The MarchExpo by Alibaba.com, which ran from 5 March to the 31 March saw sales, visibility and inquiries from global buyers increase sharply for Malaysian firms interested in wholesale exports. Supported by MDEC and MATRADE, the online B2B festival enabled Malaysian SMEs to connect with both buyers and suppliers worldwide and discover new business opportunities through the Alibaba.com online platform.
A whopping 64.48% increase in daily inquiry numbers by Malaysian merchants during the March Expo, have seen their ability to convert visitors to active buyers increase by 47.63% as well. Malaysian food and beverage products, beauty and personal care products, furniture, home and garden products, and rubber and plastic products earmarked as having the biggest growth potential in the area of cross-border trade. Many products within these categories had impressive increases in exports.
Terry Jiang, eWTP Malaysia B2B Project Director says “The Expo is a unique event for Malaysian small business owners who are keen to learn how to access and succeed in the global trade. It opens doors to new opportunities and empowers brands and consumers to connect globally through Alibaba’s ecosystem. Malaysia is the first overseas market to participate in the expo and there will be more initiatives such as this for overseas SMEs to capitalize on export opportunities.”
Dato’ Ng Wan Peng, Chief Operating Officer, MDEC says, “Our collaboration with Alibaba, which includes initiatives such as the March expo remains fundamentally the same, which is to drive equal global trading opportunities for Malaysian SMEs, and focus on encouraging and enabling them to penetrate the export market,”
Malaysian merchants averaged a 46.67% increase in number of unique visitors to their sites during the expo. Attractive shop layouts, better product displays, engaging multimedia, high-quality product videos and comprehensive product information produced positive responses from both visitors and buyers.
Noraslan Hadi Abdul Kadir, MATRADE Director of Transformation and Digital Trade Division says, “SMEs can now enter the global market at an affordable cost through eTRADE Programme under MATRADE, at a rate that is much faster compared to the conventional way of doing trade, hence turning them into global entrepreneurs.”
Alibaba’s March Expo is one of many initiatives designed to help SMEs take advantage of global trading opportunities. The expo is the latest showcase in Alibaba’s realisation of eWTP pilot at the Digital Free Trade Zone in Malaysia.
