Rakuten Online Shopping Targets Growth with Expansion of Fashion & Accessories Category

Recent Rakuten Super Sale Validates Fashion Focus for Japan-based Online Shopping Giant

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 4 April 2014 – Rakuten, one of the world’s largest Internet service companies and owner of Malaysian marketplace Rakuten Online Shopping, is set to attract more clicks this year with the expansion of its fashion and accessories category. Today, the brand’s number of fashion merchants has multiplied by 8 times since its foray into the local market two years ago.

This growth reflects the increasing demand by Malaysian shoppers, especially for fashion items. Over the last two years, Rakuten has seen a steady 25% increase in member sign-ups each month, and a 400% increase in the number of orders received. The brand aims to continue achieving similar growth this year.

“According to the Malaysia E-Commerce Index which was released in August last year, clothing, accessories and jewellery accounted for 59.5% of the items purchased online. This made fashion and accessories the top-ranking category, compared to health and beauty (39.9%) and consumer electronics (34.7%). With Internet users also expected to increase to 25 million next year, we anticipate 2014 as a year of growth for us and our dedicated merchants,” said Masaya Ueno, President & CEO of Rakuten Online Shopping.

Boasting almost 18,000 products from over 80 merchants in the fashion and accessories category, consumers can enjoy an exciting line-up of clothing and fashion accessories, including bags, shoes and jewellery for women and men, from some of Malaysia’s top and up-and-coming retailers on Rakuten Online Shopping, including Toki Choi, Poh Kong, Afraldo Online Fashion, Bagstation, Crocs, and more.

The expansion of its fashion and accessories category is also in line with the brand’s second-ever Rakuten Super Sale campaign, which is set to take place in April.

“Empowering merchants and consumers is at the heart of our business. Over the past year, our team has worked tirelessly with our merchants to help them expand their reach through multichannel offerings. Our ambition is to create a global e-commerce platform, so that merchants and consumers can sell and shop from around the world.” said Masaya.

Rakuten's strength lies in its unique B2B2C model, which provides SMEs as well as larger-scale merchants with a global platform to expand their sales and visibility. The company does not only provide the training and knowledge to run a profitable online business, but encourages merchants and customers to form closer relationships beyond that of a seller and buyer. With the B2B2C model, merchants can build online storefronts on Rakuten and sell directly to consumers. Through this model Rakuten is also able to empower merchants with the e-commerce platform, tools and know-how they need to run successful online businesses while providing consumers with a new and interactive online shopping experience.

As Rakuten continues to strengthen its foothold in Malaysia, the brand will focus on bringing in more merchants in the fashion and accessories category as well as broadening its offerings in other key categories such as beauty & healthcare, IT & electronics, toys & games, kids, baby and maternity products.

M-Commerce to gain more than 50% of traffic share

PricePanda records large growth of mobile traffic share

Berlin, March 20th, 2014 – The importance of M-commerce in the world economy has grown tremendously, as the traffic deriving from retail websites has been augmented from mobile devices. Smartphones and tablets have gained popularity and now are people´s everyday necessities. But what do people do when typing on their mobile devices? As the share of mobile traffic on its website has been growing constantly over the last year and now accounts for 45%, PricePanda (www.pricepanda.com), the leading price comparison website, predicts that soon the majority of visits on retail websites will come from mobile devices. Reacting to the growing popularity of M-Commerce PricePanda launched a mobile app that is available for iOS and Android last October and a mobile optimized website, both of which are regularly updated.

Christian Schiller, co-founder of PricePanda: “As M-commerce empowers users to make quick shopping decisions at any time and place, it satisfies the needs of our today´s society for flexibility. In November last year only a third of the entire traffic on our website originated from smartphones and tablets. We now have a record of 45% and are optimistic that this growth is not about to stop. In last December, especially the Christmas shopping period greatly pushed M-commerce, resulting in mobile traffic rocketing by 6%. Until now the mobile traffic on PricePanda gained two percentage points each month in this year. If this growth will continue in June the 50% mark will be broken creating a huge drive of traffic.”

Along with the growth of traffic through M-commerce, sales have grown, too. A study by research company Emarketer revealed that M-commerce sales made up 16% of the entire retail E-commerce sales last year. In the future, this share is expected to grow by three percentage points per year up to a quarter in 2016.

