馬來西亞ebay公佈用戶調查報告

Malaysians see eBay as a platform to sell to the world

Kuala Lumpur, March 12, 2008 – eBay, the world’s leading online marketplace, today announced the findings of a AC Nielsen Research study it commissioned to better understand the demographics and trading patterns of eBay users in Southeast Asia, namely in the Singapore, Malaysia and Philippines markets.

The study revealed that 41 percent of all eBay sellers in Malaysia considered themselves serious sellers – either actively sourcing for products to sell on eBay or using eBay as a primary source of income, which indicated that Malaysians are embracing eBay as a platform for entrepreneurship and selling to the world.

Malaysians are also very active consumers, spending close to one third of their time online browsing for goods and services on eBay; 42 percent visit eBay one to three times per week. Clothing, shoes and accessories were the most frequently purchased items on eBay.com.my at 38 percent, followed by books at 36 percent and computers and networking services at about 34 percent.

In addition, the visitors surveyed on eBay.com.my were generally affluent and well educated. 64 percent had completed tertiary education and 75 percent earned at least RM20,000 per year. Majority of them were also key decision makers for finance and technology-related household purchases. On an average, Malaysian shoppers on eBay.com.my spent approximately RM411 per month on eBay, out of the total RM542 spent online.
Credit cards were a common mode of online payment for visitors on eBay.com.my – 59 percent had used a credit card to pay for online purchases in the last twelve months. PayPal was also a popular payment method at 42 percent.
“With over 82 million users worldwide and a global presence in 39 markets, eBay is uniquely positioned as a global online marketplace providing boundless opportunities for Malaysian users to buy from and sell to the world,” said Dan Neary, Vice President at eBay.

“The eBay community in Malaysia has been very active since the launch of the upgraded eBay.com.my, which indicates that they are benefiting from the new features and enhanced functionality of the site. We have seen more than 30,000 new registrations since last November and unique visitors per month have since increased by 112 percent,” he concluded.

Other findings about eBay visitors in Malaysia:
· 75 percent are adults in the age group 25-49.
· More than 60 percent of users on eBay.com.my are male.
· Majority spend an average of 29 hours per week online, 7 hours of which are spent purchasing products / services on the Internet.
· 58 percent most frequently access eBay.com.my from home and 35 percent from work.
· 84 percent use broadband.

MIMOS開設二卓越中心

MIMOS DRIVES DEVELOPMENT OF ASIAN CENTRES OF EXCELLENCE

KUALA LUMPUR, 11 March, 2008 ─ MIMOS today launched two (2) Centres of Excellence in networking technologies and test and measurement technologies in line with its mission to promote and license MIMOS technologies or Intellectual Property (IPs) to qualified indigenous information and communications technology (ICT) companies to strengthen their abilities to compete globally and move Malaysia higher up the value chain.

Cisco’s Asian Centre of Excellence in Networking Technologies (ACENT) & Agilent Technologies’ Centre of Excellence in Test and Measurement Technologies in Asia (CEMTA) are both located at MIMOS in Technology Park Malaysia.

“The Centres of Excellence will be the platform to showcase MIMOS as the National Technology Innovation Centre. It will be the catalyst in capability building particularly in developing domain experts. The added value that these Centres will bring epitomizes the style of the Centres which will focus on the development of domain experts that will empower our indigenous industries. Malaysia needs a blend of domain experts and technical experts to work in tandem to ensure comprehensive domain knowledge for the Knowledge-economy,” said Dato’ Abdul Wahab Abdullah, President & CEO, MIMOS.

Asian Centre of Excellence in Networking Technologies (ACENT)
Cisco’s Asian Centre of Excellence in Networking Technologies (ACENT) showcases networking technologies demo of proof-of-concept such as the Cisco unified communications.

Cisco’s ACENT will facilitate training to develop domain experts as well as indigenous skills and capabilities in advanced networking technologies aimed at doubling the number of skilled advanced networking personnel for the country. The centre will be equipped with training facilities for Cisco certification programmes such as the Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA), Cisco Certified Network Professionals (CCNP), Cisco Certified Design Associate (CCDA) and the Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE).

