By Sulyn Chong
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 17 — Small appliances manufacturer Samu Giken Malaysia Sdn Bhd has emerged as the champion of the Malaysia Top E-Commerce Merchant (Top ECM) Awards 2022, taking home a total of RM12,000 cash prize, a trophy and a certificate.
Its managing director Sam Chai expressed pleasure at having won the awards, stating it is an honour to be recognised for their successes.
“I did not expect to win because we only started this year, after the movement control order, and sales were actually decreasing. We were actually struggling and even had to sell our products physically, instead of online.
“Fortunately, we were able to learn new business models from this programme, which was possibly the key that helped us in boosting our online sales,” he said after the awards ceremony at Mandarin Oriental Hotel, here today.
The 2022 Top-ECM awards ceremony is the seventh edition organised by the Selangor Information Technology and Digital Economy Corporation (Sidec), with Affin Bank Berhad as the main sponsor for the fourth consecutive year.
The event also saw rubber slippers company Fipper Marketing Sdn Bhd and Apple-specific phone accessories company Global Synergy Concepts Sdn Bhd coming in second and third place respectively, as well as receiving RM10,000 and RM8,000 in cash respectively, alongside their trophies and certificates.
Fipper Marketing digital marketing manager Fadila Aziz said it was surprising to have won second place as this year’s competition saw many brands taking part.
“We understand this year’s competition is intense as there were many other brands that took part, thus, we did not expect to win. But perhaps, this is our rezeki (fortune) for this year and we are very happy with it.
“Furthermore, we would definitely recommend all up-and-coming brands to take part in this competition, as it really helps in providing the best platform to expand your business reach,” she said.
As for Global Synergy Concepts e-commerce manager Mickey Hia, she said it was exciting to have won but believes they can do better in next year’s competition.
“This is our first time joining the awards, so for next year we plan to do better by setting higher targets. Hopefully, we can either attain second place or even the champion title,” she said.
This year’s Top ECM saw the highest submissions thus far since its first edition, with 440 applications, a 106.6 per cent increase from last year’s record of 213 submissions.
The awards this year also sees a generation of RM58.9 million in sales, with over 427,643 orders, an increase of 25.3 per cent from 2021.
Sidec chief executive officer Yong Kai Ping said the consistent improvement on the number of applications indicates the continuous growth of the e-commerce industry.
“We hope to maintain this momentum in every aspect, in order to continue to uphold the industry standards,” he said during his welcoming remarks.
Also present was state executive councillor for industry and trade Dato’ Teng Chang Khim, who said this year’s participants came from various states including Selangor, Penang, Johor, and Negeri Sembilan.
“As Selangor prepares to position itself as Asean’s digital hub, the award has showcased how it caters to national-level participants and manage to attract the interest of hundreds of e-merchants to compete in Top ECM,” he said.
Teng added the state government through Sidec has been promoting and recognising the e-commerce industry and its merchants.
“Seeing the shifting and shaping of consumer behaviour by the pandemic, I am proud to witness the growth of the e-commerce industry in Malaysia as many e-merchants have displayed resilience and eagerness to adopt new technologies to future-proof their businesses.
“In fact, it has become a catalyst to sharpen business continuity measures which will further accelerate the digitalisation of small-and-medium enterprises (SME) and micro-SMEs,” he said.
All participating e-merchants were judged based on three criteria, namely Online Sales Contest (50 per cent), Livestream Contest (25 per cent) and Business Potential (25 per cent), with this year’s Top ECM presided over by a panel of seven respected individuals from the e-commerce industry.
Meanwhile, winners of the fourth to tenth place brought home RM3,000 in cash each, as well as trophies and certificates.
Special awards were also given out, namely the Selangor E-Commerce Merchant Awards, Affin Bank Rising Star Awards and Affingem Women Trailblazer Awards, which saw three winners in each category taking home certificates and cash prizes.