Therefore M-commerce will become a fundamental part of the economy as it contributes in two ways: On the one hand people make purchases from their mobile devices and consequently push online sales, but on the other hand people use their gadgets as a mobile research tool before carrying out the transaction from their home desktop or in a shop. What is evidently shown in the study by Emarketer is the difference between smartphone and tablet contributions towards retail M-commerce sales. 62% shares of all retail M-commerce sales deriving from tablets are outperforming smartphones and within three years tablets are predicted extend its lead with gaining another 10% of share in the next three years.

Malaysian Professional Supermodel Unveils ‘STARS.my’

Malaysia’s FIRST premier celebrity online marketplace that offers consumers an exclusive access to the celebrities’ fashion and lifestyle

Kuala Lumpur, 03 December 2013 – Exabytes Network Sdn Bhd (‘Exabytes’), Malaysia’s largest web hosting provider, today announces that Malaysian professional supermodel, Amber Chia has officially launched her first celebrity online marketplace —STARS.my, powered by Exabytes’ ecommerce platform–Easy.my.

Perceived as the prestigious version of ‘eBay’, Stars.my is a premium hotspot for anybody to get a piece of celebrity fashion featuring celebrities’ recommended  clothing, styling accessories, gadgets, and more coming exciting items.  

Amber Chia, the co-founder of STARS.my, shares, “Stars.my is an online platform where local and international celebrities to put their loved and secondhand authentic fashion items on sale. In addition, this celebrities’ boutique will also feature exclusive brand new items that celebrities have in mind to recommend and share with their fans.”  

“Every item sold through Stars.my comes with a card printed with the celebrity’s self digital autograph and ‘thank you’ note,” adds Chia.

She shares, “For starters, we have successfully signed on a few local celebrities to participate and reach out to the online market via Stars.my. Moving forward, we are planning to feature items from international celebrities as well.”

Capitalizing on eCommerce Market

Chia acknowledges, “Ecommerce is growing popular with more Malaysians going online to shop anytime and anywhere. Hence, the concept of Stars.my the most appealing and natural avenue for people to gain access to celebrities’ fashion, lifestyles and trends in the fastest way.”

“In addition, Stars.my serves as a bridge to build a closer relationship between the celebrities, their fans and followers. It is a wonderful opportunity for them to obtain prominent celebrity-style fashions by just a click away.”

Chia adds, “I opted Easy.my because of its comprehensiveness that allows me to set up the celebrity online marketplace with secure payment gateways and interactive web interface within a very short period. The excellent technical support from Easy.my will further assure my customers’ shopping experiences.”

Updates on Easy.my

Exabytes’ Chief Executive Officer, Chan Kee Siak also shares, “Easy.my is one of the top ecommerce market place in Southeast Asia with more than 10,000 online merchants on board.”
     
“Over the recent nine months, Easy.my platform has performed exceptionally well with doubled growth in transaction value. This has also exemplified the strong trend of Malaysia ecommerce activities. ”

“Recently, Easy.my has also released its Monthly Leisure Magazine – “Easy.my Corner” that features new hot items in the local ecommerce market especially in the areas of fashion, restaurants, home aspects, travels and leisure, and more. As of today, the magazine has circulation in Penang,   mainly at coffee joint points, hotels, over 50 food and beverage outlet networks, major shopping malls, the Penang airport and some key tourist spots. And, we are planning to expand its circulation in Klang Valley by 2014. ”
   
Chan adds, “Hosting on Easy.my has instantly enabled Amber to reach out to Easy.my’s existing active customer base to sell unlimited units and various types of products at any point of time.”  

Chia ends, “Moving forward, I will look to gather more multinational celebrities and celebrity friends of mine to offer a greater variety and more exclusive sales on Stars.my.”


