By Alang Bendahara
PLATS, or Selangor Platform, started in Ramadan 2020 when hawkers and small grocers were greatly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and the Menteri Besar, Dato’ Seri Amirudin Shari, felt that the digitalisation of these merchants was the best approach to providing them assistance.
It has now become part of the Selangor Digitalisation Agenda ecosystem, connecting thousands of microentrepreneurs through a single digital platform. In this digitalisation story series, Selangor Journal spoke with Menteri Besar Selangor (Incorporated) (MBI) Digitalisation Department head Kamarul Nizam Kassim to know more about Plats.
Target
Kamarul Nizam said Plats is important as it is proof that the state has always practised inclusiveness in its policy-making and initiatives.
He said providing small entrepreneurs with a platform such as Plats and educating them on the usefulness of digital tools in this era of business digitalisation is a great first step towards helping them grow their trade for the long term.
Kamarul Nizam said since Plats 3.0 was launched on April 8 this year, about 1,111 merchants have come on board and MBI is confident in achieving its 2022 target of getting 10,000 merchants.
Great response
Plats 1.0 was introduced during Ramadan month in 2020, as a short-term initiative that helped 133 hawkers whose income was affected during the movement control order.
They digitalised their business and provided their customers with the option to order food online.
On April 11, 2020, Plats 2.0 was launched as the state government decided to turn it into a long-term initiative with the aim of digitalising more hawkers and small grocers.
Rakan Digital Selangor (RDS) ambassadors were introduced to help the merchants create a social media presence through platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, assisted by the Subang Jaya City Council (MBSJ), the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) and the Shah Alam City Council (MBSA).
The merchants received state initiatives such as Data Internet Selangor subsidised SIM cards as well as Yayasan Hijrah Selangor microloans.
A digital platform was also created at www.platselangor.com.
“All these efforts lead to a resounding success as the initial target of digitalising 2,000 merchants ended up with an overwhelming response of 7,741,” he said.
Statistics
Kamarul Nizam said out of the 7,741 merchants digitalised under Plats 2.0, 7,097 are from the food and beverage sector while 644 are grocers.
“Some 47 per cent of the merchants are aged between 30 and 40, while 22 per cent are aged 18 to 29 and another 22 per cent are aged 41 to 55. Only nine per cent are aged above 56.
“About 70 per cent of them are from the B40 lower-income group.
Now 6,818 merchants have a social media account to promote their business and move forward,” he said.
Unique business
Kamarul Nizam said Plats is one of the only online platforms that focus on helping hawkers and small grocers, who are often neglected by the private sector as their prices and volume are not attractive enough to invest in.
These merchants also need as much support as they can get as usually, their food and product prices become more expensive when they sell online.
“Considering all the aspects involved in this initiative, we believe we are the only ones offering this comprehensive approach to aiding the hawkers and small grocers,” he said.
Moving forward
Kamarul Nizam said in the future, they plan to find more ways to sell online such as introducing integrated delivery and payment options with other platforms, and may even plan for an app so that the public can get greater access to these merchants.
“We might even open up to offer the state’s capabilities to other market segments of microentrepreneurs and test the possibility of collaborating with the private sector as we want the merchants to benefit from all sectors of the economy,” he said.
This article first appeared in the Selangor Journal monthly June edition, published on May 30, 2022
