THE lack of e-commerce and online marketing skills are among the biggest stumbling blocks for many local retailers during lockdowns imposed in the country to curb the spread of COVID-19.
To overcome this issue, the Government must ramp up the efforts to provide affected businesses with the necessary training in digitalising their businesses and upskilling them with the essential digitalisation tools.
Efforts to enhance digital adoption among small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia are already underway, but more effort must certainly be put into onboarding more business owners.
Under the Government’s National Economic Recovery Plan (PENJANA), for example, eligible micro enterprises and SMEs will be on board to shift towards business digitalisation through a co-funded programme with Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) and e-commerce platforms, with these platforms providing on-boarding training, seller subsidy and sales support, among others.
Meanwhile, MDEC’s eUsahawan programme aims to assist Malaysian youths and micro entrepreneurs in digital entrepreneurship.
In these circumstances, knowledge about the global adoption of web, mobile and social media platforms with data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) are crucial to the success and survival of these mostly brick-and-mortar retailers, especially during the movement control order (MCO) period where business operations and consumer movements are limited.
One good example is micro entrepreneurs who produce handicrafts and souvenirs in Malaysia that are dependent on tourism as a main source of income.
The lack of an online presence – be it on social media platforms like Facebook or Instagram, or even an official website – to promote their businesses and communicate with international customers have severely affected their income during the pandemic.
The sentiment is unfortunately shared by many other local retailers who find themselves in similar situations, and who might also be unaware of the sort of assistance that the Government is striving to provide.
With the uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, local retailers must make every effort to embrace e-commerce and online marketing skills to ensure the sustainability of their business, because by the looks of it, going digital is here to stay. – June 30, 2021
