Malaysian SMEs goes global with a convenient and safer way to pay

Small and medium enterprises or SMEs play an important part in the economic growth in many countries. Although the contribution of local SMEs to Malaysia’s gross domestic product (GDP) may not be as significant as that in countries like the United States, Germany and China, Malaysian SMEs are expected to form an increasingly large percentage of business in the country, growing from the current 32 per cent to 41 per cent in the next eight years, as announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak at the launch of the SME Masterplan 2012-2020 in early July.

Due to their smaller size, SMEs often have limited resources. This creates challenges for most SMEs in growing their business further, but the growing acceptance and adoption of e-commerce is creating opportunities for SMEs to compete with larger businesses, as the rapid growth of technology year after year generates a digitally-savvy society comprising the majority of consumers. This trend is evidenced by the first PayPal Online and Mobile Insights study , that shows Malaysian shoppers moving to the online sphere and even on to mobile to shop, especially during festive seasons.

With the highest number of transaction recorded during the festive season last year, this indicates that online and mobile is inevitably a growing market that SMEs need to tap into in order to reach the audience, not just locally, but globally to strengthen their presence in the market. Rahul Shinghal, Director, PayPal Mobile Asia Pacific said, “Mobile commerce has taken off in a big way globally and here in Malaysia. The consumer demand is here, and the time is right for Malaysia’s retail industry to integrate mobile into their business strategies and offer faster and more secure mobile optimised checkout.”

Herbal Home is a growing local SME company in Malaysia, set up in 2008 with a team of 20 including factory staff, offering a range of products from herbal supplements to beauty products. Justin See, Head of IT for Herbal Home feels that Malaysian SMEs have huge growth potential if they are willing to explore and tap into the online market. He says Herbal Home first saw the potential of the online market a few years ago, and today Herbal Home’s strongest presence is in the Middle East, countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Algeria and Qatar and is also well-received in Europe, while the Malaysian market is only in the growth stage. .

For William Chong of Robotica Toys, the Internet has always been the preferred platform for his business since 2006. With products comprising collectibles and gaming peripherals from various brands in store and a number of returning customers, Robotica now has 2 physical stores located in the heart of Kuala Lumpur and Subang Jaya to give his returning and new customers a look and feel for his merchandise via his physical sales gallery.

When asked about the challenges he faces in taking his business further, William said, “Trust has always been an issue faced by online merchants like myself. Regardless whether I am a seller or a buyer, where security is concerned, everyone in general needs assurance that the website is safe and credible, and their financial information is not exposed while making transactions.”

In the PayPal Online and Mobile Safety Insights 2011 study in Malaysia, which was released in June 2012, it was reported that the value of trust and security are top concerns when consumers shop online. Nearly 80 per cent of respondents said they would only spend up to RM150 on an unfamiliar website, whereas 50 per cent of respondents said they would spend greater than RM500 on a familiar website. This means that there is a huge potential for attracting more traffic and shoppers to their online stores if local SMEs ensure that the right payment methods with the lowest risk of fraud is being used.

Penelope Gan, owner of Malaysia’s leading online scrapbooking community store Scrap-n-Crop, feels that as a merchant, she understands the concerns on sharing financial information online among her consumers as it might expose them to various threats. Penelope used the example of industry giant eBay, where the market is big but payment is still safe and convenient for both buyers and sellers. Local and international transactions were a breeze for Penelope once she started using a trusted payment platform like PayPal. Scrap-n-Crop now has visitors and customers not only in Malaysia, but from around the world as well, from countries such as the United States, Australia and Singapore, where scrapbooking is a bigger hobby.

As a leading payment gateway, PayPal offers consumers and merchants a secured environment to make safer online transactions. Users are protected and their financial details will not be accessible by other parties that accept PayPal. In addition to protecting personal and financial information, PayPal offers a Buyer Protection policy which helps protect online shoppers if they don't receive an item they have purchased from websites that accept PayPal, or if they receive an item which is significantly different from the description on the seller’s website.


