Malaysia is one of the fast-growing countries in the eCommerce industry.
In fact, Malaysia’s eCommerce has grown extensively in the past decade.
A report by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) shows that Malaysia had a total of RM 1.09 trillion in eCommerce transactions in 2021- a whopping 21.8% growth compared to RM 896 billion in 2020.
But when is the best time for online merchants to tap into this opportunity and accelerate their growth?
The straightforward answer is festive occasions such as Online Shopping Days, Women’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Black Friday Sale, and other eCommerce events.
With good ideas and promotions, you can align your marketing strategies with events and festivals that are specific to a country.
A good example is Malaysia’s Independence Day.
To get started, create a seasonal marketing calendar that includes the hottest sale periods.
Now the next question is how to stand out among your competitors.
Let’s check out the three major types of online sale periods:
Online Shopping Days in Malaysia
- 11.11
- 12.12
- Mega Sale 9.9 and 10.10
Culture-driven Shopping Spree
- Chinese New Year
- Ramadan
- Christmas Eve
Other Noteworthy eCommerce Events
- MYCyberSALE
- Black Friday
- Cyber Monday
Marketing Strategies to Stand Out Among Competitors & Drive Sales
1. Overcome Your Target Market’s Challenges with Solutions
A great way to engage more consumers is to identify and solve their challenges.
By mapping out the challenges faced by your audience and really satisfying or resolving these thorny issues, you can stand out from the competition.
Let’s take the Mid-Autumn Festival (Mooncake Festival) as an example.
Most Malaysians love durians for their powerful aroma, distinctive taste, and custardy texture.
DURIA addressed the challenge of raising demand for durians by producing durian mooncakes in 2012.
By using pure Musang King durian as the main ingredient, each mouthful of their durian mooncakes is an indulgence—eating it is just like eating the whole durian in your mouth.
To understand their customers’ needs, businesses should always put themselves in their customers’ shoes.
By the way, if you are a big fan of durian mooncakes, you should consider DURIA, one of the best mooncake brands in Malaysia.
2. Discover Your Unique Selling Points
Finding your Unique Selling Points (aka USPs) involves understanding the features and benefits that are unique to your products and services.
USPs are what make you stand out from your competition.
For example, the unique selling point of Starbucks is “Love your beverage or let us know. We’ll always make it right”.
To become one of the most recognized brands in the world, Starbucks makes your drinks according to your standards.
3. Be Innovative and Creative
Although being innovative and creative in your products or services can be risky, it is one of the best ways to differentiate yourself.
Today, customer experience is of utmost importance. So it’s worth it for small businesses to try being innovative and creative in customer experience.
Moreover, creativity in marketing can encourage customers to purchase not just a Coke but a personalized bottle.
Coca-Cola has emphasized “sharing” Coke with our loved ones to encourage us to purchase not just one but many bottles.
Coca-Cola even tours the country to meet its customers and distribute customized cans.
These happy customers share their excitement on social media and indirectly advertise for Coke.
4. Use a Mobile-Friendly App/Channel
Malaysia’s eCommerce market has a medium level of competition because there are only a few big players.
As more and more local and international brands enter the eCommerce market in Malaysia, competition becomes stiffer.
The following are the major eCommerce brands in Malaysia. By using a mobile-friendly app/channel, online merchants can sell their products better and drive more sales.
- Shopee
- Lazada Group
- Lelong
- Zalora
- Astro GS
For example, TikTok has announced the launch of its eCommerce platform known as TikTok Shop.
The company makes it possible for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to conduct their business without a brick-and-mortar store.
5. Provide a Wide Range of Payment Options
Malaysians prefer to buy online because it is easy to do so.
When compared to COD, choosing online payment means less physical contact.
Moreover, 20% of buyers who shop online do so because they can buy what they want with zero interest.
Also, young people who don’t have a credit card can use online banking or an e-wallet, and most of them do.
Therefore, it’s wise for online merchants to offer a wide range of payment options to their customers to drive more sales.
6. Stand Out Visually
You can solidify your brand values into imagery and visual marketing graphics using your logo, mission statement, and marketing materials.
Whether you run a fashion boutique, a jewellery shop, or a small, style-focused business, it’s important to have a creative custom logo design for your marketing materials.
For example, if you own a boutique, your boutique logo should be used everywhere, from signage to product packaging and social media accounts.
Therefore, it’s important to have a custom logo design that aligns with your product aesthetics and the other related products.
Design custom graphics that match your brand and promote your new products.
Additionally, you can update older graphics to create some attention for the new products in glamourous graphics, adding them to your marketing schedule.
7. Video Marketing
Video marketing should be a big part of how you promote your brand and products. Why? People love videos, plain and simple.
Video Content on IG is On Fire
Instagram started out as an app for sharing instant photos taken with your phone’s camera.
Today, it’s all about Instagram Stories. In fact, Instagram’s own data shows that 500 million people look at Stories every day.
These numbers tell us a lot. This is especially true for small businesses, whose stories make up a third of Instagram’s most-viewed ones.
But that’s not the end of it. Think about what goes viral. What medium spreads the most? Why do pet videos and dance challenge videos get shared so quickly?
Video Marketing Made Easy!
Don’t know anything about video marketing? Check out Exabytes’ Creative Video Marketing services!
Our expert team creates mobile-driven, impactful video content for you so that your brand stands out from the competition.
From TikTok to IG Reels, Facebook, YouTube and video advertising, we make out-of-the-box video content for your small business that will get a lot of attention and help you drive more sales.
Roundup
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Let us help you run your small and medium business online.
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Moreover, you will be served by an experienced account manager who has extensive experience in marketplaces and marketing platforms.
For further information, get in touch with us today.
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