Central Retail Corporation
Central Retail is the retail and property arm of Central Group and one of the largest Thai retailers by revenue. Its 2025 annual report shows the group running physical stores, department stores, hypermarkets, and a growing digital platform stack across Thailand, Vietnam, and Italy. For Thailand e-commerce specifically, Central Retail matters as the benchmark for how a trusted incumbent defends owned demand against Shopee, Lazada, and TikTok Shop.
Snapshot
Headline numbers a buyer checks first.
Revenue (continuing ops)
฿253.2B
FY2025
+3.6% vs. FY2024 (฿244.4B)
Core EBITDA
฿29.8B
FY2025
Thailand share of EBITDA
88%
FY2025
Vietnam contributes the other 12%
Digital platform share
9%
FY2025
Of continuing-ops sales
Thailand footprint
3,596
31 Dec 2025
Stores in 63 provinces
The 1 members
27M+
31 Dec 2025
23M Thailand, 4.2M Vietnam, 80% annual retention
What this company actually does
Central Retail operates physical and digital commerce across three country footprints. In Thailand the business covers department stores (Central, Robinson), hypermarkets (Tops), hardware (Power Buy), apparel, and a specific digital-platform stack for owned online demand.
The read that matters for the Thailand digital-commerce thesis is not total revenue, it is the digital-platform contribution to continuing operations. The 2025 annual report puts that at nine percent, which is below marketplace scale but meaningful proof that a trusted local incumbent can defend owned demand when service and fulfilment are credible.
Revenue and profit trajectory
Continuing operations basis, FY2023–FY2025.
Revenue trend
Continuing-ops revenue
Up $130.4M over two years, but the path was lumpy: $7.21B (2023) → $7.08B (2024) → $7.34B (2025). FY2024 was the soft year.[]
Profit trend
Net profit from continuing ops
Down $40.6M over two years despite revenue growth: $246.4M (2023) → $220.3M (2024) → $205.8M (2025). Margin compression is the real story.[]
Segment mix: sales vs. profit
FY2025 continuing operations. Fashion punches well above its sales weight in EBITDA.
Food
Fashion
Hardline
| Segment | % of sales | % of core EBITDA | EBITDA − Sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Food | 44% | 26% | -18 pts |
| Fashion | 23% | 43% | +20 pts |
| Hardline | 33% | 31% | -2 pts |
Thailand is the profit engine, Vietnam is the growth vector
Thailand contributes roughly 80% of FY2025 sales and 88% of core EBITDA, the Thailand operation is the overwhelming source of both scale and profitability. Vietnam contributes 20% of sales and 12% of EBITDA, running at a lower margin but growing off a smaller base.[]
The Thailand footprint is 3,596 stores across 63 provinces with 3,385,232 square metres of net selling space, plus 33 plazas. Vietnam is 127 stores in 26 provinces. If the digital channel in Thailand is 9% of sales today, the remaining 91% is defended by a physical density that no marketplace can replicate.[]
Digital platform strategy
Central Retail is not trying to out-marketplace Shopee. The 2025 annual report describes the digital stack as a connected set of thin channels, webstore, mobile app, quick-commerce marketplace, personal shopper, call-and-shop, chat-and-shop, and social commerce, all feeding the same owned demand loop.[]
The 9% digital-platform contribution is the headline, but the strategic point is that the remaining 91% is omnichannel-led rather than purely offline. Quick Commerce, Personal Shopper, and Chat & Shop are explicitly digital channels that service physical inventory, they count in the 91%, not the 9%. Reading the 9% as the full digital story understates the business.[]
Margin pressure signal
Net profit is compressing despite revenue growth
Portfolio moves and what they signal
The November 2025 divestment of Rinascente (Italy) narrows the group to Thailand plus Vietnam. The 2025 annual report restates the historical series on a continuing-operations basis, so any prior-year comparison needs to be re-baselined. Rinascente exit signals a discipline: capital is concentrating on the two markets where scale actually compounds.[]
Vietnam is also doing a provincial reorganisation that cut administrative units from 63 to 34 effective 1 July 2025. Store-by-province breakdowns in the next annual will shift accordingly; that is a reporting-mechanic change, not a real estate change.[]
The 1 loyalty is the real moat, not the stores
27 million members across Thailand and Vietnam changes how you read the 9% digital figure.
