Zed (second right) and Azahar after the launching gimmick of S-Mart Sabah and the partnership with Pos Laj. The launch was witnessed by Phoong (left) and Kenny (right).
KOTA KINABALU: S-Mart Sabah by e-commerce platform Shopee offers greater deals on various home items and necessities with more convenience, on top of providing local merchants with a marketing platform.
The launch of S-Mart Sabah is expected to serve the local market with greater convenience and help reduce cost of living on daily essentials for Sabahans, said Shopee Malaysia Head of Seller Management, Zed Li.
“S-Mart Sabah, which can be found on Shopee by searching for ‘s-mart sabah’, offers one-stop access to a range of groceries and household necessities from leading brands including MILO, Maggi, Nescafe, OraI-B, Harpic and Downy, with more coming on board such as PetPet and Genki.
“S-Mart Sabah caters to the need for greater value by offering quality products at competitive prices, with up to 10 per cent savings daily and up to 40 per cent during special campaigns.
“Sabahans will also enjoy greater convenience with S-Mart Sabah in the form of faster delivery, as products will be shipped directly from Shopee‘s fulfillment warehouse in Kota Kinabalu. Locals will now be able to receive their items within one to three days, down from five to seven days when they purchase online from sellers based in Peninsular Malaysia.
“On top of that, Sabahans can also enjoy free shipping from orders weighing up to 5kgs when they spend at least RM40 on the S-Mart Sabah store, an upsize from the usual 1kg if they purchase from Shopee sellers based in Peninsular Malaysia. This caters to the growing preference among Malaysians to shop for groceries and necessities in bulk online,” said Zed.
At the launch of S-Mart Sabah yesterday, Shopee also announced its partnership with Pos Malaysia Berhad’s courier arm Pos Laju, as its third-party logistics partner for S-Mart Sabah.
Last mile delivery is one of the most crucial elements within the e-commerce ecosystem, said Zed, and Pos Laju has been appointed to support Shopee in delivering parcels to the entire state of Sabah.
“Pos Malaysia is proud to become the official logistics partner for Shopee’s S-Mart Sabah. With the launch of the new online store, we expect an increase in demand for deliveries from customers in Sabah.
“As a committed partner, we will establish new operation hubs to cope with the demand and continue to provide customers with high quality services and support their retail experience.
“Among new delivery centres include Lok Kawi, Kota Kinabalu and KKIP. These centres would cater to deliveries in Petagas, Putatan, Lok Kawi, Kinarut, Papar, Kota Kinabalu, Inanam, Likas, Manggatal, Sepanggar and Telipok,” said Pos Malaysia Berhad Group Head of Corporate Planning and Transformation, Azahar Ariff.
The event was also attended by Youth and Sports Minister Phoong Jin Zhe as well as Assistant Minister of Finance Kenny Chua, who both expressed great support for the imitative.
Phoong in particular said the ministry could collaborate with Shopee via its Youth Entrepreneurship Aspiration Programme (YEAP), to encourage and nurture more Sabahan youth entrepreneurs.
“With the launch of S-Mart Sabah, it could not only encourage more Sabahans to buy from the online platform, but also to sell their products there. Sabahans are very talented in making handicrafts and producing agricultural products, among others.
“Previously, they would be selling their products at the local market, but now they would be able to market their products to more people,” said Phoong.
Through YEAP and collaboration with relevant parties such as Shopee, eligible candidates would be given assistance in acquiring skills to boost their business through e-commerce.
Shopee even has an imitative dubbed Shopee University, Phoong added, where free courses are provided to entrepreneurs to learn skills and technique to sell their merchandise online.
“When Shopee was first launched in 2015, there were less than 100 merchants in Sabah, but now there are approximately 6,000 to 7,000 merchants. This huge increase shows that more people are willing to get on the e-commerce platform, and we should support this initiative,” said Phoong.
Meanwhile, Kenny said educating the youth to develop entrepreneurship skills would empower them and tackle the issue of youth unemployment, even in interior areas.
Instead of going out to find work, they could start something from home which could also impact the local community and spur economic development there, said Kenny. This would also be in line with the state government’s aim to develop Kota Kinabalu into a Smart City, he added.
In celebrating the launch of S-Mart Sabah, Sabahans will get to enjoy free shipping with a minimum spend of only RM20 instead of RM40, from now until February 29.
To start shopping, visit S-Mart Sabah at https://shopee.com.my/s_martsabah.fbs.