Thailand’s latest super-app contender is century-old firm’s take on digital transformation

Think “tech disruptor,” and it’s likely that a startup or a big internet company comes to mind. That makes Thailand’s CP Group – a 98-year-old firm with over 310,000 employees – a pioneer of sorts. Rarely have large conglomerates embraced innovation in the way that it has and on such a scale.

In 2017, the group’s telecom business, True Corporation, launched its innovation arm – True Digital Group (TDG) – as an autonomous business unit. True Corporation operates broadband internet service TrueOnline and subscription TV platform TrueVisions which have 3.6 million and 4 million subscribers, respectively. The company claims that these numbers make it the market leader in Thailand. Its mobile network carrier TrueMove H also takes second place in the mobile market with almost 30 million subscribers.

Photo credit: True Digital Group

When True Corporation chairman Suphachai Chearavanont decided to build and integrate a digital ecosystem into the company, it was a level of ambition far beyond what Michael Gryseels, now the president of TDG, had seen with other conglomerates in the region.

Before taking on the role, Gryseels had been leading the Asia-Pacific digital labs practice for management consulting firm McKinsey & Company since 2012, supporting firms such as banks, financial institutions, oil and gas companies, as well as those like True Corporation in their implementation of digital strategies.

But TDG’s innovations aren’t limited to the consumer realm – where it provides content offerings via its flagship consumer entertainment platform TrueID and a loyalty program. For instance, its merchant platform – True Smart Merchant – targets the country’s offline small and medium-sized enterprises and enables them to accept digital payments through its app.

The company also provides digital solutions for large enterprises across the agriculture, retail, logistics, and healthcare sectors. For example, TDG has offered advanced data analytics models to help chicken farmers quickly detect symptoms of certain diseases in their flock and autonomous warehouses that leverage robotics and computer vision technology, Gryseels tells Tech in Asia.

“The strength we’ve built in the last three to four years is our platform,” he says. “Our technology has been built as a platform rather than just an app – an app is just a way of delivering those services.”

A 7-Eleven store in Thailand / Photo credit: 123RF

TDG and its parent, CP Group, have a symbiotic relationship. The latter is the country’s largest private company with US$63 billion in revenues last year. It runs 14 business units across agriculture, retail, ecommerce, media, real estate, automotive, pharmaceuticals, and financial services – the same industries which TDG hopes to impact with its technologies.

At the same time, synergies run within CP Group’s businesses: Payments platform TrueMoney, a part of CP Group subsidiary Ascend Group, powers payments on the TrueID platform. 7-Eleven outlets in Thailand, which are run by the group’s retail arm – CP All – serve as a convenient touchpoint where customers can access e-payment services ranging from mobile top-up, bill payments, and peer-to-peer transfers.

“There’s almost no aspect of digital transformation in any part of the economy that isn’t relevant to us,” Gryseels says.

Content super app

TDG’s flagship product, TrueID, is a “content super app,” and it was a natural extension from its TrueVisions pay-TV service, Gryseels says.

Contextualizing to local needs

Addressing the skills gap