Network scale
27M+ members, 4% YoY
23 million members in Thailand (up from 13M in 2017) plus 4.2 million in Vietnam at year-end 2025. The 1 officially launched in Vietnam on 6 November 2025, replacing the GO! BigXu Card. Network scale in Thailand alone rivals the active buyer base of major Thai marketplaces.[]
Retention
Annual retention >80%
Management discloses that annual retention of active users exceeded 80% in 2025. This is the number a marketplace can't replicate without acquiring the customer, then paying to keep them active, a cost Shopee and Lazada already show in their own financials.[]
App traction
12.9M downloads, 1.1M MAU
The 1 app crossed 12.9 million cumulative downloads with 1.1 million monthly active users. Physical cards and paper coupons have been discontinued. Version 5.5.6 is positioned as a "lifestyle platform" rather than a loyalty app, it's the primary identity layer CRC uses across its banners.[]
Omnichannel lift
Members spend more in omnichannel
Central Retail explicitly discloses that omnichannel members have higher average spend than single-channel members inside the The 1 data. That's the flywheel, physical network feeds loyalty, loyalty feeds the 9% digital channel, which in turn defends margin.[]
Online growth by category, it's not uniform
Digital is 9% of total but the category mix inside that 9% tells a sharper story.
Fashion
Food
Hardline
Online sales YoY
+4%
Thailand online share
,
Vietnam online share
,
Group total (FY25)
| Category | Online sales YoY | Thailand online share | Vietnam online share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fashion | +22% | , | , |
| Food | +20% | , | , |
| Hardline | +4% | , | , |
| Group total (FY25) | +14% | 9% | 7% |
| Group total (Q4 only) | +15% | 10% | 9% |
Competitive landscape confirmation
Central Retail explicitly names Shopee and Lazada as Thailand competitors
Private label is the margin defence playbook
CRC has been systematically increasing private-label share to protect margin against marketplace pressure. The FY2025 report names the full stable: Food private labels include My Choice, Tops, James The Butcher, Smart-R, Arigato, The Baker, A-CHOICE, VALUE PAX, SuperSave, ProSave. Hardline private labels include Giant Kingkong, Kassa, Luzino, JOY, Zagio, Calina, Murano. Fashion private labels developed in-house include Esquire, Mini Mono, Central Home, Cuizimate, Haven, Pacific Union, F.O.F.[]
The strategic logic is explicit in the filing: management "increased the proportion of private labels and imported products" to lift margins. In Vietnam, over 90% of products are sourced locally under the Farm-to-Table model. Tops carries 210+ brands from 80 countries with 300+ exclusives. For a buyer modelling CRC's margin resilience, the private-label proportion is the single best operating lever to track year over year.
FY2026 outlook: "New Heights, Next Growth" 2025–2027
Management's five-pillar framework and the specific country moves inside it.
Pillar 1. Customer
Reinforce Customer Focus
Young and mainstream segments named as explicit expansion targets. The 1 app repositioned as a lifestyle platform to deepen the loyalty flywheel beyond pure transactions.
Pillar 3. Growth
GO WHOLESALE: 12–18 new stores in 3 years
B2B / HORECA wholesale is the named growth engine. GO WHOLESALE target is 12 to 18 new stores over FY2026–FY2028. Thaiwatsadu, TOPS Supermarket, GO WHOLESALE, TOPS DAILY, and specialty stores all get expansion in Thailand.
Vietnam acceleration
Food, Property, divest Nguyen Kim
Vietnam strategy narrows to Food and Property. Nguyen Kim (consumer electronics) was agreed for divestment in December 2025 to PICO at enterprise value USD 36M ($31.9M). That's a second portfolio clean-up after Rinascente.[]
Capital discipline
Net IBD/EBITDA 1.8x, dividend +16.7%
Leverage improved from 2.3x to 1.8x. Interest cover 7.9x. FY25 dividend $0.02/share (vs 0.60 FY24) at ≥40% payout policy. ROE 11.0% (down from 12.1%, consistent with the net profit compression story).[]
Risk watch, regulation and labour
Labour
Thai minimum wage No. 14 (1 July 2025)
Flagged explicitly as cost pressure. For a 3,596-store Thailand operation this isn't a marginal number, operating leverage at CRC depends on wage discipline.[]
Data regulation
PDPA (Thailand), Law No. 91/2025/QH15 (Vietnam, 1 Jan 2026)
CRC runs a dedicated DPO and PDPA training program. Vietnam's new Personal Data Protection Law comes into force 1 January 2026, separate compliance spend, reported as a real risk.[]
Cross-border imports
Shein, Temu named as structural threat
FY2025 filing explicitly calls low-priced cross-border imports (Shein, Temu) a Thailand competitive pressure. That aligns with the ecommerce report's cross-border share framing, the incumbent sees it clearly.[]
Climate regulation
CBAM, Thai Carbon Tax flagged
First Green Bond in the Thai retail sector ($29M, October 2025) is part of the response. Scope 1+2 target is -30% by 2030, Net Zero by 2050. Carbon costs are treated as a financial planning variable now, not just sustainability copy.[]
Watchpoints for the next annual report
Digital-platform share trajectory
Does the 9% hold, break above 10%, or compress? Q4 2025 already printed 10% on Thailand online, if the full year crosses 10% that's a real shift, not a mix effect.
