#MYCYBERSALE 2018 hits record with US$93.3 mil in GMV

• Surge in participation from eUsahawan micro-SMEs from 100 in 2017 to 338
• Export revenue increased from US$9.3mil GMV in 2017 to US$12.2 mil

THE National ICT Association of Malaysia’s (PIKOM) #MYCYBERSALE 2018 online sale beat its target of RM380 million in gross merchandise value (GMV) by hitting RM390 million instead and in the process achieving a 25 per cent annual growth. GMV is defined as the total revenue generated during the sales period before taking into account discounts.

There were 1,260 merchants in 21 categories in the 5^th #MYCYBERSALE held earlier from 3th to 7th September 2018, of which more than 50 per cent were new merchants. Products from the lifestyle and fashion categories were the top favourites among consumers.

Export revenue also increased from US$9.3 million (RM39 million) in GMV in 2017 to US$12.2 million (RM51 million) derived from shoppers in 32 countries from Africa, Europe, Middle East, Asia, North America and South America regions. About 74 per cent of the export revenue were contributed by participating merchants in the travel category. The next top categories for the export market were entertainment (online gaming, games-room sports and concert tickets) (16.9%) and groceries (5.7%) categories. Marketplaces which comprised many local SMEs also played a role in contributing to this years’ growth.

This is the second year that PIKOM is organising Malaysia’s biggest online sale event, in collaboration with the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), which ran the 2014, 2015 and 2016 editions.

The comparatively stronger performance of #MYCYBERSALE 2018 signifies the growing importance of the e-commerce sector towards our economic performance, said PIKOM chairman Ganesh Kumar Bangah (pic).  He said the e-commerce sector has the potential to grow further, with stronger participation of the SMEs, who are the backbone of Malaysia’s economy. “In this year’s event, some merchants demonstrated a winning approach to venture into multi categories to broaden their portfolio of products,” he said. This year’s event showed that Malaysians are continuing to embrace the online shopping culture as long as there are huge deals, discounts and a great selection of products.  

The Department of Statistics of Malaysia estimates e-commerce growth in Malaysia to be 20.8% by 2020 from the 10.6% in 2016.  With one of the highest internet penetrations in Southeast Asia at 85.7% and mobile penetration at almost 140%, Malaysia has one of the fastest growing emerging e-commerce markets in the region.

A strong show of commitment by the government and telecommunication players to provide affordable and efficient internet service nationwide, will be the key determining factor in making Malaysia a leading e-commerce player in the region.

Ganesh reiterated that national projects like #MYCYBERSALE need consistent support from the industry to provide a viable platform for merchants to sell online.  “I am confident that #MYCYBERSALE is on a progressive road to become a fully self-sustainable event as 62 per cent of the event this year is funded by the private sector compared with 40 per cent last year,” he said.

The number of partners also grew from 84 in 2017 to 102 this year. These included Pinnacle Partners Commerce.Asia, Fusionex, Mastercard and Lazada; Premier Partners Mobiversa, SAP Malaysia, Shippop, Shopback, CapFiX and y5zone Malaysia; Gold Partners iPay88 and Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC) and Silver Partners, eGHL, GDex, LWE, SF Express, World First and City-Link Express.  The event also attracted initiative partners and marketing partners as well as lucky draw sponsors.

Ng Wan Peng, Chief Operating Officer of Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), commended the efforts by PIKOM in taking on the mantle of organising the campaign for the second year running.   "MDEC is pleased to continue to support PIKOM in #MYCYBERSALE; an initiative developed to help more local SMEs take their rightful place in the burgeoning e-commerce arena and place Malaysia as a regional e-commerce powerhouse.”

She added, “I was also pleased to note the rising participation this year of small businesses from the eUsahawan programme as the number of micro-SMEs surged from 100 in 2017 to 338 in 2018. This result signifies that Malaysian SMEs are not only embracing e-commerce but most importantly, they are ready to partake in the global e-market place.”