PETALING JAYA: More than half a million entrepreneurs in the country have benefited from the government’s move to encourage digitalisation, with many smaller companies riding on platforms like Go-eCommerce Onboarding and Shop Malaysia Online (SMO) to widen their reach.
The twin initiatives were launched by the Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) to digitalise small businesses and drive demand.
The government recently announced in Budget 2022 that RM250 million will be allocated to continue the campaigns to help local entrepreneurs make the digital switch.
Grab Malaysia is among the partners in the SMO campaign.
Grab said it worked with various government agencies that shared the same vision for the future, while assisting micro-, small- and medium-sized-enterprises (MSMEs) by helping them widen their coverage and reach.
“SMO was among the government’s very impactful efforts in 2020. Last year, 8.2 million consumers did their shopping through Penjana SMO, benefitting 202,000 businesses while the MSME Onboarding campaign assisted 33,000 new MSMEs to get on board various eCommerce platforms,” Grab said in a statement.
Grab promoted the campaign on its platform and also expanded the services to more areas outside the Klang Valley.
“More than 90% of the participating businesses were categorised as MSMEs. With more than 50% of them based outside the Klang Valley, it also indicates the growth of the digital economy and online spending in other parts of the country,” the company said.
Additionally, Grab said despite the economy reopening, Malaysians continue to go online for their daily needs.
Charlie’s Café & Bakery owner Desonny Tuzan said the business was part of the SMO campaign last year and continued to leverage on it this year.
He said they were severely impacted during the pandemic but were able to elevate their brand on digital platforms by taking part in the national campaigns.
“Many may not be aware of the far-reaching impact national campaigns such as SMO have on small, locally-owned businesses. It has not only increased our exposure, but helped us serve consumers far and wide, something we could never have imagined before,” Desonny said.
The Lady’s Closet director Casslene Ng said through the SMO campaign, her clothes retailing business attracted many new customers, on top of the existing ones, over the past year.
“We thought customers would be conservative with their spending considering the economic impact but we have been so surprised by their support. They are not only saving through the SMO discounts, but they are also earning GrabRewards points, which they then use to redeem vouchers to shop more,” Ng said.
Source: https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2021/12/01/small-businesses-reaping-the-rewards-of-digitalisation/