Malaysia’s e-commerce industry poised for strong growth in 2H19

KUALA LUMPUR: Shopee, Southeast Asia and Taiwan’s leading e-commerce platform, expects e-commerce activities to increase in the second half of the year. 

“We have no qualms that second half of 2019 is going to be a vibrant season that is poised for strong growth with the 9.9, 10.10, 11.11 and 12.12 sales, not just for our industry but also the entire network of industries that support e-commerce including the banks, telcos and logistics providers,” Shopee said in a statement. 

Based on empirical data, the e-commerce platform said the first half of the year was usually quieter in the e-commerce world with shopping activities increasing towards the tail end of the year. 

“However, Shopee recorded stellar performance on all fronts of our business during the first half of  2019, which was supported by the increased shopping activities particularly during Chinese New Year and Hari Raya. We achieved more than a 3-fold increase from 2018’s corresponding festive periods,” it said, adding that its growth was further fueled by the introduction of its next-day delivery service in June. 

To-date, Shopee Malaysia employs more than 600, a 50% increase from the same period in 2018. The employees in Malaysia are trained to serve the Malaysian and part of Singapore’s markets. The employment and job creation contributes to the growth of Malaysia’s consumption economy.

“In just a year, Shopee has doubled the number of downloads of our app from around 10 million downloads to 20 million downloads to-date. This was achieved through creative branding and communications efforts, successful and exclusive brand tie-ups and strong word-of-mouth advocacy by Malaysians in general; a testament that our product serves the demands of the markets,” Shopee said. 

Shopee said apart from the sales campaigns lined up for the rest of the year, it would continue to scale our efforts in line with the Government’s initiatives in accelerating growth of e-commerce as part of the National eCommerce Strategic Roadmap.

“One of our missions has always been to better the lives of consumers and small businesses with technology. We believe in the transformative power of technology and want to solve social and lifestyle problems for retailers, entrepreneurs and consumers by bridging the gap between all stakeholders and creating greater convenience that would change the way retailers trade and people live,” it said.

“We have made it our mandate to ensure that Malaysia is on track to achieve its projected annual e-commerce growth of 20% in 2020. We will continue to work and support to the best of our abilities and capacity to benefit the local economy and Malaysians as we strive towards a high-income nation by 2024,” Shopee said.