Fashion core-EBITDA mix, Fashion online growth
Fashion is 43% of core EBITDA on 23% of sales, and Fashion online is growing +22%. Any drop in either line would wipe out the defence math much faster than a Food share decline.
The 1 MAU expansion
1.1M monthly active users today against 12.9M downloads, conversion to active is the real metric. If MAU doesn't grow, the loyalty moat is ageing.
Nguyen Kim divestment close, GO WHOLESALE rollout
Both are FY2026 tests of whether the "New Heights, Next Growth" framework is capital-disciplined or just branding. Watch for closing of Nguyen Kim and the first-year count of new GO WHOLESALE stores.
Related Market profiles
Peers, parents, partners, agencies, and other E-commerce & Digital Commerce actors.
Competitor
Shopee (Sea Limited)
Dominant marketplace in Thai e-commerce.
Open Market profile →
Competitor
Lazada (Alibaba International)
Alibaba-backed marketplace, cross-border pressure.
Open Market profile →
Sector peer
Berli Jucker / Big C
TCC Group retail, CPG operator; Big C Supercenter (~150+ hypermarkets); FY2024 revenue ~ $4.64-170B; Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi-controlled.
Open Market profile →
Sector peer
CP ALL (7-Eleven Thailand)
7-Eleven Thailand franchisee; ~14,000 stores (ASEAN's largest convenience chain); FY2024 revenue ~ $27.8B; CP Group flagship.
Open Market profile →
Sources + data provenance
Every filing, filing-adjacent register, or trusted industry source cited in this profile.
Central Retail 2025 Annual Report
| Source | Publisher | Grade | As of |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central Retail 2025 Annual Report | Central Retail Corporation | Primary | 2025 |
Reports featuring this profile
Thailand Quick Commerce & Instant Retail 2027 Market Intelligence
Omnichannel grocery delivery; Tops, Central Food Hall, Gourmet Market
Open report →
Sits alongside 3 other Atlas profilesThailand Female Empowerment & Economic Participation 2027 Market Intelligence
Central Group female leadership pipeline; multi-format retail flagship
Open report →
Sits alongside 3 other Atlas profilesThailand LGBT Marriage Equality Economy Market Intelligence
Inclusive employer; Pride retail activations across Central, Robinson, Tops; same-sex-spouse staff benefits.
Open report →
Sits alongside 7 other Atlas profilesThailand Outdoor Recreation Equipment Market Intelligence
Largest Thai omnichannel sports retailer, 92 stores across 50+ provinces
Open report →
Thai Cross-Border E-commerce: Shein-Temu Disruption and Local-Retailer Defence
Omnichannel modern-trade; Powerbuy CE retail; Robinson apparel exposure
Open report →
Sits alongside 5 other Atlas profilesThailand Food Service & QSR Market Intelligence
KFC franchise, Mister Donut, Auntie Anne's, own brands under Central Restaurants Group.
Open report →
Sits alongside 5 other Atlas profilesCentral Group: How the Chirathivat Family Built Asia's Retail and Hospitality Empire
Multi-format Thai retail; FY2024 revenue THB 270-300B.
Open report →
Sits alongside 4 other Atlas profilesThailand CP All / 7-Eleven Economics: Store Density, Unit Economics, Franchise Concession
Tops Daily rebrand of ~200 ex-FamilyMart sites in 2024 — explicit retreat from head-on convenience competition with 7-Eleven.