“We, at Cisco believe that the establishment of ACENT will open up the opportunity for the country to continuously identify current and future network technology needs and contribute to the country’s agenda of increasing the pool of technology and research-based human capital capable of competing on the global stage. Together with MIMOS, Cisco will continue to empower network technology innovations that transform the way we work, live and play by connecting people, media and information across all communities,” said Kumaran Singaram, Managing Director, Cisco Malaysia.

IMS Asia, as the leading Cisco Learning Partner (CLP) in Malaysia will manage and operate Cisco’s ACENT including providing training in an effort to ensure it becomes the advanced networking technologies learning centre of choice in the Asian region.

“IMS Asia has the largest pool of Cisco certified trainers who are local & international experts in ICT networking technologies with years of global experience. IMS Asia’s consulting and engineering capabilities in guiding Fortune 500 companies in implementing best practices ICT networking deployment would be further developed in Cisco’s ACENT. These best practices would be shared with local & regional network engineers, especially, for the deployment of convergence technologies (data, voice and video) with advanced functionality of high availability, security, quality of service, IPv6 and IP Multicast,” said Palaniappan Alagan, Managing Director, IMS Asia Sdn Bhd.

Centre of Excellence in Test and Measurement Technologies in Asia (CEMTA)
CEMTA provides the latest test and measurement equipment and proof-of-concepts for demonstration and evaluation for small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in across Asia including Malaysia as well as facilitates training to develop indigenous skills and capability in advance test and measurement technologies.CEMTA is used as a test solution for complete development lifecycle for mobile WiMAX; enables real world testing environment for triple-play environment for IPv6-enabled handheld devices; provides the best in class signal generation and analysis for design and test solution for the R&D for mobile WiMAX customer premise equipment (CPE) and base station; provides hands-on training solution in areas of radio frequency and wireless communications; and provides learning and teaching solution for electronic test instruments.

“CEMTA supports Agilent’s efforts in the creation of an R&D ecosystem that will intensify and accelerate innovation activities in Malaysia. In order to become world-class technology partners to customers like Agilent, the local companies must acquire the necessary competencies. And from this perspective, CEMTA creates an environment for dynamic sharing of knowledge, resources and technology in partnership with industry players to make Malaysia a beacon of technology innovation for the world,” said Gooi Soon Chai, President, Agilent Technologies, Malaysia & Singapore.

馬電訊TM與新加坡T-Systems合作在馬來西亞提供電訊服務

TM AND T-SYSTEMS START PROVISIONING OF JOINT TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES IN MALAYSIA

Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) and T-Systems Singapore Pte Ltd (T-Systems) today announced their plan to provide joint telecommunications services in Malaysia. The services provided by TM will allow T-Systems to have direct access to its Global Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) IP-based network, which delivers state-of-the-art global IP solutions to 266 cities in 50 countries. The service has been fully operational since December 2007 and is managed by TM with full support provided by T-Systems.

This collaboration between the two companies, offers a seamless connection from Malaysia via T-Systems’ global network to regions like Europe, Americas and the rest of Asia. In Asia, T-Systems provides facilities in all of the region's major cities, seamlessly connecting Asia to the rest of its global network.

The service will provide global interconnection for Malaysia, and customers will be able to enjoy network services of the highest quality in terms of performance, with lower latency and a more cost-effective global backbone. The IP-based solutions and services available include International Private Line, high-speed Internet access, Internet Protocol Virtual Private Network (IP VPN) and other collaboration services agreed by the parties. Conversely, customers may also ride on TM’s global network, which covers among others, the Middle East, Africa and South Asia.

Dieter Sieber, Head of Telecommunications Operations for T-Systems in Asia-Pacific said, "Malaysia is fast becoming a key market for T-Systems and we are pleased to have expanded our IP infrastructure in response to growing customer demand in Malaysia. Customers increasingly require reliable bandwidth-intensive applications, which need a highly advanced network, and this is exactly what T-Systems' network was built for.”

