Shopee has emphasised that the co-existence between e-commerce and brick-and-mortar businesses is crucial in helping Malaysia on its path to recovery in the following year.

During the virtual launch of Shopee’s 12.12 Birthday Sale, the e-commerce platform’s guest speaker, senior economist from UOB Malaysia Julia Goh said that the country’s economy has suffered projected losses of up to RM67 billion due to the emergency MCO (EMCO) and conditional MCO (CMCO).

However, the economy is also expected to rebound at a rate of 6.5% to 7.5% in 2021, although the recovery is likely to be a rough one, depending on the resurgence of Covid-19 cases. The key driver of this growth lies in private consumption, which accounts for up to 60% of Malaysia’s GDP.

“Therefore, offline retail and service sectors must find ways to thrive in a post-pandemic environment whereby higher unemployment levels may spiral into weaker purchasing power. One way is for businesses to integrate offline and online strategies to cope with the changes brought about by the new norm and tap onto the growing potential of the digital economy,” said Goh.

In light of the circumstance, Shopee has taken several steps to address this growing need for the cooperation between online and offline businesses. “We asked ourselves what we could do to contribute towards business continuity of traditionally offline players, and saw the opportunity to convert our high traffic into footfall for them. Additionally, consumers can also do their part in helping their favourite establishments maintain steadier cash flow by buying their deals online ahead of their visit to the stores,” said the head of seller management for Shopee Malaysia, Zed Li.

One of Shopee’s initiatives include the onboarding of more than 1,000 traditionally brick-and-mortar businesses, including malls, cinemas, F&B outlets, petrol stations, and beauty salons. It also struck new collaborations with various partners in conjunction with its 12.12 Birthday Sale, enabling them to instantly engage with consumers online and to encourage the purchase of products, merchandise, deals, and cash vouchers. On top of that, offline retailers can encourage more people to their stores by tapping into a daily cashback offer of up to RM8 when users transact with the ShopeePay e-wallet.

Shopee further commented that it will continue to support the business community with seller incentives and e-commerce education, such as the recent 12.12 free e-commerce workshops on digital literacy, ways to boost sales, exposure during campaigns, and so on.

“2020 has opened our eyes and shown us the importance and capability of technology to truly enable positive change,” said Li. He added that Shopee is committed to powering the growth of e-commerce in 2021 and beyond by bringing the human touch to online shopping, personalising and creating a seamless customer journey.

Shopee is slated to celebrate its fifth birthday with the 12.12 Birthday Sale, which will see a variety of deals and initiatives being carried out. These include the #ShopeeGivesBack Charity Initiative, Shocking Sale with RM1 deals, live game shows, as well as a countdown live show. For more information about the e-commerce platform’s 12.12 Birthday Sale, you can head on over to Shopee’s website here.

• TAGS:
• CMCO
• Digital Economy
• E-Commerce
• EMCO
• Julia Goh
• MCO
• Movement Control Order
• Offline Businesses
• Post-Covid-19 Economy
• Shopee
• SMEs
• UOB
• Zed Li