Digital Ventures brings digital retail vision to life with cloud-based ‘Chatuchak Guide’ solution at world’s largest weekend market

 |   Thornthawat Thongnab

Digital conveniences meet brick-and-mortar charms in the cloud as Microsoft Azure enables next level of agility and scalability

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Bangkok, January 25, 2018 – Digital Ventures, a FinTech subsidiary of Siam Commercial Bank, is bringing its innovative vision of digital retail to life with the power of the cloud by transforming Bangkok’s Chatuchak Weekend Market – one of the world’s largest weekend markets with over 200,000 visitors per day – into a space that blends the convenience of online shopping with the unbeatable sensations of brick and mortar stores.

The Chatuchak Guide app, powered by the Microsoft Azure cloud platform, enables shoppers to browse, discover, and find their way to the best that Chatuchak has offer with ease. Visitors to the market can search the app’s cloud-driven database with thousands of merchants, search for stores by name and category, pick out items for their wishlist, navigate the market’s massive network of footpaths with real-time precision thanks to geomagnetic technology, and leave reviews for their favorite stores in a single convenient place.

“E-commerce platforms have transformed the traditional retail landscape in Thailand and around the world,” said Orapong Thien-Ngern, Chief Executive Officer, Digital Ventures. “Small and medium-sized enterprises stand to benefit greatly from this process of digital transformation. However, there remains a large number of SMEs who are unable to take full advantage of these technological advances. Siam Commercial Bank and Digital Ventures have worked together to develop a platform that offers an online presence, and potential for sustainable growth, for Chatuchak merchants. The Chatuchak Guide application allows Thai and foreign shoppers to discover the products of these merchants anytime, anywhere instead of having to come visit the market on Saturdays and Sundays.”

The Microsoft Azure cloud platform played a key role in bringing Chatuchak Guide to life. Thanks to the versatile nature of the cloud, Microsoft Azure provided Digital Ventures with an effective springboard for fast development, while the platform’s exceptional scalability was a perfect fit for Chatuchak Market, where user activity spikes only on weekends.

Dhanawat Suthumpun, Managing Director, Microsoft (Thailand) Limited, said, “Chatuchak Guide represents the kind of innovation we want to inspire and enable with Azure – an intelligent, intuitive solution that embraces both the intelligent cloud and intelligent edge for the benefits of businesses and consumers in one go. With the cloud, organizations can accomplish the double objectives of optimizing investment and increasing outcomes all at once while also opening up opportunities to create new experiences unlike anything that came before.”

“From start to finish, Chatuchak Guide’s development took only 2-3 months,” Orapong added. “This level of speed and adaptability is the reason why we decided that the cloud is way to go right from the start of the project. With Azure, we can look forward to building upon the successful launch of Chatuchak Guide with more stores, more features, and eventually more potential to apply our vision of digital business to other places beyond the Chatuchak market.”

In addition to basic convenience for shoppers, Chatuchak Guide also doubles as an alternative channel for promotional offers in various formats – such as QR code-based discount coupons.

Businesses interested in the power of the intelligent cloud with Microsoft Azure can learn more about the platform and take advantage of a best-in-industry trial offer at https://azure.microsoft.com/.