consider a wage adjustment. which reflects that Most operators are still reluctant to adjust wages. While the business has not recovered and the economic situation is still unclear. Although the impact of the omikron epidemic is less than that of the Delta. But businesses affected by the previous Delta epidemic have not recovered. The overall business is still affected.
For opinion polls from“Shop Good Me Night” project The results were satisfactory to some extent. Although at the time of the start of the project “Shop Dee Mee Night” is the period of the epidemic. Omikron makes the shopping mood not as good as it should be. But it is considered that sales growth of this size is satisfactory. but if the project “Shop good and have a return” can do the next phase. by extending the period to 3 months and expanding the limit to 100,000 baht. The result will be able to bring money into the economy that enable Thai entrepreneurs and SMEs to maintain liquidity and maintain employment