Bangkok – Luxury fashion and auto brands in Thailand have turned to selling their products on Japanese chat app Line amid the coronavirus pandemic, tapping the country’s growing appetite for social commerce, said a top executive on Thursday.
Among brands that opened official accounts on the messaging app are Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Volvo, which outranks Facebook’s WhatsApp and Rakuten’s Viber in Thailand, aiming to connect with users during a coronavirus lockdown.
“The luxury category was forced to adapt because their stores were closed,” said Line Thailand chief commercial officer, Norasit Sitivechvichit.
Earlier this year, Thailand imposed a nationwide curfew and closed malls for nearly two months to contain infections.
During the pandemic, sellers became very active,” Sitivechvichit said, and also added that others sold cosmetics and fast-moving consumer goods.
Line, which charges sellers for sending messages and live streaming, said its monthly active users in Thailand grew from 44-million to 47-million this year, its second largest market after Japan.
Volvo successfully sold vehicles on the platform after launching in May and studying customer data, its Thailand head of marketing and digitalization, Jean-David Harel said.
“We have an understanding of which models they own today, which interest they have and when they plan to change their existing car,” he said.
