eBay provides Malaysian SMEs with opportunity to go global

By Digital News Asia November 3, 2017

“Go Global with eBay” makes it easier for sellers to participate in cross border trade
Top three export destinations for Malaysian sellers are the US, Australia and the UK

eBay provides Malaysian SMEs with opportunity to go global

EBAY has improved its platform to enable Malaysian sellers to reach a global customer base and effectively target buyers with personalised listings.

The improved brand platform, “Go Global with eBay” makes it easier for sellers to participate in cross border trade, strengthening the nation’s digital economy and growing Malaysia’s e-commerce sector.

Based on transactions conducted on the online marketplace, eBay revealed that the top three export destinations for Malaysian sellers are the US, Australia and the UK.

The US maintains its position as the top export destination for businesses based in Malaysia, with a 60% growth from the previous year.

Additionally, the fastest growing corridor for cross-border transactions are Germany (336%), Ukraine (108%) and China (107%) respectively.

Asia Pacific is recognised as the world's fastest growing e-commerce region and Malaysia is now leading the e-commerce market in the region, generating a revenue of US$2.3 billion (RM9.7 billion) in 2015.

The increase in broadband penetration coupled with strong government support for Internet-based retail has lowered the entry barriers for Malaysians to do business online.

“Today, eBay has 168 million active buyers worldwide buying items from over 1.1 billion listings in our marketplace. With this, we can help Malaysian SMEs expand their business opportunities by providing a global shop front accessed by buyers across the world. With Malaysia’s current developed internet infrastructure and the Digital Free Trade Zone on the horizon, there’s no better time for Malaysian SMEs to go global,” said Wong Mei Inn, country head Trade, eBay Malaysia.

With a vision to empower people and create opportunities through Connected Commerce, eBay seamlessly links sellers with buyers worldwide using the following two strategies:

The improved platform comes with structured data

With the aid of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and structured data, eBay’s refreshed platform allows buyers and sellers to meet and transact effectively.

eBay has developed a more powerful AI to improve personalisation and deliver more targeted product suggestions to buyers while enabling sellers to do market research and easily track sales performance.

eBay’s enhanced innovations improve sellers’ listings and traffic, and create a more targeted promotional marketing campaigns.

This will help sellers to continuously grow their businesses, increase sales and connect with global buyers more efficiently.

A plan to boost Malaysian sellers’ performance

eBay is also focusing on offering localised seller support to catalyse the growth of cross border trade sellers in Malaysia by developing strategic initiatives to equip local business owners with a competitive edge over host sites’ sellers.

Support will be provided in three parts:

Technical: In 2018, eBay will be focused on developing a platform for sellers to better manage orders and shipping, helping to ease admin processes so time saved can be spent on other business priorities.

Logistical: Sellers eligible for the Managed Account Programme (MAP) can manage their goods more efficiently with access to overseas warehouses, on top of collaboration with carriers and third-party providers via eBay.

Education and Business: Sellers are kept up to date with business best practices through localised education materials. To further enhance business growth, eBay also offers one-to-one business consultation and customised solutions for local sellers in MAP.

According to Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade), Malaysian SMEs currently contribute 17.8% to the nation’s export business and an upsurge to 23% is expected by the year 2020 as Malaysians continue to embrace e-commerce.

“In the era of the digital economy, e-commerce is the way to go for businesses, especially with the nation’s market growth expected to grow to RM16.3 billion in 2017 alone. Malaysia is taking the necessary steps to help Malaysian SMEs grow by providing funding for SMEs as announced in Budget 2018 as well as through the Digital Free Trade Zone (DFTZ) initiative. As a global marketplace, we help our sellers set up virtual stores in many countries to help increase visibility.

“eBay’s low entry barriers for Internet-enabled trading provides Malaysian businesses with countless opportunities for boosting exports,” she concluded.