Malaysia Airports launches e-commerce platform, shopMYairports

Malaysia Airports has announced the launch of its new shopMYairports service – Malaysia’s first travel-retail e-commerce platform which will provide airport retailers with the opportunity to expand their market beyond a brick-and-mortar set up at the airport and thus facilitate business recovery that was severely affected by COVID-19.

The new e-commerce service will also allow the wider public to access and purchase travel-exclusive and duty-absorbed products online and have them delivered to their homes, allowing the airport to provide a more exciting shopping experience.

Speaking at the launch, Group Chief Executive Officer of Malaysia Airports, Dato’ Mohd Shukrie Mohd Salleh, shared that the introduction of the online platform is part of its digital transformation initiative to enhance passenger experience, particularly on the retail front, and as part of the airport operator’s effort in facilitating business recovery of its airport retailers who have been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mohd Salleh said: “The launch of shopMYairports is an important step in our journey to make our airports future ready. As Malaysia’s main airport operator, we have to ensure that we remain agile and relevant while navigating within a fast-changing consumer landscape. Malaysia’s e-commerce contribution to the digital economy is expected to see a growth projection of 20 per cent in 2020, and this means that there is significant potential growth for Malaysia Airports and our retail partners. Our aim is to see shopMYairports contribute to at least 10 per cent of retail sales at the airports.”

Through the shopMYairports platform, the public can browse through a diverse selection of products – ranging from beauty, cosmetics, fashion, electronics and food and beverage – which are offered by Malaysia Airports’ retailers, including Eraman, Heinemann, Karyaneka, Nooodles, Retail One, Sama-Sama Hotel and Sprint-Cass.

The e-commerce platform is seen as a more sustainable initiative in providing much needed assistance to retail partners as they face challenges arising from COVID-19. This is on top of other assistance programmes that Malaysia Airports has put in place to assist its partners, such as deferring rental payments, extending credit terms to 120 days, extending the tenure of newly signed contracts and organising airport-wide sales to help clear inventory.

Mohd Salleh added that the airport operator is fully cognisant of the difficulties faced by its partners: “Despite the aggressive cost containment measures taken by Malaysia Airports to mitigate the impact on our own business, we feel that it is important to stretch the Ringgit further in order to extend a helping hand to our partners so that we can all recover together and take advantage of any potential for future growths.”

The first phase of the shopMYairports platform will focus on domestic travellers and local, home shoppers. In the pipeline, Malaysia Airports will also introduce on-ground services, such as ‘Click and Collect’, which will enable travellers to shop online and collect their purchase at designated counters in the respective airports upon arrival. Malaysia Airports is also currently working on providing concierge services that will enable purchases to be delivered directly to the gate or in-flight, direct to the shopper’s seat.