SITEC Launches Second Iteration of National e-Commerce Competition and Awards

Shah Alam, June 9 —.SITEC blazed trails last year with the launch of the nation’s very first e-commerce competition, the Malaysia Top E-Commerce Merchant Award.

This prestigious award seeks to reward the most successful, creative and innovative homegrown e-merchants with a titillating prize pool of RM 25,000 in cash and other attractive prizes in kind.

At the same time, merchants who take part can benefit from increased recognition and opportunities to further increase their brand’s presence amongst the industry and consumers, seeing as voting from the latter group comprise 50% of entrants’ overall scores.

The launch today, held at the Selangor Digital Creative Centre in i-City, Shah Alam, was officiated by YB Dato’ Teng Chang Khim, Senior Executive Councillor of the Selangor EXCO and graced by Mr. Yong Kai Ping, Chief Executive of SITEC. Attended by panel judges, e-Commerce players and merchants, members of the media, as well as the public, a Press Conference was also held after the launching ceremony.

Similar to the Online 100 programme, the Malaysia Top E-Commerce Merchant Awards 2016 represents the next step in SITEC’s plan of action to further uplift and strengthen the country’s e-Commerce ecosystem, with the competition, which offers RM25,000 worth of cash prizes, will be judging participants on four core areas, namely on their products, the quality of their service, their activity on social media, and the participant’s sales and transaction volumes.

Judging will be split between online voting and the competition’s panel of judges with a 50-50 split, with the panel of judges featuring e-Commerce players such as 11 Street, Lazada, LogON, Youbeli, MDEC, Internet Alliance, SITEC and EC Insider (formerly eCommerceMILO).

Commenting on Selangor’s continued success as the highest contributor to Malaysia’s GDP, Senior Executive Councillor for Selangor State YB Dato’ Teng Chang Khim remarked:

“Malaysia’s Digital Economy at present contributes approximately 17% to the national GDP, and the Selangor State Government, through its e-Commerce initiative, SITEC, has gone to great lengths to nurture the nascent Digital Economy through various thrusts.

One of it is the establishment of the Selangor Information Technology & E-Commerce Council (SITEC) and the Selangor Digital Creative Centre (SDCC), the Online 100 and Apps 100 programmes, and free education for the public in the form of E-Commerce Classes and the SITEC Academy virtual learning portal.”

According to SITEC Chief Executive Yong Kai Ping, SITEC has aggressively engaged the local e-commerce community since its inception in mid 2015, with Malaysia’s Top E-Commerce Merchant Awards as one of the value-added opportunities made available for local SMEs.

“In 2016 alone, we have held 20 free e-Commerce classes, effectively educating over 3,000 people. Over 200 merchants under the SITEC Online 100 programme, have, to date, accumulated a GMV of over RM 3,000,000 over 10,000 orders.

We strongly encourage local merchants to go digital and accessible – and we have supported SITEC’s e-merchants with over 400 combined mobile apps stores on the Google Playstore and Apple Store. These were all developed for merchants under the SITEC Apps 100 and Online 100 programme. We are confident this number is set to grow as SITEC continues in its trajectory to facilitate and engage both the e-commerce and SME communities in Selangor and beyond.

“In 2017, we decided to do more for the community — earlier in March, we proudly launched two more free products for the local SME and e-Commerce communities not just in Selangor, but Malaysia as well, namely, SITEC Academy, a Virtual Learning platform for e-Commerce knowledge seekers, and SITEC Startup Connect, a repository and networking platform for Malaysian SMEs,” said Yong, in his welcome speech.

With this event, SITEC hopes to promote and inculcate industry best practices and the spirit of healthy and innovative competition amongst online retailers, who are fundamental to the growth of the Digital Economy here in Malaysia as service and goods providers for the masses.

For more information on SITEC and Malaysia’s Top E-Commerce Merchant Awards, please refer to our information deck attached.

From L – R : Ms. Wee Huay Neo, Director, eCommerce & DFTZ, MDEC;  YB Dato’ Teng Chang Khim, Senior Executive Councillor for Investment, Industry & Commerce, SMEs & Transportation, and Mr. Yong Kai Ping, Chief Executive, Selangor Inf​​ormation Technology & E-Commerce Council (SITEC)

Mr. Yong Kai Ping, Chief Executive, SITEC

YB Dato’ Teng Chang Khim, Senior Executive Councillor for Investment, Industry & Commerce, SMEs & Transportation

Ms. Wee Huay Neo, Director, eCommerce & DFTZ, MDEC

From L – R: Mr Chua Khai Suan (CEO,Youbeli), Ms Yamunah Tangarajah (On behalf of Hans Peter Ressel, CEO Lazada) , Ms Judy(On behalf of Hoseok Kim, CEO, 11 street) , Mr Keu Tien Siong (CEO, MCIL Multimedia LogOn), Ms Wee Huay Neo (MDEC),YB Dato’ Teng Chang Khim, Yong Kai Ping, Goh Boon Peng (Director, SITEC Academy), Mr Adrian Oh (EC Insider – formerly ECommerce MILO), Ms June Sim (On behalf of Chan Kee Siak, Internet Alliance) and Ms Carol Fung, (Head of Seller Adoption, eCommerce & DFTZ Division, MDEC)

Any inquiries about the Top EC Merchant Awards can be directed to:

Ms  Lee Xue Ling

ecclass@sitec.com.my

012-654 6610