Mr. Suthisarn Chirathivat, Chief Executive Officer of Central Retail Corporation Public Company Limited (SET: CRC), shared, “Doing business in an era of global economic slowdown and rapidly shifting consumer behaviour is immensely challenging. However, Central Retail, as a leader in retail and wholesale, views these challenges as opportunities and driving forces that push us to rethink and reset.
We are enhancing every dimension of our operations by leveraging AI technology, empowering our people to work with maximum efficiency and enabling deeper insights and access to our customers. Today’s consumers look beyond price – they seek the best overall experience in value, convenience, simplicity, and speed. These expectations have become our imperative to meet customer needs across both offline and online channels within our flexible, resilient, and adaptable ecosystem that is built to keep moving forward.”
Central Retail has outlined a 3-year roadmap under the “New Heights, Next Growth” strategy, with 5 strategic pillars aimed at elevating the organisation’s capabilities and driving its next phase of growth during 2025–2027:
1. Reinforce Customer Focus: Deepen understanding and connection with customers by strengthening The 1 Loyalty Program in both Thailand and Vietnam, which now boasts over 26 million members combined. This reaffirms Central Retail’s position as the strongest loyalty platform in the region. The company also aims to expand its customer base to target young and mainstream consumers, while further penetrating B2B segments.
2. Strengthen CRC Foundation: Driving growth across core businesses — in both sales and profitability — while accelerating store expansion and renovation. The company is also advancing its unified technology platform to enable a seamless omnichannel shopping experience and build the capabilities needed to scale AI integration. This, in turn, supports sustained double-digit growth in online sales. At the same time, the company is accelerating the expansion of its Food and Mall businesses in Vietnam and introducing store formats tailored to the specific needs of target customer segments in each area.
3. Expedite New Growth: Accelerate the growth of Central Retail’s new growth engine through the expansion of GO WHOLESALE via 5 key strategies: expanding private label products, establishing itself as a destination for the HORECA (Hotel, Restaurant, Catering) sector, leading in fresh product offerings under the “Always Fresh-Forward” concept, launching 12–18 new branches within these three years, and developing new store concepts and fulfillment stores tailored specifically to the HORECA and food retail segments. In addition, the company will continue to expand the Auto1 business — a one-stop automotive service and accessories center — by launching at least 10 new branches per year to cover high-potential locations.
4. Scale Synergy: Foster deeper collaboration both within and beyond the organisation — with a strong focus on cross-functional work across Central Retail and Central Group businesses. This includes joint efforts to drive sales and enhance cross-business collaboration among employees to maximise operational efficiency. At the same time, the company is optimising retail space to better serve customer needs and improve return on investment (ROI) through Mixed-Use models and Hybrid Retail Store formats.
5. Disciplined Financial Management Maintain prudent financial management to ensure maximum efficiency amid economic uncertainty. This includes cost control, prioritising investment in high-potential businesses, adjusting investment plans to remain flexible in changing environments, and managing capital structure appropriately to preserve financial stability and deliver strong shareholder returns.
Beyond strengthening every business segment, Central Retail remains firmly committed to its principle of “sustainable growth”. Guided by the CRC Care philosophy across seven dimensions, sustainability is embedded in every action — driven by the belief that social and environmental responsibility is the foundation for long-term growth.
With a goal of becoming a Net Zero organisation by 2050, the company aims to create tangible positive impact while uplifting the quality of life for communities, employees, and customers —enabling everyone to grow stronger together.
“With a clear and effective strategy in place, Central Retail is committed to driving stable and strong business growth across all dimensions over the 2025-2027 period. We are targeting annual revenue and EBITDA growth of approximately 5%, backed by an investment budget of over THB 45-47 billion. This will be a key driver in expanding the company’s capabilities, strengthening business resilience, and enhancing competitive edge — reinforcing our position as a sustainable leader in retail and wholesale both in Thailand and internationally, while generating long-term value and returns for all stakeholders,” concluded Mr. Suthisarn.