Dato’ Zam Isa, Chief Executive Officer, Malaysia Business, TM said, “TM has been collaborating with strategic partners, both domestically and internationally, in its continuous effort to provide customers a diverse range of high-quality services with wider service coverage. This collaboration represents TM’s commitment in expanding its position and footprint as one of the leading regional service providers, which offers end-to-end solutions to meet its customers’ continually changing needs.”

T-Systems has also seen a strong rise in the demand for international telecommunication services from multinational corporations (MNCs). This rise comes as MNCs increase their expansion drive into new regions as part of economic globalization. As a result, these MNCs are turning to T-Systems in search of flexible and high quality solutions, which offer cost-effective connectivity into the regions they are expanding into.

Macrokiosk進軍大中華市場

MACROKIOSK Deepens Market Presence in China, HK, Macau & Taiwan

Kuala Lumpur, March 6, 2008: Mobile messaging technology enabler Macro Kiosk Berhad has deepened and widened its reach and presence in the lucrative China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan markets through a deal with IGM, an established leading mobile value-added services group.

In the RM3.55 million deal sealed after months of negotiations, MACROKIOSK acquired two IGM companies with extended links in China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan and took over a commercial agreement with a Macau mobile operator.

The share sale agreement with IGM Asia Holdings Ltd saw MACROKIOSK buying the entire issued share capital of IGM Mobile China Ltd and of IGM Mobile Guangzhou Ltd.

MACROKIOSK also took over a commercial agreement between IGM Asia Pacific Ltd and Macau mobile operator, Companhia de Telecomunicacoes de Macau S.A.R.L. (CTM).

“This strategic acquisition immediately strengthens our links to mobile operators in the four markets and deepens our market presence,” said Kenny Goh, Chief Executive Officer of Macro Kiosk Berhad at a media briefing.

“We are talking about the immense potential of these markets with China having 547 million mobile users, 11 million in Hong Kong and another 24 million in Taiwan,” he said.

IGM group provides premium mobile community-based communications, entertainment and multimedia services to mobile network operators (MNOs) and mobile phone users in the form of technology platforms and value-added applications and content. They have headquarters in Hong Kong and Guangzhou, China.

The acquisitions were funded entirely by internally-generated funds.

Goh said the IGM Mobile China Ltd acquisition would extend MACROKIOSK’s reach to Taiwan, which has ceased granting short codes. Thus, MACROKIOSK would have unparalleled connectivity and working rights with all the mobile operators in Taiwan.

He also said this synergistic development would strengthen MACROKIOSK’s links in China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan with the following key mobile operators.

Country/Area
Mobile Operator
China
China Mobile, China Unicom

Hong Kong
CSL, New World Mobility, PCCW, Smartone, People, Hutchison Telecom
Macau
Companhia de Telecomunicacoes de Macau S.A.R.L. (CTM)

Taiwan
Asia Pacific Broadband Wireless, Far East Tone, Taiwan Mobile, Chung Hwa Telecom, VIBO


“With IGM Mobile Guangzhou Ltd, MACROKIOSK now has connectivity and presence in five provinces, namely, Beijing, Hebei, Sichuan, Hunan and Guangdong.”

He noted that businesses in China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan were showing increasing interest in leveraging on SMS technology as part of their business communications as well as to monetise their mobile services. MACROKIOSK was responding to this growing market demand.

Goh also mentioned in time to come, MACROKIOSK intends to launch services across China’s 22 provinces, thus allowing content providers unlimited access to China’s mobile users.

“Furthermore, to demonstrate our commitment to the North Asia market, we’ve invested over RM10 million in North Asia operations, encompassing China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. Truly, MACROKIOSK is here for the long haul,” added Goh.

IGM Asia Holdings Ltd Chairman Philip Wong said the IGM Group was indeed happy with the excellent partnership forged with MACROKIOSK. “We have chosen MACROKIOSK because we find the leaders and management to be very much aligned and in line with the vision that we at IGM hold dearly.”

