NEWS: Pos Malaysia can gain from e-commerce

KUALA LUMPUR: With Malaysia's electronic retailing poised to grow significantly, Pos Malaysia Bhd and some other companies stand to benefit from providing services that facilitate e-commerce, said a research group.

The Oxford Business Group (OBG) reported that the potential take-off of electronic retailing could have a positive flow-on effect on mail delivery services.

This could help reverse the decline in recent years caused by the Internet eating into Pos Malaysia's core business of personal communications, according to the London-based global publishing, research and consultancy firm.

"While Pos Malaysia has seen a slide in its regular mail volume, this is increasingly being offset by the growing demand for door-to-door parcel delivery services," the OBG report said.

The report cited estimates from the Association of the Computer and Multimedia Industry of Malaysia (Pikom) that Malaysia's online business-to-consumers transactions are expected to total US$3bil (RM10bil) this year, while business-to-business e-commerce could reach some US$20bil (RM68bil).

e-Commerce is expected to post an annual growth of 16% to 20%, a result of both private initiatives and supportive government policies, Pikom officials had said in mid-April.

The OBG report also pointed out that Pos Malaysia's courier arm - PosLaju - has seen demand climbing to a point where it commands a 27% market share of the US$540mil (RM1.84bil) domestic courier industry.

It quoted Pos Malaysia chief executive Datuk Syed Faisal Albar as saying that "this market will likely continue to grow if the Internet infrastructure is strengthened and more Malaysians start to shop from home."

"If broadband penetration in the country improves, this will encourage online transactions further and with that comes online shopping. In fact, the growth of courier services in these areas has been synonymously linked with online shopping," Syed Faisal said in the OBG report.

Bright future

OBG also highlighted that Pos Malaysia is looking at getting on the online shopping bandwagon by marketing itself as a retailing service provider, combining its existing infrastructure and brand name with a new sales portal.

This could encourage consumers to buy online through an established outlet with a proven track record.

The report added that according to Ahmad Shukri Abdul Hamid - head of the public sector unit of business analytics software and services firm SAS Malaysia - Pos Malaysia should make greater use of communications technology and look for niches where it can play a crucial role, such as online retailing.

Meanwhile, OBG also reported that mobile phone operator Maxis Bhd is another firm that has locked on to the e-commerce business, joining forces with international online payment service provider PayPal in mid-May.

The deal will give Maxis subscribers the opportunity to make quick and secure purchases electronically using their cellphones or computers.

In announcing the collaboration, Maxis chief operating officer Jean-Pascal van Overbeke had said that with the national broadband initiative in place, mobile internet is fast gaining traction, as is online retailing.

OBG also reported that data issued by market research company IDC late last year showed that Malaysia should have 17.5 million Internet users by the end of 2010, of which 8.9 million will likely be buying products online. - Bernama