To boost e-commerce in Malaysia, the national industry ICT association PIKOM has launched a ‘Buy Online Campaign’ with its inaugural online shopping directory.
PIKOM’s organising chairman of National ICT Month (NIM) 2009, Wei Chuan Beng, said the online shopping directory—www.mybeli.com—was part of the industry association’s strategic rollouts in conjunction with Malaysia’s National ICT Month (NIM) 2009.
“As ICT continues to evolve at a rapid pace, people are becoming more dependent on technology,” said Wei. “Through online portals such as mybeli.com, PIKOM strives to create more value, inculcate awareness and educate our society on the development and importance of ICT.”
“It is a two-pronged approach—to drive B2C [business to customer] e-commerce activities and to encourage the increase of broadband takeup,” he said. “We want to encourage more Malaysians to buy online and to reiterate that shopping online is safe and secure.”
“PIKOM is collaborating with several leading online merchants to provide attractive discounts and incentives on a wide range of products and services,” he added. “To date, there are more than 500 participating merchants from various lifestyle, health care, ICT, consumer electronics, and fashion industries registered on the new site.”
The month-long buy online promotion at mybeli.com started on 27 August and is scheduled to end on 20 September. Internet shoppers can also look forward to various products and services on showcase after the promotional period.
Ten Per Cent
PIKOM would highlight special daily and weekly promotions from merchants on mybeli.com through newspaper advertisements. “So far, more than US$56,860 [RM200, 000] has been allocated during this month alone,” said Wei.
He cited analyst firm IDC’s market research, which indicated that Malaysia’s B2C e-commerce would hit US$3.41 billion (RM12 billion) in 2009. “PIKOM forecasts a potential 10 per cent growth in B2C e-commerce activities as a result of increased awareness and promotions via PIKOM’s Buy Online Campaign. With first-time buyers and sustained buying activities over the next five months, PIKOM is projecting an estimated US$142.15 million [RM500 million] worth of additional e-commerce transactions.”
PIKOM’s Buy Online Campaign is also aimed at increasing Malaysia’s broadband penetration rate from its current 26 per cent to 50 per cent by end-2010, according to the deputy minister of Information, Communication and Culture, Dato’ Joseph Salang Gandum.
“Since the early 1990s, ICT has been a strong force in driving Malaysia’s growth with the initiation of a high-speed broadband [HSSB] programme,” said the deputy minister. “HSSB is a key national infrastructure initiative which will not only further enhance Malaysia’s economic competitiveness in the region, but also help attract foreign direct investment and accelerate the nation’s ICT aspirations and agenda through knowledge capital workforce.”