In a video message to the Malaysian media, Wong said: “Like us, the MACROKIOSK leadership, has a dream of connecting and powering the mobile community of Asia and beyond.

“My co-founders and I are confident that under MACROKIOSK, the two IGM companies will achieve greater heights. Having done our research, we know that MACROKIOSK already works with the largest and hottest brand names in the market,” he said.

Macro Kiosk Berhad, the SMS gateway to Asia, provides mobile messaging solutions across all leading industries. It also has offices in Brunei, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

Through its locally-developed etracker, MacroKiosk has links with 364 telcos in over 115 countries worldwide.

馬來西亞熱線服務中心市場年增17%

Malaysian Contact Centre Industry Achieves Strong Growth at 17% per annum

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – 7 March 2008: The contact center industry in Malaysia has one of the region’s highest growth rates (17%) and is expected to increase by 34% in seat numbers in 2009 reports the 2008 Asian Contact Centre Industry Benchmarking Report conducted by callcentres.net, Asia Pacific’s leading call and contact center research and publishing company.

The research, sponsored by Autonomy etalk and Genesys, involved interviewing 539 contact centres executives representing 2,488 contact centres and 259,699 contact centre seats across Asia. The study assessed contact centre strategy, revenue generation, operations, human resource management, technology, customer service, channel management, outsourcing, key performance indicators and management challenges. A total of 85 Malaysian based organisations were involved in the study.

Results reveal that the Asian Contact Center Industry is in a period of growth, at about 15% growth in seat size across the region. This result was not as strong as the regional growth figure of 23% predicted by contact centre managers in 2007. Singapore’s growth rate from 2007 to 2008 is reported at 8%, India 10%, Thailand 15%, China 19% and Philippines 23%.

The Malaysian contact centre industry has grown in seat size by a considerable 17% from 2007 to 2008, to about 33,000 seats. The average seat size per centre has also increased from 90 seats in 2007 to 167 seats in 2008 and is projected to grow to 225 seats by 2009. At least 15% of the market is operated by an outsourced provider. The Malaysian contact centre industry is primarily set up to provide customer service (66%) with technical support (10%), inbound sales (10%) and outbound sales (10%). This percentage of sales focused contact centres is considerably smaller than other markets in the region including Philippines (27%), China (40%) and India (50%).

Greatest Challenge - Human Resources

The study also revealed that the major expense in operating contact centers in Malaysia is labour costs, comprising 53% of the total budget. Technology represents 16% of the budget, and telecommunications 17%. Adding to these labour costs are expenses related to the relatively high levels of agent turnover in Malaysia, the average being 17% per annum as measured per centre, with a high of 39% in centres with more than 100 seats. When measured as raw numbers of agents leaving the centre, the agent attrition rate in Malaysia is 32%. The average cost to replace an agent in Malaysia is MYR3,335 or USD1,030. The average length of tenure for an agent who has left the centre in the last 12 months is 18 months. Both turnover rates and tenure are similar to 2007 rates of 18% turnover and 18 months tenure.

Managing agent recruitment (31%) and turnover (28%) are key challenges for 2008 mentioned by Malaysian contact centre managers.

Dr Catriona Wallace, President of callcentres.net, stated, “We are seeing tremendous growth in the Malaysian contact centre industry and it is has gained the attention of the international business community who are waiting to see how the Malaysian industry performs and whether it will position as an alternative outsourcing destination to India and the Philippines. The key challenge for the Malaysian industry will be to focus on improving its human resource management results, particularly in the larger centres, whilst in this period of rapid growth.”

“High levels of employee turnover can have a devastating effect on all aspects of customer service, disrupting operations and decreasing customer satisfaction, as well as increased costs for new hire training,” said Don Lee, Director of Asia Pacific, Autonomy etalk. “With such a highly competitive outsourcing market in the region and increasing expectations of customer service at or near Western market levels, organisations need to pay particular interest to the career development and continuity of their agents. In addition to formalised career development plans, coaching and training tools found in quality monitoring solutions along with performance analytics can be a tremendous asset in continuing education” he said.


