Visa announced that four digital commerce enablers have joined their “Where You Shop Matters” campaign in a bid to support local businesses.
These companies are AVANA, Atome, hoolah and Split, who will be working together with Visa to support local Malaysian small and micro enterprise (SMEs) in growing their online presence and provide their consumers with more flexible payment options.
“It is heartening to see local businesses receiving support from consumers and businesses alike during these times of need,” said Ng Kong Boon, Visa country manager for Malaysia in a statement.
“We are glad to welcome AVANA as a social commerce enabler, with Atome, hoolah and Split as buy now, pay later (BNPL) enablers, on our 'Where You Shop Matters' program to help SMBs cater to current consumer needs and shopping trends.”
Based on a recent Visa study, 98% of Malaysians have indicated that they are willing to shop at local retailers to support their business recovery. Results have also shown that 30% of consumers have already formed the habit of shopping at local businesses as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, so therefore vital for local businesses to digitalise, Visa noted.
Digital payment systems have been integrated into multiple social media platforms, allowing brands to leverage on a direct-to-consumer model. In this way, consumers can get product suggestions seamlessly integrated into their social feed and make purchases directly from merchants, Visa said.
“We are excited to partner with Visa to empower more merchants with an all-in-one solution for their online business needs,” said Luqman Adris, chief executive officer of AVANA.
“AVANA aims to empower SMEs to digitalise their businesses and take advantage of the power of social media through our integrated social commerce platform.”
AVANA provides professional branded e-commerce stores, on top of aggregating and pushing catalogues into multiple social media and conversation channels that include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, LINE, Telegram and others.
AVANA will be offering its alliance partner’s services to Visa cardholders at a preferential rate of 10% cashback in the form of shipping credits on AVANA’s Yearly Business and Yearly Agent plans.
Additionally, Visa will partner Atome, hoolah and Split to introduce exclusive offers to merchants and consumers to adopt the BNPL solutions.
Hoolah, for one, will waive transaction fees for the first 100 orders paid with hoolah through a Visa card, when merchants sign up for hoolah through the initiative.
“We are excited to embark on this meaningful partnership with Visa, as it further solidifies our dedication in building meaningful engagements in our hoolah ecosystem between our partners, merchants and consumers,” said Arvin Singh, chief operating officer and co-Founder of hoolah.
Trasy Lou Walsh, general manager of Atome Singapore and Malaysia, said: “Local businesses are the backbone of any economy and the prolonged restriction measures in Malaysia have hit them harder than most, so we’re proud to join Visa in supporting the 'Where You Shop Matters’ campaign.
“Many of our merchant partners on Atome in Malaysia are local SMEs and we want to play our part in enabling payment convenience and flexibility to support their recovery.”
Source: https://www.digitalnewsasia.com/business/digital-commerce-players-join-visa-support-malaysian-businesses