Mr. Nakarin Vanakitpaiboon, CEO of THE STANDARD, revealed that “The Thai economy in 2026 remains challenging. Data from KResearch forecasts Thailand's GDP growth in 2026 at only 1.6%, down from around 2.0% in 2025. Tourism is also slowing, with an expected 35.5 million tourists, still lower than the pre-COVID level of 40 million. Although the Thai stock market has recovered after the election, the real economy continues to face pressure from several factors, from the conflict in the Middle East to changing consumer behavior. This has resulted in a “K-Shaped Recovery” phenomenon, where some business sectors experience rapid growth while others face increased pressure from competition and rising costs. Furthermore, Thai entrepreneurs face “four major waves” that are transforming business practices globally: Tech/AI, a key tool for small businesses to increase efficiency, reduce costs, and compete more effectively than ever before; Geopolitics, with intensifying tariff wars after the US announced a new 15% import tariff on all countries worldwide…” These include the increasing influx of Chinese products competing in the Thai market, the aging society with over 20% of the population aged 60 and above (and this number is expected to continue rising), driving the growth of health and well-being trends, and climate change, which is shifting ESG laws from voluntary to unavoidable mandatory standards.

Mr. Nakarin concluded that while today's business world is full of challenges, every crisis always hides opportunities if entrepreneurs can see and adapt quickly enough. This is especially true for SMEs that can choose to use technologies and platforms suitable for Thai people, such as LINE, which offers comprehensive tools for communication, marketing, and sales. This helps small businesses reach customers, understand their needs, and turn opportunities in a volatile world into growth.

Mr. Jirapat Dechdanu, Head of Product Marketing Strategy at LINE Thailand, stated that over the past three years, the trend of customers chatting via LINE OA has increased by an average of 6% annually. Meanwhile, data from Mordor Intelligence reveals that the global chat commerce market is growing at an average of 12% annually and is expected to reach a value of US$23 billion in 2031. This makes sales in this era like a "new level" where businesses must adapt their thinking and working methods to reach customers more effectively. In summary, there are four key sales strategies:

1. **Choose Your Own Channel:** Today, customers are spread across multiple platforms. Businesses need multiple channels to reach them, but at the same time, they need an "own channel" or "brand home" to bring customers together in one place. LINE OA can serve as the primary tool or "home" for businesses to communicate directly with customers. It also acts as a central repository of business-owned data for effective analysis and growth. Businesses can use promotions to attract customers to LINE OA, and include links to access LINE OA through various social media platforms or through LINE Ads advertising. By March, over 40 new target audience segments will be released, such as by wealth level, travel enthusiasts, and mothers and children.

2. **Moment of Decision:** Seize the right moment to accelerate decision-making. Chat-based sales achieve up to 97% closing rates because consumers seek interaction to build trust. Businesses can leverage various LINE features to enhance chat interactions and build confidence. Building trust with customers is possible through features like the ‘Customer Profile’ feature on MyShop to help get to know your customers better, the ‘Schedule Message’ feature to automatically schedule messages for customers, the ‘AI Chatbot’ feature for chat package users to answer customer questions 24/7, and the newly released advertising tool, LINE Ads AI Agent, which helps generate ideas and create advertising campaigns, along with summarizing campaign results for businesses to further analyze and improve, reducing work time.

3. Memory & Trust: Creating lasting impressions. Retaining existing customers reduces the cost of acquiring new customers and increases the average order value. Businesses can use the MyCustomer|CRM tool to build long-term relationships in various ways, including membership systems, point accumulation, or customer events. Statistics from users who have used this tool for over a month show a six-fold increase in loyal customers compared to the previous year, a 115% increase in sales, and a 20% reduction in LINE OA blocking within one month. 4. Money Management: Managing your business like a pro. Businesses often have hidden costs that entrepreneurs may overlook. Effective control and management are crucial for increasing store profitability. LINE offers solutions that comprehensively manage sales, from communication and payments to product delivery, enabling entrepreneurs to manage their businesses efficiently on a single platform.

Go To Lead