PETALING JAYA: Visa has launched ‘Where You Shop Matters’, an initiative that encourages consumers to support their local business, while helping SMEs go digital following the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, in alignment with the government’s ‘Buy Malaysian products campaign’ and Cuti-Cuti Malaysia campaign to encourage domestic travel.
The digital payment provider explained that the initiative is part of its broader small businesses strategy and part of its commitments to support 10 million small and micro businesses in Asia Pacific.
Its country manager, Ng Kong Boon commented that the ‘Where You Shop Matters’ campaign is aimed at rallying support for small businesses in Malaysia.
“In Malaysia, our focus is to help these small businesses embark on this digitalisation journey to start and grow their online presence. We are excited to offer SMEs an eCommerce toolkit, together with Visa commercial offers to help them start, manage and grow their online storefronts.”
Tourism Malaysia’s director general, Datuk Musa Yusof stated the agency and Visa will work together towards the recovery of Malaysia economy through local tourism and brands.
He noted that there has been increased appreciation for the local tourism industry since the interstate travel ban was lifted.
“Through Visa’s variety of offerings for cardholders, as well as local entrepreneurs, we believe we will continue to see an enhanced patriotism among Malaysians for locally made goods and services,” said Musa.
Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) CEO, Surina Shukri opined that Visa’s campaign, complements the ongoing Penjana Shop Malaysia Online initiative and the Penjana Micro, SMEs (MSMEs) e-commerce Campaign that was aimed to assist in the recovery of the country’s economy.
She also noted that the pandemic has been motivating a large number of local MSMEs and businesses to accelerate e-commerce adoption.
According to a recent Visa study conducted on Malaysians, found almost half of Malaysians intend to shop online more often, with 83% believing it is important for small businesses to have an online presence.
As part of the initiative, it has partnered with several eCommerce enablers such as BigCommerce, EasyStore, SiteGiant and StoreHub to encourage and help SMEs begin their journey to kickstart their businesses online.
To incentivise small businesses to kickstart their digital journey, these partners will be providing e-commerce starter packages including waivers on monthly subscriptions for small businesses who may be setting up their businesses online for the first time.
In addition, there will be a series of Visa commercial offers for small businesses to grow their online presence and manage their businesses digitally including advertising support and business office tools.
