“We are all Malaysians. This is the bond that unites us.
Let us always remember that unity is our
fundamental strength as people and as a nation.”

– Tunku Abdul Rahman

PETALING JAYA, 10 AUGUST 2020 – In the last few months, as a nation we were challenged by an undaunting giant – a pandemic that threatened our health, lifestyle as well as the nation’s economy. This Merdeka, Grab wants to rally Malaysians together and celebrate our tenacious spirit by supporting our neighbourhood businesses. These businesses have stood the test of time despite various hardships, and with support from Malaysians, we are confident they will thrive in this new normal.

“As the nation attempts to resume their daily routines, many are still grasping with the aftermath of the movement control period – especially the many businesses who are looking for further opportunities to sustain. Their strive and zeal to keep going truly encompasses the spirit of Merdeka and we want to encourage all Malaysians to celebrate them. We believe that everyone has a part to play in helping Malaysia rebuild her economy and we want to rally Malaysians together to support their favourite ‘local heroes’,” said Sean Goh, Managing Director of Grab Malaysia.

Grab wants to ensure that no one is left behind. Therefore, the homegrown company’s efforts will focus on growing the demand for small and independent businesses by highlighting them on the platform while continuing to provide Malaysians with convenient, affordable access to daily necessities this Merdeka.

RM2.5 million in advertising space to help boost merchants visibility
For many businesses, the festive seasons are typically their busiest periods. To help them sustain, Grab is shining a spotlight on their entrepreneurial drive, something that we at Grab are inspired by and should be emulated by all.

From 15th August to 18th September 2020, Grab will be helping small and independent businesses on the platform to create personalised ads for each of them. These will then be featured on prominent spaces, like banner spaces within the Grab app to help boost their visibility and awareness across the platform, thus helping to grow their demand.

The initiative, which is a follow up to the recent ‘Local Heroes’ campaign, will see Grab covering the cost and resources required to produce these marketing materials and will benefit approximately 500 local businesses nationwide. Merchant-partners who previously acquired banner ads on the GrabFood homepage saw a 300% return on advertising spend. Moreover, merchant-partners who participated in last year’s Merdeka promotions saw a 4.5X increase in sales compared to the month prior.

Official partner of the government’s Shop Malaysia Online initiative

Grab is honoured to be part of the government’s national economic recovery plan (PENJANA) and to have the chance to participate in PENJANA Shop Malaysia Online. The Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), a Government agency under the purview of the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia, is the lead agency to implement the PENJANA Shop Malaysia Online. This is a national digital economy initiative to encourage more businesses to adopt digitalisation to sustain and continue serving their consumers while encouraging online consumption. As part of the initiative, Grab is providing users with savings of up to 50% off of their daily necessities across GrabFood, GrabMart and GrabPay.

In addition to encouraging more online transactions, Grab together with the government’s support is also providing new merchants on the platform with RM2,000 worth of bonuses. This is part of the joint efforts of both the private and public sector to encourage more MSMEs to take the digital leap and embrace digital economy. Since the beginning of the movement control period, there has been a 2X increase in new micro-SMEs onboarded onto Grab per month as compared to before the pandemic.

“All of our efforts this Merdeka ladders up to our commitment to support the whole of Malaysia while also celebrating our hardworking frontliners at Grab by creating further opportunities for income for them. This not only includes our restaurant- and merchant-partners but also our driver- and delivery-partners who in turn will receive greater earnings as the demand grows. We also want to encourage all Malaysians to continue showing their love and appreciation to these frontliners by tipping them whenever they can. It has definitely been a challenging few months for all of us, but let’s work together to ensure that we all pull through these uncertain times,” added Goh.

*For more details on Grab’s Shop Malaysia Online initiative and on-going promotions, click HERE, and for more MSMEs who are keen to join the Grab platform, click HERE.

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