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％。