Bangkok--27 Jan--Master Mind Communications
NINE, a member of the leading media conglomerate Nation Group, increased its presence in the online business sector by launching the website ‘NCoupon’, which will allow its allied business stores to utilise the Group’s comprehensive print, radio, TV and new media infrastructures to offer exclusive promotions of leisure products and services to online shoppers. This business will be run by a young management team that truly understands online consumers’ behavior and the website is expected to draw over tens of thousands per day of visitors.
Mr Thanachai Theerapattanavong, Chairman and Chief Executive Director of National Multimedia Group PCL, revealed that, in line with its policy of continuous improvement and to strengthen its business standing and tap the new business opportunities opened up by the growing enthusiasm about new media activities, including social networking, his corporate group, through Nation International Edutainment PCL (NINE), has created a website called ‘NCoupon’ at www.ncoupon.co.th as a new option for consumers seeking to increase their purchasing power. He added that social networking has become increasingly influential in relation to spending behavior of a sheer number of consumers, especially members of the younger generations who are more familiar with online shopping.
According to him, NCoupon is different from general online market sites and serves as the intermediary which allows product owners to offer exclusive promotions and attractive prices to online consumers.
“The role of traditional online shopping sites is limited to provision of a marketplace. NCoupon serves a more active function, as it utilises ‘The Nation’ brand, which is trusted by both product owners and consumers, to encourage the owners to offer exclusive, not generally-available promotions to their target customers through NCoupon and the Group’s comprehensive infrastructures of print, radio, TV and new media (including online media), as a way to conduct referral marketing”, said Mr Thanachai.
Mrs Kesari Karnchanawanit, Managing Director of NINE, noted that NCoupon is built around the concept of ‘social commerce’, an innovative combination of social networking and e-commerce whereby such social networking tools as facebook, hi5, myspace or twitter are used for communication with target customers to spread messages about special promotions, which will effectively attract consumers to visit and buy products on NCoupon.
Promotions offered on NCoupon are developed exclusively for the site’s customers and are for leisure products and services of all lifestyles. Each buyer either gets an SMS or prints out a minimum 40%-50% discount coupon which can be used immediately to obtain certain products for free or at very low prices from the relevant store.
“NCoupon’s social commerce marketing can build up a customer base very quickly. NCoupon is a new choice that allows online shoppers who are target customers to get exclusive promotions directly. It reduces the PR costs for the product owners and drives high sales volume at a limited time. And it allows the consumers to secure products that best meet their specific requirements and at exclusive and best prices”, said Mrs Kesari.
Exclusive products and services that are offered on NCoupon by its partners in the manufacturing, distribution and service industries are in the leisure category. They include restaurants, hotels, spas, recreational activities, IT products, high-tech gadgets, household appliances, jewelleries, books, entertainment (e.g. concert tickets), healthcare activities (e.g. fitness centres) and other activities (e.g. training and seminar).
She expressed her company’s confidence that Nation’s NCoupon intermediary business, which is managed by a team of young people who know what online shoppers need, will stimulate Thailand’s e-commerce industry and will cause social commerce to gain more acceptances from the consumers. The number of site visitors is projected to reach tens of thousands per day.