14 DAY TRIAL // It is a known fact that Facebook is slowly trying to make its way to the e-commerce market as it is currently looking into new ways to keep users on the platform for as long as possible. However, it seems that there are countries which already rely on the social networking website for their online shopping.
Thailand is one of these countries and a recent survey carried out by global market research firm shows that its inhabitants depend on the website to make sure that they get all the information they need about the products they are looking into buying.
As expected, Facebook is the most popular social network in Thailand, despite the low Internet penetration in the country due its predominant rural population.
Therefore, advertisers who play their cards well take to Facebook to successfully reach the almost 28 million users. And this impressive number of people signing up for a Facebook account is rapidly growing, which means that the social website is bound to expand its control over e-commerce.
Bangkok Post revealed that the results show that 66% of the people who have taken part in the survey have admitted to using their smartphones to place online orders while 65% of them claim that they see Facebook as a means to get the information that they usually take into consideration before buying a product.
Social media has a great influence on online shoppers
Since Thai people tend to do some serious research prior to buying a product, it is only natural that they would go online to obtain some additional details which can convince them that they are spending their money wisely.
However, it is weird that they would resort to Facebook when a simple Google search would do the trick. Whatever might be the reason why they find the social site more reliable than any other search engine, one thing is clear: Facebook is becoming increasingly popular in Thailand and it has a significant impact on online shopping businesses.
"These figures highlight the impact of social networks and mobile phones on consumers' purchasing process," said Arpapat Boonrod, managing director of TNS Research International.
Thailand is indeed an interesting example to look into when analyzing the importance of social media and the effects that it can have on the online market, as it gives brands an idea of what environment they should turn to if they want to engage more customers.