#MYCYBERSALE is back – bigger, better

ON a surface level, the upcoming #MYCYBERSALE 2016, the third installment of the increasingly popular online shopping sale, is positioned as the best time of the year for finding great deals online in Malaysia. And, that is one of the goals of Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), the main mover behind the annual event.

But speak to Wee Huay Neo (pic), MDEC’s Director, E-commerce Enablement, and she paints the bigger picture of how #MYCYBERSALE is one of the key pillars of Malaysia’s Digital Economy.

“#MYCYBERSALE is a honey pot concept that brings multiple stakeholders, both the private and public sector, working together to push the nascent e-commerce ecosystem in Malaysia to the next level,” she says.

As it is, e-commerce contribution to GDP was estimated at RM68 billion, contributing 6% to Malaysia’s economy. Between 15% to 20% of the RM68 billion GDP comes from the business to consumer (B2C) segment with the rest from business to business (B2B).

With the introduction of National eCommerce Strategic Roadmap, the e-commerce growth rate is expected to double, from 10.8% to 20.8% CAGR to hit more than RM170 billion by 2020 thereby contributing 9.5% of Malaysia’s GDP.
Three targets
On a tactical level, the annual e-commerce event has three straightforward targets – getting more buyers and sellers onboard, helping SMEs see the value of and start participating in e-commerce and shifting Malaysia to become a net exporter in e-commerce.  “#MYCYBERSALE was created to catalyse these three actions,” Wee says.

Already Malaysia’s biggest online sale, this year will witness the largest number of participating merchants including micro merchants compared to the past two seasons. Currently over 500 brands will be participating directly through their own websites with more signing up. MDEC has managed to attract local and international brick and mortar retailers such as Boh Tea, Levi’s, Uniqlo, Caring Pharmacy and Sunway Group.

The strong brick & mortar interest is fueled by the rising awareness that adding an online sales channel on top of physical stores especially when present nationwide, will enhance the customer shopping experience, an omnichannel concept which is gaining traction worldwide.

Track record
#MYCYBERSALE 2015 recorded RM117.7mil in GMV (Gross Merchandise Value), almost doubling that of 2014. Given the success, MDEC’s target for #MYCYBERSALE 2016 is RM200 million. “With the increased number of merchants participating in this year’s sale, we are confident that we will be able to achieve our target,” says Wee.

“This year’s event will also chalk up some firsts. For one, we will be featuring a Malaysian Pavilion to showcase Malaysian brands and get them ready for cross border e-commerce which is promoted by MATRADE (Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation) under the eTRADE initiative” she said.

And, for the first time, all four Malaysian airlines (Malaysia Airlines, FireFly, AirAsia, Malindo Air) will be participating. This will also be the first time to have pharmaceutical companies participating, which necessitated the inclusion of the Ministry of Health in the planning of #MYCYBERSALE 2016 to ensure the merchants participating adhere to the guidelines for selling pharmaceutical products online. 

“This is some of the due diligence that goes on in the background to ensure that the merchants we allow to participate in the sale are selling genuine products and offer services that ensure value to shoppers,” says Wee.

MDEC has always worked with various government agencies. From the beginning, it has KPDNKK or the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism, SME Corporation Malaysia, CyberSecurity Malaysia & the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) as part of its steering committee.

As the #MYCBERSALE ecosystem has evolved, this year, MATRADE (Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation) and MoH (Ministry of Health Malaysia) joined the committee.

Wee highlights the key role played by this Steering Committee as they instill best practices amongst online merchants to provide the trust and confidence for shoppers, an increasing number of whom are shopping via mobile.

Keenly aware of the importance of making #MYCYBERSALE an inclusive nationwide initiative targeting both urban and rural areas, MDEC will be placing advertisements with public free-to-air broadcast channels to reach out and create awareness to those in rural areas. Additionally, it is relying on participating merchants to spread the word through their own marketing campaigns around #MYCYBERSALE.