馬來西亞專業名模推出“ STARS.my ”

馬來西亞首個名人网络消费市場提供消費者一個了解及体验名人時尚和生活方式的频道

吉隆坡，3日讯 - Exabytes Network 有限公司 (‘Exabytes’)，馬來西亞最大的網站託管服務提供商，今天宣布馬來西亞專業名模謝麗萍已經正式推出了她的第一個名人网络消费市場 - STARS.my ，并由Exabytes的Easy.my電子商務平台搭載 。

Stars.my将为大众带来特色名人推薦的服裝，造型配件和用品等等，以及未來更多令人興奮的商品。

謝麗萍， STARS.my的聯合創办人表示， “ Stars.my是我們把本地及國際名人所喜愛和使用后的二手時尚商品收集起来，然后摆放上網络平台銷售。”

“每一個通過Stars.my所售出的產品将隨附印有名人的自我电子簽名聲明卡和感谢注词。”

謝麗萍还表示，“Stars.my的概念是讓人們獲得名人時尚和生活贴士的最快方法。”

她補充說，“我選擇Easy.my主要是因为它的全面性讓我在很短的時間內快速設立起具有支付網關和交互式网络界面的网络消费市場。”

Exabytes的创办人兼总监，曾淇赐表示, “Easy.my有超過10,000名的网络商家，并且也是在東南亞区頂級領先的電子商務市場之一。”
     
“在过去的九個月， Easy.my平台表現超卓，在交易價值达成倍的增長。這也體現出馬來西亞電子商務活動的強勁增長。” 曾淇赐结尾。

Red Bull Launches State-of-the-Art Global B2B Portal with hybris software

The hybris B2B Commerce Suite provides a highly flexible and user-friendly order management portal for global retailers and distributors

Singapore, December 3, 2013 – hybris software, an SAP company and the world’s fastest-growing commerce platform provider, has announced that Red Bull has implemented a new global B2B order management portal based on the hybris B2B Commerce solution. The portal, known as the SOET 2.0 Solution, provides a highly flexible solution for quick and easy order entry for global retailers and distributors placing orders with the beverage brand across multiple channels. Launched in March 2013, the global roll-out was completed in June 2013 and 79 countries are now using Red Bull’s order management portal utilizing hybris’ B2B Commerce solution.

Founded by Dietrich Mateschitz in the mid-1980s and inspired by functional drinks from the Far East, Red Bull is currently available in more than 165 countries. As part of its global expansion strategy, the company was looking for an order management solution that could deliver all the functionality of its incumbent in-house solution on a flexible platform. Prior to selecting hybris, Red Bull used a costly inhouse solution which was time-intensive to maintain and lacked the scalability needed to support business expansion and multi-channel commerce. Red Bull also needed a solution that provided aquicker and more efficient shopping experience for retailers and distributors.

“Red Bull is a highly recognized and respected brand around the world. We needed a commerce platform that delivers an exceptional level of service to our B2B customers,” said Christian Stoxreiter, head of Red Bull’s business application team. “The flexibility of our new and innovative online B2B store enables us to provide a user interface that creates a highly personalized shopping experience for our customers, as advanced as any of the best consumer sites customers are accustomed to using.”

On evaluating the market, hybris stood out due to its ranking by Gartner1, in addition to the ease with which it integrated with Red Bull’s existing ERP system from SAP. Additional benefits experienced on implementation were hybris’ master data management and order orchestration capabilities which, teamed with an intuitive user interface, significantly streamlined the order processes for Red Bull’s customers and minimized the company’s total cost of ownership.

The platform was implemented by hybris’ partner, exc.io, using the hybris B2B Commerce Accelerator, 1 Magic Quadrant for E-Commerce” (May 2013) a production-ready, customizable, multi-channel framework designed for business-to-business trading.

The flexibility of the solution enables it to support Red Bull’s indirect and direct sales models, with the additional capability for large regions to act as sales hubs for smaller surrounding landscapes. Its extensive order tracking system provides Red Bull with the ability to export to a wide range of formatsand develop separate purchasing conditions that are tailored to the B2B portal.

“While there are undoubtedly greater complexities involved for the B2B market, the simple truth applies for both B2B and B2C – the success of acquiring and retaining customers depends heavily on delivering exactly what they want,” said Mark Holenstein, Senior Vice President, EMEA, at hybris software. “Industry-leading organizations like Red Bull understand this necessity and we’re proud to work with the brand to deliver a highly productive, state-of-the-art business customer experience to further build on customer satisfaction and maximize its conversion rates and revenues.”

Due to the capabilities of the hybris Commerce Suite, Red Bull will leverage the B2B Commerce platform’s best-in-class functionalities to support future B2B and B2C initiatives across the brand.