Open report →
Sits alongside 3 other Atlas profilesThailand E-commerce Market Intelligence
Profiled as the anchor case study for Thai incumbents defending owned demand.
Open report →
Sits alongside 11 other Atlas profilesThailand Modern Trade Retail Market Intelligence
Central Retail: Central, Robinson, Tops, Powerbuy, HomeWorks, Rinascente; independent #2 behind CP Group.
Open report →
Sits alongside 5 other Atlas profilesThailand Luxury & Premium Goods Market Intelligence
Central Embassy, Central Chidlom, Central Phuket, Central Pattaya Beach premier luxury, flagship anchors.
Open report →
Sits alongside 3 other Atlas profilesThailand Consumer Electronics Retail Market Intelligence
Power Buy is the largest CE retail chain by store count within CRC hardlines segment.
Open report →
Sits alongside 2 other Atlas profilesThailand Tobacco Market Intelligence
Central Plaza supermarket, Robinson, Tops retail tobacco, vape distribution within licensed limits.
Open report →
Sits alongside 5 other Atlas profilesThailand Personal Care & Household FMCG Market Intelligence
Tops, Central Chidlom, Beauty Hall personal care, cosmetic retail anchor.
Open report →
Sits alongside 6 other Atlas profilesThailand Jewelry & Precious Metals Market Intelligence
Central Jewellery, Beautrium, Central Embassy luxury jewellery retail.
Open report →
Sits alongside 3 other Atlas profilesThailand Convenience Store Economics Deep Dive
Central Retail Tops Daily, Central FamilyMart JV.
Open report →
Sits alongside 4 other Atlas profilesThailand Airport Concession Economics Deep Dive
Central Food Retail, Power Buy airport F&B, retail tenant.
Open report →
Sits alongside 4 other Atlas profilesThailand Modern Trade Private Label Deep Dive
Tops, Go Wholesale private label.
Open report →
Sits alongside 3 other Atlas profilesThailand Smartphone Retail Distribution Deep Dive
Power Buy electronics, smartphone retail.
Open report →
Sits alongside 2 other Atlas profilesThailand Duty-Free & Travel Retail Deep Dive
Central duty-free (secondary concession Don Mueang, Chiang Mai), airport F&B.
Open report →
Sits alongside 3 other Atlas profilesThailand Chinese Inbound Tourism Deep Dive
Central Retail Chinese-tourist-exposed mall, department, F&B.
Open report →
Sits alongside 7 other Atlas profilesThailand Online Grocery & Q-Commerce Deep Dive
Tops Online, Central Food Hall online, go Wholesale.
Open report →
Sits alongside 3 other Atlas profilesThailand Luxury Mall, ICONSIAM, Emporium Deep Dive
Central Department, Power Buy anchor tenant in Central malls.
Open report →
Sits alongside 3 other Atlas profilesThailand Second-Hand Resale, Circular Economy Deep Dive
Power Buy electronics trade-in, Central Department circular pilot.
Open report →
Sits alongside 2 other Atlas profilesThailand Beauty, Skincare Deep Dive
Central Department, Beauty Hall anchor luxury beauty retail.
Open report →
Sits alongside 3 other Atlas profilesThailand Truck Fleet, Leasing, Express Trucking Deep Dive
Central Retail, Tops, Power Buy distribution.
Open report →
Sits alongside 5 other Atlas profilesThailand Tutoring, EdTech, Cram-School Deep Dive
Central Department, corporate Learning Hub adjacency.
Open report →
Sits alongside 3 other Atlas profilesThailand OOH Out-of-Home, Digital Outdoor Advertising Deep Dive
Central Retail mall, department store OOH.
Open report →
Sits alongside 2 other Atlas profilesThailand Cigarette, Tobacco Export Deep Dive
Central Retail Tops, Power Buy retail cigarette.
Open report →
Sits alongside 2 other Atlas profilesThailand Cosmetic OEM/ODM Export Deep Dive
Central Retail private-label beauty cosmetic OEM customer.
Open report →
Sits alongside 3 other Atlas profilesThailand FMCG Distribution, Wholesale Deep Dive
Central Retail Tops, premium specialty distribution.
Open report →
Sits alongside 6 other Atlas profilesCentral Pattana (CPN): Mall Economics and Mixed-Use Pivot
Affiliated tenant anchor across CPN portfolio
Open report →
Sits alongside 4 other Atlas profiles