Global e-commerce platform, eBay, which launched its 'Go Global with eBay' initiative almost a year ago, has managed to attract more than 3,500 Malaysian businesses.

Head of seller growth (SEA cross-border trade) Wong Mei Inn said eBay was focused on offering localised seller support to catalyse the growth of cross-border trade in the country.

“Efforts in Malaysia are being localised across Asean with a strong focus on Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia,” she said in an e-mail interview with Bernama.

Wong pointed that sellers eligible for the managed account programme could manage their goods more efficiently with access to overseas warehouses, on top of collaboration with carriers and third-party providers via eBay.

“Our focus on increasing the sales growth in Malaysia is to enable the local entrepreneurs to go global.

“We provide them with access to foreign markets with low entry barriers to enable these entrepreneurs to grow their businesses and generate revenue,” she explained.

US top destination

Wong emphasised that the aim was to leverage on the top three export destinations for Malaysian sellers, which are the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom, in order for them to expand their businesses and in turn contribute to the country's sales growth.

She said the US remained as the top export destination for businesses based in Malaysia, with 55 percent of Malaysian sellers exporting there.

“The ongoing strength of the US dollar continues to provide good momentum for Malaysia’s eBay exporters, given its position as eBay’s largest market."

The retail export opportunity on eBay, she noted, was very accessible to Malaysian SMEs and businesses compared with the more traditional export industries.

“Malaysian businesses not only have the opportunity to grow their business further with the local market. Being on eBay enables them to tap into eBay’s global market – accessed by 170 million active buyers worldwide buying items from over one billion listings in our marketplace."

With this, eBay could help Malaysian SMEs expand their business opportunities bringing their ventures to the next level of growth, Wong said.

According to her, eBay was committed to increasing the number of Malaysian SMEs with an online presence and export.

“Malaysia is in a strong position to benefit from the burgeoning cross-border trade opportunity created by e-commerce.

“With a strong manufacturing base and favourable foreign exchange position, Malaysian businesses keen to grow a global, online sales channel are in a prime position to expand,” she said.

Wong said as a one-stop solution for Internet retail, eBay was a global platform with local players in mind.

Thus eBay, she stressed, took a strong stance against online piracy and the sale and distribution of counterfeit goods and products that infringe on individuals’ intellectual property (IP) rights.

“We created a verified rights owner (VeRO) programme allowing owners of IP rights and their authorised representatives to report eBay listings that may infringe on those rights,” she explained.

- Bernama