To find out more about hybris B2B Commerce, visit http://www.hybris.com/en/products/b2b-application

Exabytes Launches EBiz Power Hosting with Mobility Features

ASEAN’s leading website hosting company offers mobility-enhanced solution as part of strategy to achieve 70,000 Customers by 2014

KUALA LUMPUR, 20 August 2013 – Exabytes Network Sdn Bhd (‘Exabytes’), a Malaysian web and cloud hosting provider, today launches its latest all-in-one web hosting solution, the “EBiz Power Hosting” plan that it has customized for SMB entrepreneurs across the region.  

The newly launched EBiz Power Hosting plan is an all-in-one web-hosting package for companies to set up their own business domain, immediately run eCommerce activities, and address all their IT security concerns in a single sign up.

Chan Kee Siak, CEO and founder of Exabytes Network Sdn Bhd shares, “No doubt that the Internet world moves very quickly, with changing challenges and competition. So instead of spending resources to manage the business’ online representation – in its website appearance, network traffic, security and hosting accessibility issues, business owners really should focus more on their product and service marketing strategy for better chances of eCommerce survival.”

“Exabytes’ EBiz Power Hosting plan was developed with these business concerns in mind; as we are committed to bring the most value-added solutions to our customers so that they can expect to have all their web hosting and online business taken care off at minimal costs.

“The new Exabytes EBiz Power Hosting Plan combined Generous Web Disk Space, Website Builder, Mobile Site Builder, Website Marketing Tool, Website Security Tool and Enterprise Class Email & Communication Tool in one package so that customers doesn’t have to worry or confused on what they need to subscribe as now they get all the tools under one plan as a bundle. This provides better values added and great savings to customers,” adds Chan.

Web-hosting Meets Mobility

Capitalizing on the growing mobility trends, Exabytes’ EBiz Power Hosting offering has incorporated an intuitive mobile website builder function called the “GoMobi”, which extends the web-hosting service package to include a special feature to set up a mobile presence, in order for the SME business or entrepreneur to reach out to the growing smartphone consumer market in Malaysia

This new special function allows Exabytes customers to set up a mobile version of their main Internet website, which is compatible to various mobile Operating Systems (OS), such as iOS, BlackBerry, Android/Chrome and Windows, in order to cater to all the different and popular mobile users devices.

Additionally, the “Killer” feature of Exabytes EBiz Power Hosting is the German-based enterprise class email and communication tool known as “Open-Exchange OX App Suite”.

OX App Suite is an innovative communication and collaboration platform serving as an intuitive and Web-based mobile interface that integrates email, documents, office productivity, scheduling and social media.
Chan adds, “Companies are increasingly looking for one-stop solution providers to support their hosting and online business operation demands.”

“Business-class email, scheduling, file management and social networking are all killer applications for small and mid-sized businesses as well as for consumers. OX App Suite meets these requirements and capabilities, and delivers it under a single and modern integrated user interface.”

The Six main features of the Exabytes EBiz Power Hosting plan essential for Online Website set-up and operations are namely GoMobi (Mobile Site Builder), SiteLock (Web security), cPanel (control panel with GUI), OpenXchange (Groupware for tasks, contacts and emails management), Attracta SEO (Search Engine Optimisation tool) and SiteBuilder (DIY web design software).

“Exabytes has made EBiz Power Hosting incredibly affordable at a starting fee of as low as just RM5 per user per month. We are confident that market users will embrace this plan as their way to really start taking advantage of eCommerce for their business.”

For more information and promotion discount on sign up, please visit http://www.exabytes.com.my/web-hosting/sme-ebiz-power-hosting/.

Business Update: Target to achieve 70,000 Customers by 2014

In conjunction with the solution launch, Chan says that EBiz Power Hosting is part of the company’s bigger strategy to expand its web solutions offerings portfolio to grow the company’s market share.

Chan says, “Web hosting is the core business of Exabytes, which contributes up to 90 percent of our business revenue. The remaining income is from the ecommerce business division. Exabytes’ revenue breakdown remains at 75 percent from the local market, and 25 percent from overseas,” adding that the EBiz Power Hosting offering will bring us more new customers.

Since establishment in 2004, Exabytes has grown and became today’s leading Web hosting provider with the largest market share at 26 percent in Malaysia.

“The company’s customer base has consistently grow over 10 percent on a year-on-year basis for the past three years consecutively. Till date, the company has over 65,000 customers across 121 countries worldwide and is geared to toward achieving RM 20million in group revenue by 2014,” ends Chan.

