KUALAL LUMPUR: If there's one other industry besides gloves that has benefited from the Covid-19 pandemic, it is e-commerce which is growing from strength to strength.
The recent 11.11 Singles Day sale was evidence of this growing trend, with leading e-commerce ecosystem enabler, Commerce.Asia Enterprise, posting unprecedented growth from the previous year.
Its general manager Aaliyah Soraya told The New Straits Times that e-commerce transactions in respect of 11.11 soared by some 1,939 percent this year, compared to 2019 which had then also increased 429 per cent from 2018.
"E-commerce growth is a given in a the 'new norm' as Malaysians now trust such platforms and websites to conduct businesses.
"The movement control order (MCO) which started in March had resulted in average Malaysians who usually do not shop online realise that e-commerce is convenient and easy to use," said Aaliyah.
Aaliyah believes that e-commerce started taking off in 2003 with the outbreak of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) in Hong Kong and China.
"That was the period when Alibaba and other tech companies really started to grow because people just have no option to shop but through online," she said.
"Hence, what happened in Hong Kong and China will happen in Malaysia, where retailers and grocers find that they got a better advantage switching to e-commerce."
She opined that brick-and-mortar shops would still exist as they still generate a certain amount of revenue, but it is slowly being overtaken by online sales.
Meanwhile, Shopee Malaysia regional managing director Ian Ho reportedly said that its 11.11 Big Sale saw some 3,000, small and medium Malaysian enterprises achieving average sales of RM55,000 on the e-commerce platform.
"Across the region, local sellers participating in the 11.11 Big Sale for the first time saw 10 times more orders than on an average day," he said, adding that the largest single transaction made by a user within the first eight hours of the sale amounted to RM70,000.
"The success reflects the continued growth of e-commerce in the region and the vast opportunities it presents for businesses and shoppers," added Ian.
Lazada Malaysia chief executive officer Leo Chow reportedly said new small and medium enterprises (SME) which had the one-day sale joined via Lazada's stimulus initiatives since March represented more than 40 percent of active sellers, who collectively sold over 680,000 items for 11.11.
Aaliyah believes the local e-commerce market would continue growing strongly for next few years.
"Our internal studies show that Malaysians spend some 70 per cent more time on social media platforms Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram these days, compared to pre-MCO," she said.
"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 said, adding that the preferred device being mobile phones.
"This paradigm shift in consumer behavior has happened overnight, benefitting early adopters of e-commerce platforms, while those late to the game have suffered and are racing to get online."
Aaliyah describes Commerce.Asia Enterprise as a 'one-stop managed e-commerce service provider for brands and businesses.'
"What we are good at is in multi-channel e-commerce where we simplify processes for businesses," said Aaliyah, adding that the company's expertise lie in managing, syncing and integrating clients' webstores, marketplaces' and Facebook store's orders, inventory and listings all under one platform.
"From webstore development, to product listing, customer care, and order fulfilment – we have the solutions for all your needs," she said.