Bangkok--24 Aug--TOTO
TOTO has expanded the sanitary ware market in Thailand and will open the first showroom “TOTO TECH & DESIGN CENTER BANGKOK” in the heart of city under the concept “International brand with high quality”. In this showroom, new products and technologies will be on display in order to promote the brand to be known worldwide. It acts as a pilot showroom in ASEAN and the office is ready to be established. Bangkok has hoped that the products will be popular in Thailand and has aimed for the foreign net sale of 61.5 thousand million Yens in 2006.
TOTO will open the first showroom in Thailand under the name “TOTO TECH AND DESIGN CENTER” on August 24, 2006. It is a part of the company policy aiming at expanding the market worldwide, starting from ASEAN countries. All of the products sold in Thailand and the products that have been displayed in many exhibitions will be on display in this showroom. There will also be a demonstration on the high-quality products to show advances of technologies and new innovation in the world of sanitary ware researched by TOTO. The products have received the highest market share in Japan and it is also a foreign brand receiving the highest market share in the upper market of many countries.
In addition, TOTO plans to expand seven more showrooms in five countries like Vietnam, UAE and Iran respectively.
The opening of this showroom in Bangkok is to establish the representative office on 3rd floor of the same building. Not only does this representative office play the administrative role but it also promotes sales and marketing information of TOTO network worldwide. At present, Thailand is the first showroom to start expanding TOTO business in downtown, which is the place where high-class people live. There are underground trains, and sky trains running past and the billboard on the roof of TOTO TECH AND DESIGN CENTER can be seen very clearly. Besides expecting a lot of customers to join the TOTO showroom, they also hope for good feedback from customers after the brand have been advertised
Becoming the world’s brand in the upper market
Looking back to 1917, Japan’s multinational business was sanitary ware exported to UK and USA. Until now, branches have been expanded in 30 big cities in 13 countries, being a multinational business with rapid growth and the net sale that keeps increasing. In 2005 TOTO’s chains overseas reached the net sale of 56.9 thousand million Yens or 11.5% of TOTO’s net sale. It is also estimated that net sales in USA and China will continuously increase. The net sale of overseas branches is estimated to reach 66.5 thousand million Yens in 2006. In USA and China, TOTO is considered the brand in the upper market. However, in ASEAN, it is not easy to gain acceptance from customers and make them realize the quality of TOTO products. As a result, to make TOTO the international brand in the upper market is the main goal, which encourages TOTO to expand showrooms in ASEAN. This is to promote the brand to be known worldwide and it will be launched from 2006.
Besides the goal that was mentioned earlier, TOTO also realizes that expanding showrooms will allow customers to see the real products and they can try the products on their own before making a decision. In this showroom, the designers can also see the model rooms decorated by the products with new innovation that had been shown in the previous exhibitions.
The opening of TOTO in Thailand started in 1986. TOTO Company in Japan had joint venture with Siam Cement Industry Co., Ltd. and they established the company that sold sanitary ware branded TOTO and COTTO under the name Siam Sanitary Ware Industry Co, Ltd. In 1987, Siam Sanitary Ware Fittings Co, Ltd., a company manufacturing taps, was also established to meet the need of customers both inside and outside the country. It was also one of the most important production bases of TOTO in Asia.
The opening of TOTO showroom in Bangkok, which is the capital of Thailand and the important city for commerce in Asia, is the company’s pride.
[First floor
] New products and suite rooms
The first floor will be decorated to expose all of the sanitary ware collections that TOTO has promoted in Thailand’s market, having “Neorest Collection”, which has been referred to as the most expensive sanitary ware in today’s world by people from both inside and outside the country, as the main collection. Moreover, Neorest Collection also received the Best Design Award from Hong Kong and Japan, which can clearly guarantee its luxury and beauty. Then, there is “Nexus Suite”, which is the sanitary ware with high net sale in USA and China. This collection received Best Design Award from products exhibition in USA. It was manufactured in Thailand by Siam Sanitary Ware Industry Co, Ltd.
Behind the counter, the exhibition corner will be set up to display Milano Salone *suite, the full collection of sanitary ware consisting of sanitary ware, sink and bathtub set in a room.
[Second floor
] demonstration on cleaning efficiency and new innovation of the products
This is the floor in which the efficiency of sanitary ware working system is demonstrated. This includes the automatic toilet seat system called “Washlet”, the energy-saving taps called “Eco Power” and a lot more products that TOTO has sold in Thailand. The aim is to make consumers understand the working system and the efficiency of TOTO products through first-hand experience, not by just looking at the picture and description.
[Third floor
] Library-experiment bathroom-seminar room
Library: There will be books and manuals on how to correctly place things in the bathroom, how to build bathrooms and so on. These are books that TOTO has collected and published in many languages through over 90 years of real experience in this field. At present, these books have been widely used both inside and outside the country. Everyone can come and use the services. Besides civil engineers, students or outsiders can also come to the library to study and search for information as well.
Experiment bathroom: We will install many types of appliances such as toilet seats “Washlet” and energy-saving taps “Eco-Power” and a lot more. The goal is to give customers first-hand experience in using these appliances.
Seminar room: It is a room for organizing seminars and lectures in various occasio
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