LETTER: IN June, the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) had projected that e-commerce contributions would rise to as high as RM170 billion this year, while monthly statistics from Bank Negara up to October showed that Internet banking and mobile banking penetration rates were rising.
A study by Mastercard showed that Malaysia came out tops in e-wallet use in Southeast Asia, surpassing the Philippines, Thailand and Singapore.
Consumers' confidence in e-commerce may have been due to negligible e-commerce fraud cases (0.02 per cent in 2018), falling from 0.03 per cent in 2017, according to digital payment provider iPay88.
These should provide signals to stakeholders to continue developing the e-commerce market.
It should be considered as a crucial alternative for entrepreneurs, whose sales have been weak due to lockdown restrictions.
The government has shown its commitment through stimulus packages and the 2021 Budget, addressing the supply and demand sides.
In the budget, the government set aside RM150 million for training programmes, sales assistance and digital equipment for 100,000 entrepreneurs to join the e-commerce market under the e-Commerce SME and Micro SME Campaign, which was introduced in the Penjana stimulus package.
On the consumer side, RM150 million was allocated to extend the Shop Malaysia Online introduced in Penjana to prop up online spending.
According to Statista, online traffic up to the second quarter of this year showed that country's top e-commerce sites were Shopee and Lazada.
MDEC recently launched the Go-eCommerce digital initiative.
It is an online entrepreneurial platform that provides tools for entrepreneurs to take businesses to the next level, covering business management, financial management, social media networks, websites and mobile applications.
Data proves that the e-commerce market should be taken seriously.
SOFEA AZAHAR
EMIR Research, Kuala Lumpur
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times