GROUPON MALAYSIA DISCOVERS E-COMMERCE POPULARITYgroup

Hari Raya Shopping Trend Unveiled

KUALA LUMPUR, 16th AUGUST 2013 – A recent survey by Groupon Malaysia has discovered that as many as 31% of Malaysian consumers preferred to do their Hari Raya shopping via online platforms.

“Being a core component of social e-commerce in Malaysia, we sought to utilize this survey as a means of better understanding consumer spending habits to be able to constantly improve our own services and offers which in turn allows us to generate the very best deals possible. As such we were pleased to discover that the industry continues to grow in popularity with shopping trends around even more traditional celebrations generating a considerable boost to the number of online transactions.” said Rafiq Razali, Country General Manager of Groupon Malaysia.

According to a study conducted by Nielsen in 2011, Malaysia’s online commerce sector had grown to a value of RM 1.97 billion (US$ 654 million) in transactions, a growth of 9% compared to 2010, demonstrating the potential for significant growth in the years to come.

Rafiq also added that as the nation’s leading social e-commerce platform, he hopes that more and more Malaysians would appreciate the value of platforms such as Groupon in aiding in the growth of their business potential.

“Social e-commerce continues to perform at a healthy pace in Malaysia and has in very real ways provided SME’s, entrepreneurs and even national brands with a revitalisation of commercial activity. Through this survey as well as numerous other initiatives geared towards supporting our merchant partners we hope to provide enterprising Malaysians and businesses with unique opportunities to create amazing life experiences for their customers, for years to come.” said Rafiq.

The Groupon Malaysia Hari Raya survey was conducted via online channels from amongst the company’s subscriber base in Malaysia. For further information regarding Groupon Malaysia visit www.groupon.my

STARBUCKS JOINS FORCES WITH FOODPANDA

foodpanda ties up with Starbucks, KFC and Subway

KUALA LUMPUR, 26th June, 2013 – Food delivery e-commerce website, www.foodpanda.my ties up with leading international food chains including Starbucks, Tony Roma’s, Old Town White Coffee and Morganfields. This provides an additional sales channel for these restaurants and a digital way to reach out to their customers.

foodpanda.my has become the biggest food delivery service in Malaysia. “We are proud to be working alongside these brands and delivering a greater variety of food delivery choices to Malaysians” says Claudio Abitante, Managing Director of foodpanda.my. He adds “We are still working hard to bring in more brands and better food variety, expect to see all leading international food brands in Malaysia on foodpanda in the next few months.”

In the last weeks, www.foodpanda.com has teamed up with market leading restaurant partners all over Asia. Besides Starbucks in Malaysia, the list of foodpanda’s partner restaurants includes Pizza Hut in India, KFC in Pakistan, Subway, Gloria Jean’s Coffees, NYDC, BreadTalk, Tokyo Deli in Vietnam and Scoozi Pizza in Thailand. Further, foodpanda Singapore has merged with Singapore Dine, making it the number one food delivery service in the country.

"We think having a delivery service will bring greater convenience to Old Town White Coffee customers. Busy customers need not come to our outlets - instead have us go to them” says Ben Chiew, General Manager, Operations Division of Old Town White Coffee.

“Now everyone can enjoy Tony Roma’s world famous ribs, seafood, steaks, burgers & much more, right in the comfort of the home or in the office." says Adam Mah, Operations Manager at Tony Roma’s. He adds "Anytime is a great time for Tony Roma’s!"

To celebrate this tie-up, foodpanda.my will be offering free delivery for these brands from 1st to 8th July 2013.

You can order from foodpanda.my via their website, iOS and Android application.

PayPal Data Shows Online Exports Boost Growth for Innovative Small Businesses in Malaysia

Malaysia, 25 June 2013 – PayPal, a leader in the global e-commerce market, today released data underlining Malaysia’s success and potential in trading online with the world, and identifies online exports as an effective channel for local Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to reach millions of consumers overseas and sell to the global marketplace.

According to the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation, Malaysia’s exports rose by 0.6% in 2012 . With SMEs accounting for over 97.3% of all businesses in Malaysia , they form the backbone of the economy and are expected to contribute significantly to the country’s export trade flow. As the economic landscape becomes increasingly competitive and overhead costs rise, SMEs will need to source for new avenues of business growth, to propel their businesses to the next level.

