The Selangor state government is expecting an additional 10,000 small and medium businesses (SMEs) and micro-entrepreneurs in Selangor to go online next month, said state executive councillor Datuk Teng Chang Khim (picture).
Teng said this will be done in partnership with e-commerce platforms Lazada Malaysia and Shopee Malaysia ahead of this year’s 11.11 sales.
“We are targeting more than 10,000 small businesses in Selangor to go online for the 11.11 shopping event. It will be a collaboration between the state government and two online shopping platforms, Lazada and Shopee, which will be announced by the mentri besar in the next few days.
“It is one of our efforts to help businesses in Selangor, especially retailers who have suffered from the Covid-19 pandemic, to adopt the technologies and go online as soon as possible.
“The state government encourages all businesses to incorporate e-commerce into their business strategies,” he said in a virtual press conference on the 5th Selangor Smart City and Digital Economy Conference yesterday.
Teng said the state government had previously invested about RM1 million of discount vouchers for SMEs that participated in the “Selangor E-Bazar Raya” campaign held from May to July this year. The effort was carried out in collaboration with Shopee.
He said the programme helped 6,400 small businesses register as Shopee merchants where they can leverage the online retail platform.
“Last Ramadhan, we invested in discount vouchers worth RM1 million for micro-SMEs who wanted to go online, and we got them to register with Shopee through a co-organised programme called ‘Selangor E-Bazar Raya’”.
“Before the programme, there were 2,000 micro-SMEs that had registered and trained with Shopee. The programme added another 6,400 businesses,” he said.
He said retailers who were recipients of the state government’s investment generated about RM11.7 million in revenue through the Selangor E-Bazar Raya programme, while the state generated a total RM341 million throughout the whole programme, including from businesses that had already established their presence online.
Teng said the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) was a timely reminder of the importance of digitalisation and progress from a traditional business setting.
“The pandemic has disrupted the economy and has forced SMEs to go online when the MCO was imposed in March. The SMEs have to continue to embrace digitalisation to cope with office closures, movement restrictions and supply interruptions.
“The recent announcement on the reinstatement of the CMCO in Sabah, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya is a timely reminder that SMEs should learn useful lessons from the first MCO to equip themselves better digitally,” he said.
He added that businesses have to shed the misperception on digital transformation and adopt the right mindset to grow their businesses.
“While it might be overwhelming for traditional business and small businesses to try and find their footing in the digital space within a short period, SMEs should adopt critical strategies namely, to think big, start small and scale fast.
“A major misperception about digital transformation is that it is something expensive. What should be highlighted, instead, is it can bring many benefits such as labour and cost reductions, increased productivity, better customer retention, and creation of new sources of revenue or growth,” he said.
Source: https://themalaysianreserve.com/2020/10/19/another-10000-smes-in-sgor-to-adopt-e-commerce/