Innovation

Central Retail is committed to developing and integrating innovative technologies into its business plans and strategy. Examples of such innovations include the creation of online service and product sales platforms, as well as omnichannel marketing targeting customers of all segments. Moreover, innovations aimed at boosting the efficiency of business operations are also being developed to increase the confidence of employees, suppliers, investors, and shareholders. The rapid evolution of technology has significantly altered customer behavior. Recognizing the shift, Central Retail acknowledges the importance of innovation in meeting the constantly evolving expectations of our customers. Embracing innovation not only ensures our competitiveness but also propels the business towards exponential growth.

Simultaneously, there are challenges and opportunities toward new innovations that Central Retail must consider. Introducing new innovations may require a cultural shift within the organization and requires employees with different skill sets, leading to skill gaps. Moreover, integrating new innovations with existing systems can be complex and may lead to disruptions and higher risks to cybersecurity. Another challenge is the difficulty in accurately estimating return on investment for new innovations.

To tackle these emerging challenges, Central Retail must ensure that both employees and information systems are resilient to changes. This can be accomplished through the implementation of a well-structured human capital development framework and ongoing risk review. It is crucial for Central Retail to prioritize compatibility during technology selection and plan for gradual integration to maintain a robust information system. These measures also present new opportunities for Central Retail to enhance the productivity of employees and internal information systems. Additionally, Central Retail has established clear performance metrics, monitored key performance indicators (KPIs), and regularly evaluated the impact of innovations on business objectives.

Impact to Business, Stakeholders, and Human Rights

Innovation offers significant benefits to businesses, providing opportunities for growth, efficiency, competitive advantage, tools and frameworks that enhance employees’ productivity and effectiveness. By leveraging modern technology and cutting-edge processes, Central Retail is positioned as a leading retailer, setting the stage for long-term success. By utilizing project management software, advanced analytics, and collaborative tools, Central Retail enhances its efficiency, and makes data-driven decisions such as in product selection and marketing campaigns. This leads to heightened productivity, accelerated problem-solving, and enhanced adaptability to swift changes in customer behavior. Moreover, leveraging innovations in data analytics, seamless online interactions, and AI-driven customer service enables Central Retail to optimize personalized shopping experiences and omnichannel capabilities, leading to elevated customer satisfaction, loyalty, and ultimately, boosted sales and revenue.

The influence of new innovations is extensive, affecting various stakeholders. Innovation provides the need and presents opportunities for employees to enhance their skills empowering them to generate greater value for the organization in a rapidly evolving environment. The implementation of innovation, such as automation and data analytics, enhances efficiency in supply chain operations from advancements in demand forecast and inventory management. The probability of overstock or shortages reduces when suppliers effectively match the production and delivery of products and services to the changing demands of customers. Moreover, innovations like omnichannel can increase the accessibility of Central Retail’s services for a broader range of customers, especially in remote areas. Innovation developed by Central Retail can also be applied to help create social and environmental benefits for communities, especially innovation in e-commerce that can connect customers to communities in remote areas. Governments benefit from a more dynamic economy, increased tax revenue, and job creation. Lastly, long-term shareholder value can be generated by innovation from an increase in profit and revenues that leads to rises in stock value.

Management Approach

Central Retail’s subsidiary, Central Retail Digital is responsible for driving digital transformation across Central Retail into a full-scale world-class retail tech company, as well as creating Thailand’s best omnichannel platform. Its focus is on innovations that are customer-centric while deploying prioritized use cases across the retail value chain.

Central Retail has announced its “CRC Retailligence” strategy as a part of its efforts to become a top retailer. Central Retail works to transform its services into the next generation omnichannel retail by using extensive data ecosystems and putting customers’ needs at the heart of the innovation development process to provide effective personalized experiences. Furthermore, through collaboration with suppliers and business partners, Central Retail’s innovation can create unique shopping experiences for customers through specialized shops and lifestyle centers.

The innovation development process is the establishment of a corporate innovation team, aimed at dismantling silos and promoting collaboration among diverse talents from various business units. Agility is fostered to respond to industry trends and facilitate rapid organizational learning and adaptation. This is envisioned to cultivate a more holistic and impactful approach to innovation decision-making and deploy prioritized use cases across the retail value chain together.

The innovation process, which will be applied to the omnichannel platform. This will result in increased efficiency in business operations. Central Retail has focused on communicating with employees at all levels about such innovation processes, consisting of 1) Design 2) Modeling 3) Processing and 4) Analysis of problems and obstacles. In addition, Central Retail has supported the Central Tech Retail Lab technology innovation development center to test innovation development within the organization through joint investment in start-up companies with high potential.

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Project Highlights

C-Coin Application

C-Coin, launched in 2021, is a blockchain-based employee rewarding platform to promote employee engagement. The objective of this project is to establish strong employee engagement within and across business units by using centralized benefit tool to promote employee engagement in company activities, Central Retail awards employees who actively participate in the platform by offering C-Coins as monetary incentives, which can be used at stores and outlets under Central Retail, including Tops supermarket, B2S, OfficeMate, Supersports, Central Department Store, Robinson Department Store, etc.

C-Coin is a powerful tool to drive higher engagement in events and corporate culture, such as driving I.Care core values, sustainability campaigns, project collaboration, corporate success celebration, and learning culture. Central Retail can also create a revenue stream from C-Coin redemption and purchases within the stores. In 2023, there were 5.6 million C-Coins in circulation, showing a 350% increase from the previous year; with over 36,000 employees using C-Coins on a daily basis, showing a 40% increase from the previous year.

C-Verse

C-Verse, launched in 2023, is Central Retail’s immersive retail platform that leverages virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and generative artificial intelligence (AI) technology to elevate shopping experience to unprecedented heights. C-Verse can provide customers with immersive shopping experiences that enable seamless integration between offline, online, social media, live-streaming, and virtual reality. At the same time, business partners can benefit from C-Verse’s extensive selling channels to offer products and services. This highlights Central Retail’s commitment to grow the entire ecosystem, with an aim to be the#1 Next-Gen Omni Retailer in Asia, under its CRC Retailligence strategy. C-Verse can also be extended to other purposes, including raising awareness on sustainability topics via educational games that customers can play to unlock rewards while also generating real-world impact.