Free shipping? Zero fees? Lazada’s stimulus package can help you start an online business

So, we’re back in the MCO again. And although most people are concerned about sustaining their jobs or businesses, it seems like many are also considering to start their own businesses. In fact, some of us at CILISOS are considering the same thing too!

But with a lot of businesses struggling to stay afloat during trying times like these, you might be having a lot of questions in mind like is it the right time to start a business? Or can you even compete with other existing online sellers?? Or are there any financial assistance to kickstart your business?????

SO. MANY. QUESTIONS. *panic*

Fret not, uncles, aunties, kakaks, abangs and adiks because we recently stumbled across a stimulus package by our friends at Lazada that could actually help you grow as an online seller. Mind you, we don’t get paid to share this info with you but we thought it’s worth sharing what kind of assistance they offer because #CILISOSCares.

Lazada aims to help 70,000 online sellers like you with its Kedai Pintar 2.0 package!

If the name Kedai Pintar rings a bell, that’s probably because this is the second time Lazada launches a stimulus package aimed to assist small business owners. Back when the first MCO was implemented, Lazada launched the first version of Kedai Pintar where it helped over 50,000 SME owners.

So, what’s different this time around? For one, Lazada has increased the funding for Kedai Pintar 2.0 to RM44 million to help over 70,000 small business owners to stay afloat in the MCO 2.0! This would mean that Lazada could help not only new online sellers to kickstart their businesses but also ensure that existing online sellers can sustain their businesses besides ensuring job stability for their employees during these trying times.

“With more than one in three Malaysians shopping on the Lazada app every month, we are able to leverage our strong consumer base to help local SMEs ‘MCO-proof’ their business, and in the meantime, enable them to retain job stability for their employees.” – Sherry Tan, Chief Business Officer of Lazada.

Similarly to the previous Kedai Pintar, you can actually enjoy a series of customised benefits under the Kedai Pintar 2.0 package. You’d be entitled to zero commission and zero payment fees besides getting a dedicated support team to help your business grow through Lazada University.

Besides that, you don’t even have to worry about competing with other existing sellers because you’ll be getting opportunities to get your products noticeable on the platform. The fun part is Lazada subsidises advertising payments when you use features like the Sponsored Search and Lazada Flash Sales for this purpose.

And bear in mind that individual sellers have recorded up to RM4,400 return on investment and 15 times increase in sales by using those two features respectively.

But we’re not saying that this is the only stimulus package available in Malaysia la. By now, we’re pretty sure you may have heard of plenty other stimulus packages for SMEs in Malaysia like the Prihatin Special Grant plus assistance, which was announced by y’all fav abah the Prime Minister, Muhyiddin Yassin and is specifically made for SME owners.

If you’ve watched Muhyiddin’s 50-minute speech (and not fall asleep halfway through), you’d probably know that the govt will be giving out RM1,000 to each small business owner in states that are under the MCO 2.0. On top of that, the govt will also ensure that small business owners are offered micro loans, including soft loans amounting to RM350 million by Agrobank, among others, to help SMEs grow.

Ok, now that you know about the different kinds of stimulus packages available, here comes the next question – is there a specific product that can bring you a lot of ka-chings??

Online sellers are apparently making lotsa money selling GROCERY products

Here’s a little insight: if you’re looking for more products to sell in your online store, then you can consider selling grocery products like fresh vegetables or frozen food. They make really good money.

And we’re not simply saying things because, according to a survey we conducted in the previous MCO, a great number of people who are making good money in times like this are those from the agriculture industry. And it may not seem that surprising seeing how a lot of fresh products are being sold online at that time, especially from Lazada top sellers like Dylan Lee and Jamie Thoo.

Dylan, who is also the founder of Salad Atelier (aka Cilisos staffs’ go to restaurant when we wanna eat healthy), joined Lazada’s Kedai Pintar during the first MCO. When we last interviewed him in June 2020, he was only selling food online.

However, he had since changed his business model and started selling groceries on Lazada under his new store called D Mart store. Changing into a new business model was indeed scary, even for an experienced business owner like Dylan, but he eventually adapted to it.

And thanks to the stimulus package, he managed to sell more than 8,000kg of fresh vegetables during the MCO itself last year(!).

“Even though it was new and unfamiliar to me, I was guided by the Lazada University’s comprehensive training and Lazada’s intuitive eCommerce tools, which enabled my business to flourish.” – Dylan.

Similarly to Dylan, Jamie managed to sell around 6,000kg of frozen food in just one month during the MCO last year. When we interviewed her back then, the founder of Unimart.my store shared with us that offering free deliveries can help you grow your customer base and get more reviews, which boosts your credibility as a seller. And Lazada provides free delivery particularly for online grocery sellers on its platform under this Kedai Pintar 2.0.

Aside from building customer base, she also added that her store could achieve such a success thanks to the business tools like the Business Advisor tool available on Lazada that helped her make informed business decisions.

“The Business Advisor tool within Lazada’s Seller Centre provided real-time insights on the performance of my products, which made it effortless for me to instantly react and optimise my marketing promotions based on the changing consumer behaviour and trends.” – Jamie.

So, if you think you or someone you know require this kinda assistance their online businesses, you can send this link to them. You can sign up anytime now until 28th February 2021 to enjoy all the benefits we mentioned under Kedai Pintar 2.0.

A rep tells us that the first time Kedai Pintar was introduced in 2020, Lazada saw more than 300% increase in the number of SME sellers joining the platform. And seeing how many people are considering to start a business at the time of writing, there is no better time to start your own business than now.