Photo of Audrey Ottevanger, Country Manager for Malaysia & Philippines, PayPal at the media roundtable.

Unlike traditional exports, exports via e-commerce saw high growth rates in Malaysia, underscoring the potential for SMEs to explore new revenue streams in a wide range of online export categories. PayPal data (Figure 1) showed that PayPal merchants in Malaysia grew their businesses significantly faster by using cross-border e-commerce to export to key trade corridors in 2012. For example, while traditional exports to China, Malaysia’s top trading partner, declined by 3.1%  in 2012, local PayPal merchants increased their online export sales to China by 35%. Malaysia saw lifts in traditional export growth to other key trading partners, Japan (1.9%) and USA (5.4%) , however, local PayPal merchants were able to register higher, double-digit export growth online of 57% to Japan, and 19% to USA. Strong growth was also registered in Malaysia’s other major export markets, Singapore (40%) and Australia (19%).

Figure 1: PayPal merchants took advantage of online export opportunities and registered higher, double-digit growth rates in 2012, highlighting the immense opportunity e-commerce offers local Malaysian businesses.

While computers & accessories, books & magazines and electronics were the top online export categories for Malaysia, the top purchases on mobile devices were software and fashion items. As local businesses venture into the e-commerce space, understanding the different online buying behaviours and preferences of their customers across various platforms is vital as they develop their business strategies.

The high growth of online exports in Malaysia can be attributed to savvy local small businesses creating products and services which are in high demand by an international audience at competitive prices, and offering the convenience of online purchases to global buyers with secure payment transactions. With the rise in the purchasing power of the global consumer, there is a clear call to action for Malaysian SMEs to take advantage of these trends, and position Malaysia as an e-commerce trading hub.

“As a globally trusted payment platform with a vision of connected commerce, our primary business in Malaysia is to enable more convenient and more secure transactions for local merchants to sell to over 128 million active PayPal users in 193 markets worldwide. Our data and insights clearly show that Malaysian SMEs have a fantastic opportunity to reach out to millions of consumers globally, and aggressively expand into overseas markets through cross-border e-commerce. With welcome support from government initiatives geared at strengthening the SMEs’ online presence, we believe there is no better time for them to capitalise on the high-growth online export channel, especially during these tough economic times,” said Audrey Ottevanger, Country Manager for Malaysia & Philippines, PayPal.

Fictron Group, is an example of a PayPal merchant that has made significant headway selling electronic components and industrial automation parts around the world through online cross-border trade.

“We started off selling our products only within Malaysia. As the business grew, we moved into Singapore, and when we decided to expand into markets further away, we realized going online was the way to go, especially as a small business with a tight budget and no overseas presence. Today we have customers from all across the globe, including Canada, the USA and even the Middle East. We expect our business to grow by 20% in the next year.” said Keith Ooi, Director for Fictron Group. “When doing business online with international customers, they want to be able to make purchases conveniently from merchants they can trust. With PayPal, customers pay in just a few clicks. Our customers are more confident knowing they can pay with a globally-trusted payment platform, and don’t have to disclose their credit card information to a merchant they don’t know.”

More than simply enabling Malaysian businesses to sell to an international audience, PayPal also gives Malaysian consumers the opportunity to shop online from merchants around the world. While imports in Malaysia increased by 5.9% in 2012 , PayPal data (Figure 2) showed Malaysian PayPal users continue to love shopping in top markets, such as the USA (15% growth) and Great Britain (28% growth). However, the fastest-growing overseas shopping destinations include Japan (31% growth), China (29% growth) and Australia (29% growth), showing that savvy Malaysians are willing to shop around the world for the best deals online. Fashion was the top category for Malaysian PayPal users buying from global merchants, both online and on mobile devices.

Figure 2: Online overseas shopping by Malaysian PayPal users continued to accelerate, with Japan, China and Australia as the fastest-growing overseas shopping destinations in 2012.

As a global leader in e-commerce, PayPal processed total payment volume of US$145 billion in 2012, a 22% increase over the previous year. Cross-border trade accounted for 25% of PayPal’s total payment volume last year.

