ICC International Plc, the marketing arm for fashion under the Saha Group, is exploring new business opportunities abroad and gearing more towards online channels as it aims to return sales to growth this year.
Boonkiet Chokwatana, the company's chairman, said ICC International will focus more on overseas expansion and beef up its online channel this year because he believes the Thai economy and domestic trade may not be that healthy.
"Despite the national election, we don't expect the economy to show outstanding growth this year," Mr Boonkiet said. "Customers pay more heed to online shopping instead of on-ground channels."
He said the company aims to explore new overseas opportunities, especially the China market.
"Thai products have good recognition among Chinese customers," Mr Boonkiet said. "This is why Betterway Thailand, a subsidiary of Saha Group, the marketer of Mistine cosmetic brand, is very successful in the China market after only a few years of operations there."
In addition, the company will appoint new agents in Myanmar to sell fashion and cosmetics products.
With technology playing a more significant role and young customers preferring online shopping, Mr Boonkiet said the company will put more focus this year on selling products via social media and online channels.
More than 80% of ICC's business relies on department stores. ICC went online four years ago, and the online channel contributed about 5% of the company's total sales last year.
The company aims to raise the online business to a 10% share of the company's total sales by 2020.
To achieve this goal, the company will increase the number of products sold via online channels, both on its own website and at e-marketplaces.
Mr Boonkiet said the company is unlikely to relaunch any new brands this year after stopping to add new imported fashion brands to its portfolio in the past few years, due to the country's economic slowdown.
The company will instead seek new clues to grow from existing businesses such as BSC, Lacoste and Arrow.
"We can't do business in the same way we have done in the past. It is tougher to do business because of more competitors and tighter loan criteria from commercial banks," Mr Boonkiet said. "We have to do business more cautiously and have to think out of the box and build new blood who understand IT. People are the most challenging factor in the current economic environment."
He expects ICC to grow this year after a flat showing the last few years, projecting 10% a sales increase to 13.2 billion baht this year.
Last year, ICC revenue was flat at 12 billion baht, but the bottom line managed to grow by a single digit, Mr Boonkiet said.
"This is unlikely to be the toughest year ever for ICC," he said. "We faced the toughest year during the 1997 financial crisis, which led the company's revenue to plunge by about 40%."
