2020 has been tough for Malaysian businesses, especially the SMEs.
Recent reports show that over 30,000 Malaysian SMEs were forced to close since the beginning of the MCO in March, while 42% of Malaysian SMEs have reduced the number of their employees in order to cope.
Simply put, Malaysian businesses, especially the SMEs, need to find ways to sell or die trying in a time where nobody wants to buy. It doesn’t seem encouraging, but it’s reality.
But if we take a step back, we see many other businesses still surviving, and some even thriving despite the challenges. If you’re asking how they do it, the most likely answer is e-commerce.
The E-commerce lifeline
Over the past decade, the landscape of selling has drastically shifted in favour of e-commerce. Looking at the number of people buying online in the SEA region, it’s clear that the growth is exceptionally strong:
From 2018 to 2019, at least 59% (250 million individuals) of the SEA population aged 15 and older were counted as digital consumers, and the numbers are expected to rise to 310 million individuals by 2025. In terms of spending, the forecasts see an average spend of US$124 per customer in 2018 rising to US$392 per customer by 2025.
This equates to a projected e-commerce spend of US$121 billion in the SEA region alone in 2025, something that any business would be crazy to miss out on.
In Malaysia, the numbers are just as impressive:
- 71% of Malaysians aged over 15 buys online.
- 58% of Malaysians discover new products through social media.
- 43% of Malaysians are willing to try out new online stores.
In response, many more Malaysian entrepreneurs have also moved online.
A survey conducted by OCBC Bank recently found that around 4 out of 5 Malaysian businesses have made their products available to buy through an online platform, either through their own website or portals like Lazada and Shopee.
All of this is no surprise when you compare the pathways for traditional retail versus e-commerce:
Considering all the above, if your business right now doesn’t have an online selling presence, you’re losing out big time on a wider audience, the chance to sell more flexibly, and the opportunity to scale your business.
It’s likely that your competitors are already on the e-commerce train and are on the way to reaping the benefits, so why wait any longer?
Looking to start? Answer these questions first!
For those new to the world of E-commerce, starting up for the first time can be confusing.
Assuming you’ve done your homework and have already settled on your niche and market, there are still a few other questions to answer before you get fully up and running:
Question 1: Do I have a website that is ready to handle demand? If you’re planning to sell on your own website, you must have a reliable webhosting provider that will be able to keep your store running 24/7 and a well-designed website that will make it easy for customers to find what they’re looking for.
Question 2: Can I also sell on more platforms to reach a wider market? The cost of setting up to sell online is relatively minimal in comparison with the potential revenue lying ahead, which leads to the question: Do you also have plans to set up more storefronts so you can reach a wider audience? Many businesses today also have a presence on popular platforms such as Lazada and Shopee in addition to their own website.
Question 3: Do I have a marketing plan to build my brand? When it comes to selling online, the key is to make sure your marketing expenditure is maximized and spent on the right audience. These days, social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram provide businesses many ways to fine-tune their advertising and target specific demographics, while also providing detailed insights into how well your audience is responding.
Question 4: Do I have a dependable payment gateway? Having a safe and secure payment gateway is incredibly important to helping you win the trust and confidence of your customers. You’ll want a provider that is able to ensure that your customers’ shopping sessions can be completed quickly, error-free, and at no risk to their private information.
Question 5: Do I have a reliable logistics/fulfilment partner? Your customers will expect their purchases to arrive on-time and undamaged, so make sure to have a fulfilment plan in place that will be able to get your products to your customers’ doorsteps safely without delay, especially during seasons with higher order volumes.
Being able to confidently say yes to the above questions will require you to take the necessary steps before you can get everything up and running, and often, having to go through these steps will require time and money, which can prove inconvenient.
If that’s the case, is there a way to get started without all the hassle?
Yes! By letting the experts handle everything.
SPRII Commerce can help!
The easiest way to get started is through a comprehensive system that covers all the bases of successful online selling. This is exactly what we designed the SPRII Commerce system to accomplish—a one-stop destination for anyone who wants to start selling online without worrying about how.
If you need to get started quick and confidently, our system does the job by taking care of:
There’s absolutely no doubt that selling on the Internet is the way forward regardless of what you sell, or whether you’re a manufacturer or a reseller.
This all-in-one system makes it easy for merchants to focus on selling instead of getting distracted by the other inconveniences of running a business. If you’re still yet to begin selling online, there really is no other time than right now to hop on.
And the added advantage you get is our focus on building the SPRII Commerce platform to be socially driven and ecologically intelligent by focusing on these 2 points:
- Creating a community of users that feel valued and happy to belong by catering to their values and beliefs.
- Operating a service that values transparency and uses its data to make decisions that shape a better tomorrow.
Like what you see? Contact us to find out more about our plans and how we can help get your E-commerce journey up and running at only RM250 per month!