KUALA LUMPUR: Lazada Malaysia has launched a stimulus package to aid local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from April to June 2020, as part of its ongoing corporate community commitment.

The package called “Pakej Kedai Pintar” cash fund, starting with RM10 million, aims to help SMEs sell online, stabilise jobs and support the country’s economy during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The company said the initiative is targeted to help an estimated 50,000 local SMEs via a series of customised benefits, especially those in the fresh food and groceries categories, new and existing e-commerce sellers, and brick-and-mortar retailers, including those who are planning to set up stalls for Ramadhan bazaar.

These eligible SMEs will be able to enjoy free shipping services and receive fixed weekly payments, as well as the services of a dedicated support team to onboard, train and develop customised sales campaign with them through Lazada University. SMEs from fresh food and groceries categories, as well as new and existing Lazada sellers will also be entitled to zero commission and zero listing fees, on top of access to micro loan facilities.

Lazada said through this initiative, SME retailers that are new, or have little experience in e-commerce can expect 100 percent of their costs of selling online covered, and be able to quickly diversify their revenue streams beyond traditional bricks-and-mortar model on a platform where one in three Malaysians are Lazada users.

“Local SMEs are essential to the nation’s economic growth and people’s livelihood and by helping them, we hope to bolster Malaysians’ confidence amid the Covid-19 situation. We believe it’s the responsibility of all platform operators to lend support in times like this to the merchants who have made us successful,” said Lazada Malaysia’s CEO, Leo Chow.

“We want to reach out to anyone who has a business. Without any payment or charges, you can continue to run your business while benefitting from Lazada’s e-commerce expertise and robust logistics infrastructure,” he said.

In combating Covid-19, Lazada Malaysia has spared no effort in helping local communities leverage its technological and logistics edge. Earlier in March, the e-commerce platform reached out and helped local agricultural businesses, including vegetable farmers and fishermen, to digitalise and to match urban demand for fresh produce and groceries during the Movement Control Order. Cameron Highland farmers, who onboarded the platform in less than 48 hours, were able to sell 1.5 tonnes of vegetables to nearly 200 households on a single day.

From April to June, SMEs can sign up at www.lazada.com.my/sell-on-lazada and have 100 percent of capital costs waived. Capital costs refer to the services provided by Lazada Malaysia, including delivery and shipping of parcels to customers, content development services, product listing and advertising. Lazada will work with SMEs to curate and list products for up to four months, participate in promotional campaigns, fulfil orders and analyse sales and traffic data.

Through its ongoing partnership with the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (MDTCA) established in August last year, Lazada is committed to rollout new trade activities and training programs to increase the adoption of eCommerce amongst local SMEs, and support the Government’s “Buy Malaysian” campaign. The stimulus package echoes the Malaysian government’s economic stimulus mission and pledges to support eCommerce entrepreneurs and SMEs.