Central Department Store vows to spend up to 1 billion baht to proceed with marketing activities throughout the final quarter of the year.
Piyawan Leelasompop, executive vice-president of marketing for Central Department Store, said consumer purchasing power in 2019 is expected to improve from this year thanks to the growing economy.
"If there is no uncontrollable factor like the tragic boat accident in Phuket in July, we believe 2019 consumer purchasing power will definitely fare better than this year," she said. "We expect next year's sales will exceed this year's target of 45 billion baht, which is a 4% rise from the previous year."
Ms Piyawan said a large chunk of the promotional budget will be allocated in November, which is a period when most consumers are expected to stay home. In December, people mostly opt to travel upcountry or abroad, she said.
To spur consumer spending, Central and Zen Department Store are holding their midnight sale, their biggest sales event of the year.
"Central and Zen originated the midnight sale campaigns, so we know what kinds of promotions get customers to show up. Some 100 million baht is allocated for the midnight sale campaign, with the rest for marketing activities the last two months," said Ms Piyawan.
"We are targeting 10% growth for this campaign and aim to close the fourth quarter with over 10 billion baht in sales. As this campaign is held at the end of the year when shoppers are looking to buy gifts for themselves and their loved ones, we expect it to significantly boost customer spending."
The midnight sale's theme is "Work hard, shop harder", aimed at working people shopping as a reward for themselves or their loved ones after working hard all year. Products from over 3,500 leading brands are being promoted with discounts of up to 70%.
The malls are also partnering with credit cards to offer exclusive privileges.
They joined Mastercard to give away iPhone XS 256GB Gold handsets for shopping according to special conditions from Nov 28 to Dec 5 at all Central and Zen stores, or by shopping through Central Chat & Shop, a personal shopper service available on the LINE application.
Customers shopping through Central Chat & Shop get the same promotions as those visiting stores in person and can collect The 1 points.