马来西亚中小型企业借助方便且更安全付账法迈向全球化。

中小型企业或 SMEs 在许多国家的经济成长方面扮演重要角色。尽管我国中小型企业对马来西亚国内生产总值(GDP)的贡献没有美国，德国和中国同业那么显著，预料马来西亚中小型企业将在国内商业领域占更大的比重，即由目前的 32 巴仙增至未来八年的 41 巴仙，这是首相拿督斯里纳吉于 7 月初¹ 为 2012-2020 中小型企业大蓝图主持推介礼时公布的。

由于规模较小，中小型企业经常面对资源有限的问题。这使到大多数中小型企业在扩充业务方面面对挑战，然而，电子商务正日益普及和获接纳为中小型企业创造商机的工具，以便与规模较大的企业竞争，随着年复一年迅速进展的科技创造了由大多数消费人组成的数码化社会。这项趋势由第一届 PayPal 在线和移动洞察调查可见一斑，该调查显示马来西亚购物人士正朝向在线领域，甚至选择移动购物，尤其是在佳节期间。

由于去年佳节期间的交易次数是历来最高的，这显示在线和移动交易乃是中小型企业所不能忽略的成长中市场，唯有这样，它们才能够覆盖国内和全球顾客，并巩固它们的市场地位。PayPal Mobile 的亚洲太平洋主管 Rahul Shinghal 指出，"移动商务已在全球各地和马来西亚取得长足进展。有了现成的消费人需求，目前正是马来西亚零售业将移动系统纳入商业策略中的时机，以呈献更快捷和安全的移动优化结账法。"

Herbal Home 是马来西亚一家成长中的中小型企业，它成立于 2008 年和拥有 20 名员工，包括工厂工人。该公司供应系列齐全的产品，包括草药补充品乃至美容产品。Herbal Home 的资讯科技主管 Justin See 认为马来西亚中小型企业具有很大的成长潜能，只要它们肯发掘和进军在线市场。他指出，Herbal Home 是于几年前发现在线市场的潜能，时至今日，Herbal Home 的最大市场是在中东国家如阿拉伯联合酋长国，沙特阿拉伯，阿尔及利亚和卡塔尔，并于欧洲广受欢迎，反而在马来西亚市场还处于成长阶段。

对于 Robotica Toys 的 William Chong 而言，互联网一直是他自 2006 年以来的首选平台。Robotica 的产品包括各种商店品牌的珍藏品和游戏周边产品，以及许多回头顾客，目前它已拥有两家位于吉隆坡和首邦市中心地点的商店，让其回头顾客和新顾客有机会实实在在地欣赏和感觉各种货品。

询及他在扩充业务方面所面对的挑战时，William 说道，"诚信一向来是像我这么一位在线商家所面对的课题。不管我是买家或卖家，在安全感方面，一般上人人都希望网站提供安全和信誉保证，而进行交易时是无从了解它们的财务状况的。"

在 2012 年 6 月发布的马来西亚 2011 年度 PayPal 在线和移动洞察调查显示，消费人在进行在线购物时最关注诚信分安全水平。将近 80 巴仙的受访者表示他们只愿意在不熟悉的网站消费不超过 RM150，而 80 巴仙的受访者表示他们肯在熟悉的网站消费超过 RM500。这意味着，若国内的中小型企业能够确保采用诈骗风险最低的正确付账方法，它们的在线商店将具有吸引更多点击次数和购物人士的巨大潜能。

马来西亚顶尖在线剪贴簿社区商店 Scrap-n-Crop 的东主 Penelope Gan 认为，身为一位商家，她能理解其消费人对互相分享网上财务讯息的隐忧，因为这样可能会导致他们暴露在各种威胁之下。Penelope 以业界巨擘 eBay 作为例子，尽管其市场庞大大，但付账法对买卖双方仍是安全和方便的。对 Penelope 而言，自从她开始使用可信赖的付账平台如 PayPal 以来，进行本地和国际交易已变得轻而易举。现在，除了来自马来西亚之外，Scrap-n-Crop 的浏览者和顾客也来自世界各地，包括美国，澳洲和新加坡等，这些国家有更多爱好剪贴簿的人士。

作为顶尖的付账门户网站，PayPal 为消费人和商家制造了一个进行在线交易更加安全的环境。用户们享有保障，他们的财务详情也不会被其他接受 PayPal 者知晓。除了保护个人和财务资料之外，PayPal 也备有买家保护政策，它有助保障那些通过接受 PayPal 的网站采购，但没有收到货物的在线购物人士，后者他们所收到的货物与卖方之网站所描绘者有显著的分别。