Starting a Successful Ecommerce Website in Malaysia

Massive Growth Potential

Establishing an online presence for your business gives you instant access to every potential online shopper.

In comparison, traditional brick-and-mortar businesses face limitations of the physical world, and access to your business will only be limited to your location. To gain access to more potential customers, traditional business owners will usually have to move to prime areas with heavy foot traffic, and pay a hefty price while doing so.

While running an online business does come with its own set of challenges, the physical limitation isn't one of them. Having that said, people from around the world could potentially become your customer so long as they have internet access and a payment method available.

The ecommerce market in Malaysia is projected to continue its expansion with an annual growth rate of 15% each year until 2025. This means there’s still healthy growth available in the foreseeable future - making the step to go online now potentially more profitable for your business.

In addition, while taking in the other countries in our region, we find that the number of online users in Asia is up to 2.5 billion, from previously 764 million just a couple of years ago.

With more and more people coming online, the potential to get your brand to attract more customers is immense.

Starting an Online Business is Affordable

What is one of the main obstacles to starting a business? The No Money Barrier! The initial investment required to start a traditional business is usually too high for most people to even consider.

However, starting an online business requires much less capital. There is no need to have that fancy office setup with expensive MacBooks and ergonomic chairs. There are no electric and cleaning bills to be paid.

All you need to run an online business is yourself, a computer (or even your phone!) with an internet connection, a domain, and an ecommerce website. Of course, the initial costs to get started are very low but do bear in mind that many successful online business owners also invest in Ads and SEO to acquire targeted customers. (Best solutions of ecommerce for small businesses)

Always Online

Most physical shops follow strict operating hours and couldn’t operate throughout the day. Even convenient stores that open 24 hours a day incur extra costs on worker shifts and electric bills.

On the other hand, an ecommerce store is online 24/7 (except downtime or maintenance) and offers the same shopping experience to potential customers throughout the day.

Whether it is a customer browsing over products during sleepless midnight, or a foreign shopper that came from the timezone of the other side of the earth, your store is always online and ready to serve.

Now that you are convinced to get your business online. What next steps should you take to kickstart your journey?

Getting a Good Domain Name

One of the first things as a new online entrepreneur is obviously to give your brand a name. With that in mind, picking a domain name that reflects your brand and identity becomes your priority. It is possible for a domain name to determine the success of your business. Here are some tips to get you started:

Don’t Use Numbers and Hyphens

Hyphens and numbers are simply harder to type on a mobile phone and a challenge to recall.

As more and more users are connecting to the web via mobile phones, numbers and hyphens are just harder to type in the address bar, as they are usually located on a separate page on the keypad.

In addition, hyphens are usually confusing for people to recall and your users would probably end up sharing the wrong URL.

Shorter Names are Easier to Remember

Did you know that Facebook.com changed its domain name from Thefacebook.com? Shorter names are easier to remember and thus making your ecommerce store more shareable.

Brandable Name or Generic Name?

One of the most common questions asked by beginners when choosing their first domain names. Some people argue that generic domain names like Bestcatfood.store make it easier to rank in Google, while others swear on brandable names as it is easier to remember and much more professional than the previous.

Now, imagine the Apple Company chose Thebestphones.com as their domain name, and instead of amazon.com, Amazon registered Largestestore.com as their main URL. What impact do you think generic domain names would have on these giant companies?

Getting Your Ecommerce Website Built

Now you are done with the domain name and branding, it is time to progress to the core of your online business - ecommerce website development.

If you have been thinking to start learning about web development and getting your hands dirty, ask yourself these questions:

• Can I afford the time needed to earn website development?
• Is there any risk that I will not become the good developer that I’ve hoped for?
• Is it faster, and cheaper, to get it done by experts who have vast experience in this field?

As time equals money, it is often a wiser and faster route to get qualified professionals to develop your ecommerce store.

There are plenty of developers on the market, ready to work on your projects at a moment's notice. However, not every developer is made equal, so make sure you talk to them before committing. Here are some questions you could ask your developers before making the decision:

• Timeline. How long do they need to complete the project? As there will inevitably be revisions, make sure you communicate your deadline clearly with them.
• References. Do they have a solid portfolio? Are the sites they built aesthetically aligned to your needs? Are their customers happy with their work?
• Custom features. Are they able to understand your needs thoroughly and confident to build any custom features required?
• Budget.

Ready to Launch Your Ecommerce Website?

To provide a wholesome shopping experience, an ecommerce website needs to have the right combination of aesthetics, easy navigation, robust security systems, and relevant and accurate information. If you incorporate the tips listed above into your ecommerce web design, you increase the chances that visitors will become revenue-generating customers.

MindYourWeb (Mind Interactive Sdn Bhd) is made up of a team of multi-talented experts in ecommerce web design in Malaysia, specializing in ecommerce web development and solutions, mobile and web applications, SEO, and Google Ads management. Give us a call and we are excited to embark on your journey of e-commerce with you.