PayPal 数据显示在线出口促进
马来西亚创新小型企业的成长率

马来西亚 6 月 25 日讯 – PayPal，即全球电子商务市场的领导者，在今天发布的数据显示马来西亚在与全球进行在线交易方面的成功和潜能，并鉴定在线出口乃是本地中小型企业(SMEs)接触数以百万计海外消费人和向往全球市场的一个有效管道。

据马来西亚对外部贸易发展局透露，马来西亚的出口在 2012 年增长了 0.6％ 。在中小型企业占了马来西亚所有企业的 97.3％的情况下 ，他们构成经济的骨干，并预料将继续对国家的出口贸易流量作出显著贡献。随着经济状况变得日益竞争，开销成本亦不断增加，中小型企业有必要寻觅业务增长的新途径，以提升它们的业务至新的水平。

与传统出口有别的是，通过电子商务的出口在马来西亚取得高增长率，反映了中小型企业在系列广泛的在线出口市场开拓新收入来源的潜能。PayPal 的数据(图 1)显示，马来西亚的 PayPal 商家于 2012 年通过跨境电子商务，明显更快地发展它们的业务，即出口到主要贸易走廊。例如，马来西亚对其最大贸易伙伴中国的传统出口量在 2012 年降低了3.1% ，当地 PayPal 商家对中国的在线出口销售额却能激增 35％。马来西亚对其他主要贸易伙伴，日本(1.9％)和美国(5.4％) 的传统出口也取得增长，然而，当地 PayPal 商家却取得更高，双位数的在线出口成长率，即对日本 57% 及对美国19％。马来西亚对其他主要出口市场的成长也很强劲，即对新加坡(40％)和澳洲(19％)。

根据数据显示，电脑及配件，书籍及杂志和电子产品乃是马来西亚最畅销的在线出口产品，通过移动设备订购的最畅销出口产品则是软件和时尚产品。随着本地企业进军电子商务领域，在开发业务策略方面，它们有必要了解不同平台的顾客有着不同的在线购买习惯和喜好。

马来西亚在线出口的高增长可归功于精明的当地小企业为国际顾客创造了需求高但价格具竞争力的产品和服务，并提供在线售予买家的便利，以及安全的支付交易。

随着全球消费人之购买力的提升，马来西亚中小型企业确实有必要充分利用这些趋势以定位马来西亚为一个电子商务交易枢纽。

“作为一个以连接商务为使命与备受全球信赖的支付平台，我们在马来西亚的主要业务是提供当地商家更方便且更安全地销售至全球各地 193 个市场之超过 1 亿 2 千 8 百万名活跃的 PayPal 用户。我们的数据和见解清楚地显示，马来西亚的中小型企业现有一个绝佳的机会以接触全球数以百万计的消费人，并通过跨境电子商务积极拓展海外市场。随着政府倡议趋向加强中小型企业之在线优势，我们相信目前正是充分利用高增长在线出口管道的最佳时机，特别是在当今的艰辛经济时期，“ PayPal驻马来西亚和菲律宾经理 Audrey Ottevanger 指出。

Fictron 集团无疑是 PayPal 商家通过在线跨境贸易将电子元件和工业自动化零件销往世界各地，而取得长足进展的一个典范。

“在初期，我们只在马来西亚国内销售本公司的产品。随着业务的扩展，我们进军新加坡，当我们决定进军更遥远的市场时，才发现有必要建立在线交易系统，尤其是作为一家预算不大和缺乏海外分行的小企业。今天，我们的顾客遍布全球各地，包括加拿大，美国，甚至中东。我们预计本公司业务将于明年增长20％。“ Fictron 集团的董事 Keith Ooi 说道。“在与国际顾客进行在线交易时，他们希望能够方便地向他们信赖的商家采购。通过 PayPal，这些顾客只需点击鼠标就可支付。我们的顾客在晓得自己是通过全球信赖的支付平台支付后觉得更可靠与自信，因无需透露自己的信用卡讯息予他们所不认识的商家。“

PayPal不仅让马来西亚企业能够售卖予国际顾客而已，它更使到马来西亚消费人有机会向来自世界各地的商家进行在线购物。马来西亚的进口在 2012 年增长了 5.9％ ，PayPal 的数据(图2)也显示，马来西亚的 PayPal 用户依然乐于在顶级市场如美国(增长 15％)和英国(增长 28％) 购物。然而，增长最快的海外购物目的地则包括日本(增长 31％)，中国(增长 29％)和澳洲(增长 29％)，这显示精明的马来西亚人民乐于在全球各地进行最优惠的在线购物。时尚产品是马来西亚 PayPal 用户向全球商家购物的首选，包括通过在线和移动设备的交易。