Revenue Generation

The study’s results also suggest that Malaysia is not as focused on revenue generation in its contact centres as other countries including the Philippines and India. Currently 56% of the contact centre executives in the study stated their centres had no opportunity to upsell or cross sell to customers. Other than Thailand at 14%, Malaysia had the lowest percentage of centres (42%) in the region which had opportunities to generate revenue. Malaysia (69%) and Thailand (86%) have the highest percentage of contact centres in the region measured as cost centres as opposed to profit centres. In the Philippines 72% of the industry is a measured as profit centres, while China has 79% and India has 91% profit centres.

Of the up-sell and cross sell offers made by Malaysian contact centre agents (in the 42% of centres who recognised opportunities for revenue generation) the conversion rate of sales or offers to customers is 25% for inbound calls. The inbound conversion rate is lower than in Singapore (30%), Philippines (56%), India (56%), Thailand (57%) and Malaysia (35%) but higher than China (9%).

A promising result from the study was, when asked about revenue generation strategies in the contact centre, 89% of Malaysian contact centre executives (whose centres had revenue generation opportunities) stated that they had a sales strategy in place. One 11% stated that they had no revenue generation strategy.

Dr Catriona Wallace commented, “These results are important for the Malaysian contact centre industry as there is currently a global trend towards contact centres becoming profit centres and being the primary channel for sales and revenue generation. If Malaysia wishes to compete as an outsourcing destination then one of the core competencies the outsourcing sector has to develop as in other countries such as the Philippines and India, as well as in mature markets such as Australia and the US, is effective revenue generation techniques.”

According to the study, other areas that Malaysia contact centres are failing to capitalise on are next generation voice self-service and advanced speech recognition applications. Today, only 15% of Malaysian contact centres said they are using voice self-service (compared to 32% of Indian centres) and only 13% said they plan to implement it within the next 12 months. This low adoption rate is hindering Malaysian companies from achieving the efficiency gains and improvements to customer service that can be delivered by these advanced applications.

“Leading companies worldwide, including their CEOs, have recognised the power the contact centre has to drive customer loyalty and increase revenue,” said Michael McBrien, Senior Vice President, Genesys Asia Pacific. “To achieve this, companies need to expand their contact centre operations model by better segmenting customers and expanding the agent resource pool to experts to deliver targeted and relevant offers. Companies also need to understand and embrace the Web and next-generation voice self-service – these new technologies are redefining the customer experience and increasing companies’ ability to engage with their customers.

RESEARCH FACT SHEET

Key Findings of the 2008 Malaysian Contact Centre Industry Benchmarking Report

Using a combination of telephone and online interviews, 539 contact centre managers representing 2,488 contact centres across all industry segments in Singapore, China, India, The Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia were surveyed. Some of the key findings for Malaysia, where 85 contact centre executives were interviewed, were:

Growth in the average size of a Malaysian contact centre

The average size of a Malaysian contact centre has grown from 90 seats in 2007 to 167 seats in 2008. The growth rate of the overall industry is estimated to be about 17% growth since 2007 (from a base of 28,000 seats) to about 33,000 seats. This is one of the highest growth rates in the region.

Contact handling through channels

In Malaysia of all contacts handled by the contact centres, the following channel percentages apply:

Phone – live attendant only 44%
IVR and live attendant 29%
Email 9%
Fax 6%
Letters 3%
IVR only 3%
Speech 2%
SMS 2%
Self service Web 1%
Web chat voice 0.2%
Web chat text 0.1%


Contact Centre Technology Next Purchase

Over the next 12 months considerable investment will go into contact centre technology in the Asian region. The next planned technology purchase (top 3 budgeted and planned for) in contact centres in Malaysia are:

Interactive Voice Response (IVR) 12%
E-learning 8%
SMS (text messaging) 7%


Contact Centre Management Challenges

The greatest challenges over the next 12 months as expressed by the Malaysian contact centre executives include:

Improving Customer Satisfaction 31%
Staff Turnover 22%
Recruitment 8%