Selangor Journal
E-commerce transactions soared by 1,380 per cent in August 2020 compared with a year ago as restrictions imposed to stem the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic has hastened the adoption of online shopping and consumption among Malaysians. — Picture by UNSPLASH

Commerce.Asia upbeat on outlook as e-commerce transactions soar

KUALA LUMPUR,  Sept 30 — E-commerce transactions soared by 1,380 per cent in August 2020 compared with a year ago as restrictions imposed to stem the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic has hastened the adaptation of online shopping and consumption among Malaysians.

“Since the movement control order (MCO) in March, many households are now opting for the convenience of online shopping,” Commerce.Asia Enterprise general manager Aaliyah Soraya said.

Prior to Covid-19, the firm, which is one of Malaysia’s and Southeast Asia’s leading e-commerce providers, normally saw a 50-100 per cent growth annually, she said.

“The local e-commerce market would continue to grow strongly post-MCO and for next few years,” she said in a statement released today.

 Malaysia imposed the MCO on March 18, 2020, which was eventually eased to a conditional MCO on May 4 and recovery MCO from June 10 until December 31, 2020.

“Our internal studies show that Malaysians spent some 70 per cent more time on social media platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram during the phase, compared to pre-MCO,” she said.

Commerce.Asia Enterprise data also showed that the number of Instagram and Facebook Live views doubled in the first week of the MCO.

“This trend of continuous participation on social media platforms appears to be progressively increasing, and also accentuated by on-demand content videos coupled with live streaming of events,” she said, adding that the preferred device being mobile phones.

Malaysians, in general, are also conscious about their health and personal safety as data showed that products from the health and wellness category saw an 800 per cent leap in sales year-on-year, she said.

Following the trend, SME Association of Malaysia’s national vice-president Chin Chee Seong encouraged businesses to start embracing new digital technologies to help them tap the growing segment.

“Malaysians are now extremely confident with online purchases. Hence, businesses need to stop being in denial and embark on smarter e-commerce initiatives as well,” said Chin.

He said platforms such as Commerce.Asia Enterprise provides the necessary help and possesses e-commerce processes such as warehousing, payment, delivery, marketing and order management.

In June 2020, the Commerce.Asia Enterprise group was recognised by Silicon Valley’s “APAC CIO Outlook” magazine as the Best E-commerce Consulting/Services Company among the selected Top 10 companies in the Asia-Pacific region.

It is an all-in-one ecommerce ecosystem that integrates the best of breed technology solutions, talent development programmes and big data insights for Southeast Asian businesses to succeed online.

It develops solutions by integrating and making strategic investments in technology enablers, which include omnichannel ecommerce platform, SiteGiant; agent management platform, Bizapp; one-stop delivery solution, Shippop; automated drop-ship platform, Kumoten; on-demand fulfilment solution, Letmestore; print on-demand merchandising platform, Famsy; and business operations suites platform, SalesMinded.​

 

— Bernama

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