作为全球电子商务的领导者，PayPal 在 2012 年处理了总额达 1450 亿美元的支付交易，比前一年增长了 22％。在去年，跨境贸易占 PayPal 支付交易总额的25％。

Rakuten Malaysia Banks on Mobile to Spur E-Commerce Growth

Establishing Malaysia’s first Corporate Official Account on LINE and a mobile-optimised site

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 5 June 2013 – Rakuten Malaysia today extended a series of mobile social properties on Rakuten Online Shopping aimed at spurring transaction and e-commerce growth in Malaysia. The new developments include a strategic partnership with leading mobile messaging service platform, LINE to establish a Corporate Official Account in Malaysia, as well as the introduction of its mobile-optimised version of Rakuten Online Shopping.

Through the partnership with LINE, Rakuten Online Shopping will be the first business entity to own a Corporate Official Account on the mobile messaging application in Malaysia. This will enable Rakuten Online Shopping to engage and interact with mobile users by providing real-time updates, news and promotions.

“This collaboration with LINE is part of Rakuten Online Shopping’s commitment to staying at the forefront of the latest trends in social shopping and e-commerce. LINE is a fun, entertaining, and engaging social application which falls perfectly in line with our ‘Shopping is Entertainment’ credo,” said Masaya Ueno, President and Chief Executive Officer of Rakuten Online Shopping. “The Rakuten Online Shopping Official Account is set to create an intimate channel for us to keep our customers informed on the best deals and encourage them take shopping on mobile.”

LINE Official Account is a global marketing platform that allows users a chance to befriend and communicate with their favourite brands and celebrities on LINE, the fastest growing mobile messenger boasting more than 160 million users worldwide. Fans can follow the messages, pictures and even video and audio clips sent from the accounts. Unlike other channels, these updates are sent to and displayed on users’ chat screen on their mobile devices, making the whole experience more personal.

Last year, Rakuten launched a similar initiative with LINE and established its Corporate Official Account in Taiwan. Today, it has grown to become the most popular LINE Official Account in Taiwan with over
2.6 million followers.

Enriched mobile shopping experience

In enabling users a greater online shopping experience on mobile devices, Rakuten Malaysia has also launched a mobile-optimised version of Rakuten Online Shopping. Shoppers can now visit the site directly on their mobile devices to seamlessly browse, purchase and pay on this mobile friendly marketplace. A mobile optimised site can potentially increase traffic by more than nine times, according to data collected when Rakuten.com launched similar enhancement in the United States .

The initiative to enhance mobile shopping experience represents part of its integral strategy to capitalise on Malaysia’s rapid growth in mobile commerce driven by increasing smartphone penetration and mobile social interaction. According to data from PayPal Online and Mobile Shopping Insights 2011, the mobile commerce market in Malaysia is projected to reach MYR3.43 billion, contributing to 60 percent of the overall online shopping market .

“The evolving e-commerce landscape is telling us that people want to shop when they want, where they want. Consumers are coming to expect a uniform brand experience across all available channels, whether online or on mobile. To meet this demand, we made our mobile platform more robust, faster and simple, while adding a layer of information push through the Official Account so shoppers can easily access the best deals online wherever they may be. We believe this would reenergise mobile shopping and contribute to a new e-commerce growth stream in Malaysia,” added Ueno.

Rakuten Online Shopping currently offers over 35,000 goods across a diverse mix of product categories, including consumer electronics, computer and IT, healthcare, fashion apparels, jewellery and accessories. Many top local and international retailers have launched shops on the online shopping mall, including Senheng Electric, Best Denki, CARiNG Pharmacy, Toys ‘R’ Us, and Poh Kong among others. Rakuten Online Shopping is one of the fastest growing e-commerce sites in Malaysia. The parent company of Rakuten Online Shopping is Rakuten, Inc., Japan's top internet services company and one of the world's largest e-commerce companies.

1.  Rakuten.com Shopping (formerly Buy.com), Buy.com enhances mobile shopping, reports strong growth in mobile traffic, June 2012