Tops, food business under Central Retail, spearheads a new strategy to capture shoppers’ attention. Room Concept strategy is implemented across all product categories, with 15 Room Concepts to offer positive shopping experiences, true to its concept of “Every Day DISCOVERY”, to meet the needs of every segment and become beyond a food destination, but a hub of all lifestyles for everyone in the family, with endless inspiration every day.Mr. Stephane Coum, Chief Executive Officer – Food Group, Central Retail elaborated that “The Tops’ vision of striving to be a ‘Food Experience for All’ makes us an all-time eminent pioneer in the development of new storefront models equipped with modern innovations, while delivering seamless and the most complete shopping experience. Therefore, Tops never stops developing. We are adhering to the needs of customers as a key (Customer Centric). We are employing Big Data to analyse, perceive, and understand our customers’ identities as well as their behaviours of using services that are bound to change over time. According to statistics collected by Euromonitor International, one of the megatrends of today which will still be relevant until the year 2030 is that customers are willing to indulge themselves by spending money on goods and services they feel attached to in order to enter the ‘Experience Economy’. They tend to appreciate the experience gained from the purchase of a product or service which is in line with the concept of ‘Every Day DISCOVERY’. Tops gives precedence to delivering the best experience daily, which can be seen from the development of store formats to accommodate changing shopping behaviours. This makes us the first food retailer in Thailand with the ‘Room Concept’ strategy that is not just about designing and allocating space in stores, but with the aim of ensuring that customers will find different products and shopping experiences every day in every visit.”
Tops has introduced the ‘Room Concept’ strategy since 2019, and it continues to constantly develop, making paths for Customer Journeys to cover the lifestyles of all customer segments and to meet their needs as fully as possible. Currently, there are a total of 15 Room Concepts categorised as follow:
Food Concept: Underlining its status as a Food Destination with a complete range of food products with Room Concept showcasing the selection of trendy, popular, and new products that must be sold before anywhere else; product classification for easy shopping or cooking. Sub-categories include SNACKER: the empire of famous snack brands from all over the world with popular dessert products that cannot be bought anywhere else; CUISINE MASTERS: fulfilling tastebuds with delicious ingredients and seasonings from various nationalities exclusively for cooking enthusiasts; ASIAN FLAVOURS: combines authentic Asian-style ingredients and culinary inspiration; HEALTHIFUL: answers to health concerns with comprehensive collection of products for health-conscious customers in one place. Tops also pays attention to providing clear product information, which is suitable for the modern age where consumers pay more attention to health.
● Fresh Concept: Tops is known for its distinction and strength of being a leader in quality fresh food to enhance the experience of buying fresh food for customers into a fun and convenient experience. The new Room Concept is presented through FROZEN&CO: experience deliciousness that comes with convenience, ease, and speed with both ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook frozen food and ingredients in one place; JAMES THE BUTCHER: (Tops Food Hall only) showcasing all kinds of premium-grade meat from the best production sources around the world, and with full service by Master Butcher. There is also a Personal Butcher service, giving advice on everything about meat via LINE James
The Butcher; FISHMONGER: (Tops Food Hall only), presenting the best quality of of fresh, safe seafood with trimming service as well as experts’ advice; FRESH FROM FIELD: dazzled by the freshness of both local and imported best-quality fruits and vegetables for all seasons,and with a salad bar zone, fruit juices and ready-to-eat fruits.
Food & Beverage Concept: Meet the urban lifestyle that comes with convenience and speed in one place. In addition to a complete range of raw materials, there is also a sitting area to spend more time in the restaurant as well. TOPS EATERY: serves international dishes by a team of professional chefs. The place is equipped with comfortable dining seats that tap into the trend of Grocerant. At THE BAKER, the bakery zone showcases artisan cakes and a variety of baked bread from all over the world, plus a zone of premium imported raw materials from Europe, baked fresh from the oven every day by our experienced chef bakers. Indulge yourselves with tea and coffee drinks from Arigato Coffee. TOPS WINE CELLAR is a product zone for more than 2,300 types of alcoholic beverages, well kept in a temperature controlled room 24 hours a day, plus a sommelier assistance service.
Non-Food Concept: In addition to delivering experiences to food lovers, customers looking to buy products in other categories can still have a fun and complete shopping experience for everyone in the family. Sub-categories include LOOKS: completed with beauty and a collection of popular beauty products, notably leading skin care brands, fulfilling all the needs of everyone in the household; BABY & ME showcases essential items especially for mums and kids; PETSTER for animal lovers looking for food, treats, toys and accessories for their beloved animal friends.
Tops’ development ideas of the ‘Room Concept’ are to upgrade customers’ shopping experience to the next level under 3 key pillars:
· Be a pioneer in sourcing interesting product trends from both domestic and international markets, and be a leader in bringing quality products to the shelf before anyone else, and offer a comprehensive shopping experience
● Clearly define the character of each room concept, starting from delving into customers’ interests and needs and finding a large assortment of products that are sold at an affordable price.
Cleverly allocate store space and introduce the Room Concept according to model size to in line with business growth to support the needs of each area, such as Tops Food Hall, which elevates the customer experience to the next level with the development of the JAMES THE BUTCHER concept, a zone that gathers the best meat with special services from Personal Butcher, a real meat expert; and TOPS EATERY, a space serving delicious food by professional chefs, all to meet the Grocerant trend, allowing customers to spend more time at the store. Create a stimulating shopping atmosphere to attract customers can scan a QR Code to connect to the Omnichannel platform, fulfilling their seamless shopping experience in the form of O2O (Online to Offline), whether it is E-Commerce, Quick Commerce or Personal Shopper.
“Over the past 3 years, the concept of presenting products under the Room Concept has received a great deal of positive feedback from customers. Especially for modern consumers who look for variety, Tops therefore does not stop building on the success of such best practices by constantly designing and developing new Room Concepts to cater to the fast-paced changing needs with commitment and determination to deliver extraordinary shopping experience according to the concept of ‘Every Day DISCOVERY’, making shopping more enjoyable and inspiring new ideas to customers every day, everywhere and at any time,” said Stephane.
Visit Tops website at www.tops.co.th or at Facebook Page TopsThailand, or LINE @TopThailand for more information.
