M’sia’s e-commerce has grown by 47%: FB

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s e-commerce sector has grown by 47% from 2015 and is now worth US$2.41 billion (US$1=RM4.23), said Facebook Malaysia country director Nicole Tan.

She said on average, Malaysians spent 187 minutes daily on their mobile phones, and businesses as such should take the opportunity to implement the right e-commerce strategy to promote products and services.

“With Southeast Asia being pegged as the new frontier for e-commerce, it is critical for consumer goods businesses to implement the right strategy for their brand,” she said at the launch of Facebook’s Discover Growth campaign yesterday.

“Facebook in Malaysia is here to partner large and small businesses. We see ecommerce as a great opportunity to grow,” said Tan.

While e-commerce contributed less than 1% of sales in Southeast Asia, she said the sector is predicted to grow 10-fold by 2020, creating both opportunities and challenges for the consumer goods industry.

Facebook also revealed new holiday shopping data, indicating the shopping season for consumers begins as early as October with 18% more daily online purchases than average.

About 88% more online purchases happened in the fourth quarter of 2016 compared to the rest of the year, while peaking on the biggest shopping day of the year on Nov 11. – Bernama