Tesco, Big C kick off major back-to-school

Big C Supercenter announced it was cooperating with the Commerce Ministry to launch the "Back to School – Let’s Share and Save at Big C Campaign" to help parents nationwide save on school uniforms and related expenses.

Kudatara Nagaviroj, director of corporate affairs of Big C, said: "Big C shares the same determination as the Ministry of Commerce in doing our utmost to help consumers curb the rising cost of living and reduce daily expenses.

The ‘Back to School – Let’s Share and Save at Big C Campaign’, [running] until May 15, is another effort to help parents save on school uniforms, stationery and school-related equipment. We wish to express our appreciation to the Ministry of Commerce for its support and allowing us to be part of the Blue Flag [cost] saving campaign, he said.

"From our experience, parents spend an average of Bt2,000-Bt3,000 on uniforms each year. To help them save, Big C has teamed up with more than 20 suppliers to offer discounts of 10-15 per cent on more than 3,500 SKUs [stock-keeping units] of quality uniforms, socks, shoes, school bags, backpacks, stationery and other school-related items," he said.

In addition, Big C is using the Back to School campaign to promote a sense of sharing among communities, especially among children and youth, he said.

Kudatara also noted that the retail giant had been cooperating with the Commerce Ministry in its effort to hold down the cost of living since the beginning of the year. It started offering low-price Blue Flag rice in January, cut food-court prices in February, held a discount rice fair with nine leading rice packers in March, and is now launching the Back to School campaign.

"We will continue to work closely with the Ministry of Commerce to care for consumers’ well-being," he said.

Big C expects sales from the Back to School Campaign to grow by 8-10 per cent over the same campaign last year.

Meanwhile, Tesco Lotus launched the "2012 Back to School" campaign offering school supplies at prices lower than last year. The company said the campaign demonstrated its support for the Commerce Ministry’s Blue Flag campaign by helping more than 35 million customers a month keep their cost of living low.

"Customers are concerned about the rising cost of living and we want to help them by maintaining or even lowering costs of must-spend items for the upcoming back-to-school period. For example, we are introducing school uniforms and bag packs with lower prices than last year by up to 30 per cent," said Tesco Lotus chief marketing officer Kurt Kamp.

A recent study by the Ministry of Commerce showed that the recent rise in the minimum wage in some provinces had an impact on the prices of a number of goods, including school uniforms, whose production is labour-intensive. Of course higher pay also translates to higher spending power, important to the retail industry.

Tesco Lotus has worked with the ministry to launch Blue Flag offers for back-to-school items.

Apart from helping customers save on their purchases, Tesco Lotus will help children affected by the recent floods acquire school supplies for the new term. It will contribute a portion of its income from the Back to School campaign to donations of stationery, sports equipment and 840 bicycles to 84 schools affected by last year’s flood disaster.

"We are confident that for Back to School this year Tesco Lotus offers the best value choices for parents and kids, who can be confident once again that we are No 1 for price," Kamp said.