‘New norm’ is shot-in-the-arm for e-commerce, businesses need to snap out of denial

• Commerce.Asia sees 1,380% jump in transactions in Aug
• SME Asso of M’sia urges businesses to adopt digital technologies

Since the Movement Control Order (MCO) was implemented six months ago in mid-March, e-commerce has revolutionised consumer buying patterns with many households now turning to the convenience of shopping online.

Commerce.Asia Enterprise, one of Malaysia’s and Southeast Asia’s leading eCommerce managed service providers, said in a statement that its e-commerce transactions posted in August 2020 leapt by some 1,380% when compared to August 2019.

Its general manager Aaliyah Soraya (pic below) believes that the local e-commerce market would continue growing strongly post-MCO and for next few years, on the back of Malaysian’s embracing e-commerce  due to a sharp increase in social media consumption and participation.

“Our internal studies show that Malaysians spend some 70% more time on social media platforms Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram these days, compared to pre-MCO,” she shares.

Commerce.Asia data also shows that the number of Instagram and Facebook Live views doubled in the first week of MCO (from 18 March 2020).

“This trend of continuous social media participation appears to be progressively increasing, and also accentuated by on-demand content videos coupled with live streaming of events,” she says, adding that the preferred device to access social media is mobile phones.

“With the rakyat being encouraged to practice social distancing, there naturally has been a decline in physical shopping resulting in more turning to e-commerce.”

Malaysians are also very conscious of health and personal safety, with Commerce.Asia data showing that products from the health and wellness category saw an 800% leap in sales year-on-year (August 2020 compared to August 2019).

“This paradigm shift in consumer behaviour has happened overnight, benefitting early adopters of e-commerce platforms, while those late to the game have suffered and are racing to get online,” she notes.

As a one-stop managed e-commerce service provider for businesses, Commerce.Asia Enterprise simplifies multi-channel e-commerce for businesses. Its expertise lies in managing, syncing and integrating clients’ webstores, marketplaces’ and Facebook store’s orders, inventory and listings all under one platform.

Meanwhile, SME Association national vice president Chin Chee Seong encourages businesses to start embracing new digital technologies to help them realise their e-commerce revenue streams.

“Malaysians are now extremely confident with the act of buying online; hence, businesses also need to stop being in denial and to start embarking on smarter e-commerce initiatives,” urges Chin.

For businesses unfamiliar with e-commerce, he advised them to seek out an outsource partner like Commerce.Asia Enterprise to help them with their various e-commerce processes.

“These processes include warehousing, payment, delivery, marketing and order management.  When starting out, some businesses may be intimidated by the complexities of processes involved,” says Chin.