Shopee's Desaauto@KPLB to sell automotive products, aid rural economic growth

KUALA LUMPUR: Following the success of Desamall@KPLB, Shopee, in collaboration with the Rural Development Ministry and ELokal, launches Desaauto@KPLB, an automotive e-store.

Coinciding with Shopee's 12.12 Birthday Sale at W Kuala Lumpur, the store will sell automotive products such as tyres, spare parts and engine oil. About 100 of such products will be the store's initial offering.

Rural Development Minister Datuk Seri Rina Mohd Harun said the initiative is expected to benefit over 200 rural entrepreneurs in manufacturing and distributing automotive parts, giving them the opportunity to reach new potential customers across the country and the region through Shopee’s cross-border service.

"Around 24 per cent of the population in Malaysia are living in rural areas, and my ministry’s main focus is to improve the infrastructure, economic standing and income of the rural folks. A lot must be done in rural areas," she said.

"Our goal for 2020 is to groom 5,000 new rural entrepreneurs. We have laid the groundwork for them and with all these exciting line-up and are confident that we will be able to achieve this target."

Rina said her ministry and Shopee's first collaborative effort with the Desamall@KPLB e-store was a success and hoped to replicate it.

She added that Desamall@KPLB which features locally-made products like sambal, dodol, books, baju kurung and more, together with Desaauto@KPBL, could push the potential growth up to 1,000 per cent if done right.

"Desamall@KPLB and Desaauto@KPLB on Shopee are two of KPLB’s initiatives that will allow rural entrepreneurs to ride the wave of e-commerce, in tandem with the fourth industrial revolution."

"The onus is now on the rural folks to step up and harness these opportunities presented to them,” she said.

Shopee's regional managing director Ian Ho said: “We want to wrap up 2019 with a meaningful celebration that benefits all Malaysians.

"The launch of Desaauto@KPLB continues our efforts to empower and enable local entrepreneurs, and give them the tools to thrive and succeed online."

"This includes our free sellers workshop Shopee University that teaches them how to optimise their businesses online while we curate and localise campaigns to attract the right crowd for all our sellers to achieve better sales performance,” he added.

Desaauto@KPLB and Desamall@KPLB are both on Shopee's digital store and app.