Shop Malaysia Online (SMO) by Grab in partnership with MDEC helps local businesses sustain in the new normal
WITH the shift towards going online necessitated by the pandemic, a digital transformation is vital to ensure business continuity and sustainability.
In extending a helping hand to local merchants, Grab leveraged its technology and partnered with the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC).
Through MDEC’s Go-eCommerce Onboarding programme, and jointly co- funding promotions in the Shop Malaysia Online (SMO) campaign, they have been able to help digitalise more small businesses and drive more demand.
Since the pandemic, Grab has also taken efforts to expand its service coverage to other parts of the country, which has helped to widen the campaign coverage and benefit more businesses beyond just those in the Klang Valley.
Statistics indicate that out of the over 90% of the participating businesses on Grab who are part of the SMO campaign are categorised as MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises), with more than 50% from outside of Klang Valley.
To ease digital transformation for small businesses, Grab enhanced its operations, from holding webinar sessions for merchants to adopting a fully digital onboarding process.
MDEC’s willingness and openness in working with such platforms as Grab has been a boon for local SMEs to stay afloat in these times.
Encouraged by the positive results garnered from the previous year, this is the second year the government is running the SMO campaign with Grab.
Dong Guan Kopitiam proprietor Ong Seng Theam shares that the SMO (HotDeals) campaign HotDeals campaign by Grab has helped increase business by 63%.
Dong Guan Kopitiam serves up Malaysian breakfast favourites.
“Times were very tough especially during the second MCO on June 1.
However, I am grateful that we didn’t lose our momentum of business. On the contrary, delivery platforms, especially Grab, helped push our sales volume to another level.”
Dong Guan Kopitiam serves up typical Malaysian breakfast fare, with favourites such as toast bread with butter and kaya, fried bihun and nasi lemak at competitive prices.
Ong commented that such campaigns and initiatives greatly helped his business to get back on track during the MCO and currently, is continuing to help it grow.
He advises other business owners: “Do not give up even during the pandemic. Think of how to sustain the business by increasing market awareness through Facebook, Instagram and delivery platforms.”
For GrabPay merchant OCDEE, offering GrabPay as a payment option was part of creating the best customer experience.
“GrabPay is highly used as a payment option by most Malaysians. Besides, GrabPay could help increase our credibility and exposure to our user base via its app and marketing campaigns progressively. With the SMO campaign, we know it would help to drive more sales conversion online,” says its co-founder Ng Chun How.
OCDEE’s bestseller is the Convi Shoebox.
OCDEE is a specialty brand for home storage and organisation solutions well-known for its best-selling product – the Convi Shoebox, with over 46,000 boxes sold and more than 2,000 five-star reviews to date.
“Our business had seen tremendous growth of 160% in month-over-month revenue during the SMO campaign, with increment in the usage rate of digital payments as checkout and exceptional growth in sales from other e-commerce and online marketplaces such as Shopee,” Ng says.
On such campaigns and initiatives, he says: “This (SMO) is absolutely a great initiative to help get the economy afloat. The campaigns allowed incentives to go direct to consumers who get more value for every ringgit, while merchants like us are able to get the business rolling, and manufacturers to start receiving new orders.
“The campaigns have also birthed many micro-entrepreneurs online. I personally think it was a win-win for everyone in the economy loop.”
With such campaigns spearheaded by the government and supported by platforms such as Grab, there is light at the end of the tunnel for SME retailers.
As Malaysians, let us come together to support our local retailers through the SMO campaign to give them a lease of life through trying times.
Grab’s SMO campaign ends on Nov 30, and with discounts up to 50% off for meals, groceries, fashion, beauty, and more, Malaysians are definitely spoiled for choice to support thousands of businesses on the platform.
