SMEs should leverage online shopping platform to boost their biz

NOWADAYS it doesn’t matter whether the selling process has to take place physically or electronically/digitally.

Likewise, lockdowns are no longer an excuse that business transactions have to come to a sudden halt.

The recent Selangor E-Bazar CNY (Chinese New Year) Campaign – held from Feb 1 until March 7 – which recorded a whopping RM619 mil in ripple effect to the state economy (including RM35.5 mil in direct sales) is the evidence that when there’s a will, there’s a way.

The campaign was jointly coordinated by Invest Selangor and the Selangor Information Technology and Digital Economy Corporation (Sidec) in collaboration with Shopee and Lazada – two of the most popular online sales platforms in Malaysia.

During the campaign period which coincided with the second movement control order (MCO 2.0), the campaign organisers had strived to ensure that the Selangor sellers emerged top consumer choice when it came to fulfilling their supplies or household and CNY needs such as pineapple tart, clothes, exercise equipment, earphones and carpets.

To re-cap, the Selangor state government had channelled RM2 mil in the form of vouchers for the Selangor E-Bazar CNY Campaign that on-boarded 19,644 new e-merchants, benefiting a total of 77,903 e-merchants.

This is a 157% increase from the initial target of 12,500 new e-merchants who were expected to be on-boarded, demonstrating that more small medium enterprises (SMEs) have benefitted from the campaign.

Selangor executive councillor for Industry and Trade Datuk Teng Chang Khim said the outcome of the Selangor E-Bazar CNY campaign demonstrates how the demography of e-commerce consumers have changed from impulse-driven youths to need-based working class adults.

“Majority of the buyers are from the ages of 35 to 44 years old with most of them being their respective families’ breadwinners who were looking for ways to create a festive environment at home for the Chinese New Year,” he pointed out.

The top four most popular sales categories for the campaign were health and beauty, automotive, home and living as well as items such as games, books and hobby-related materials.

While Malaysians were all cautiously working to flatten the curve, they still needed to find an outlet to purchase their wants and needs for the Chinese New Year, according to Shopee Malaysia senior manager (marketing) Tan Ming Kit.

“The campaign also coincided with our 2.2 CNY Sale and thus, sellers in the state were able to enjoy high customer traffic,” commented Tan.

Lazada Malaysia’s chief business officer Sherry Tan said since beginning its partnership with the Selangor state government, the online sales platform has helped to digitise and upskill tens of thousands of Selangor-based micro SMEs and petty traders while supporting their digital transformation journey with the Lazada University.

“Sellers also leveraged a diverse range of digital tools from Lazada such as Sponsored Search, LazLive slots and marketing exposure to attain business success,” she added. – April 7, 2021

 

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