Traditional Retailers Adopt TikTok Shop to Bridge Offline With Online
These old-school retailers got with the program. Or in this case, the app.
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Local micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and homegrown brands in Malaysia’s retail market are no longer debating about the necessity of digitalisation.
From pasar malam merchants and roadside stalls to even mom-and-pop shops and
shopping mall tenants, the discussions have now evolved from merely choosing either e-commerce or physical stores to optimising growth by merging both clicks with bricks.
This is attributed to the abundance of public-private support for digital transformation and comprehensive nationwide internet infrastructure built by the government, which flattened the barriers of entry for any business, no matter how small, to participate in the digital economy.
Innovative MSMES across the country have demonstrated first-hand how they’ve leveraged online content and commerce on TikTok Shop’s full-funnel ecosystem to unlock new income streams, grow in-store footfall, build loyal communities, and enrich their customers’ user journey.
Nik Nur Adzuan, the co-founder of local Shariah-compliant prayer-friendly attire and Hajj & Umrah needs business Al-Cataly, which has been operating since 2014, shared their struggles of expanding her brand when only operating a physical store in Kota Damansara, Selangor.
“Running a purely offline business meant that our brand’s growth was limited by our store’s location. Expanding would require significant capital to open new locations, including upfront costs for rental deposits, renovations, inventory stocking, hiring staff, utilities, and more,” she said.
According to Nik, their business may not be future-proof in the long term, if they didn’t expand. This is due to the nature of the business, which spikes during peak seasons like school holidays and Hajj, but taper off during non-peak periods because it’s not purchased daily year-round, unlike groceries.
“To cover operating costs, like rent and wages, we needed to build a more consistent revenue stream by widening our customer base without incurring heavy overhead costs. That’s why we ventured online through TikTok Shop,” she emphasised.
Nik stated that the TikTok Shop LIVE Hub x TEKUN Nasional in Kuala Lumpur gave them easy access to training and studio-grade equipment to produce high-quality content and livestreams.
“Within just two months, our brand was discovered by nearly 10,000 followers online and our sales grew 12-fold. We even had customers nationwide and also from Singapore visiting our physical store in Selangor since we built our brand presence online,” Nik concluded.
Another homegrown entrepreneur, Kamarul Zaman, who founded and manages local durian business Pak Ali, shared the sentiment of needing to integrate offline and online retail to build sustainable brands.
“We started Pak Ali back in 2017 by selling durians at roadside stalls. At the time, we were only running it as a small business to sustain our livelihoods,” he said.
Kamarul shared that on some days when there was steady flow of customer visits, they managed to clear out stocks, while on rainy days when there were less visitors, some of their durians had gone to waste.
That is the unpredictable reality of selling fresh produce and perishable goods at physical stalls. It was hard to sustain and even harder to scale.
“In our efforts to overcome these challenges, especially during the COVID-19 lockdowns, we delved into TikTok Shop to tap into a more stable and scalable customer base online to complement our roadside stall operation,” Kamarul shared.
Through TikTok Shop’s livestreams, Kamarul and his team were able to authentically showcase the freshness of their produce in real time by opening up each durian ordered by viewers online, which helped to build trust and drive conversion.
“Going online did not just help us reach a wider market, but also enabled us to deepen the loyalty of customers that visited our physical stalls too. Many of them started following our TikTok Shop account after their first visit, and we continued receiving repeat orders digitally through livestreams and shoppable videos,” he added.
Today, Pak Ali has grown into a widely recognised durian brand in Malaysia with over 24,000 followers on TikTok Shop, selling an average of 1,500 kilograms of durian every day. The surge in online popularity has also opened new doors for Kamarul and his team, allowing them to expand into on-ground event catering.
Frisha Fazara Binti Ishak, who co-manages Frisha Classic Desserts and Bakery, a local family-owned pop-up store business, reinforces the notion that combining offline and online retail has helped to future-proof their operations and diversify their revenue streams.
“My parents started the business in 1990. We did not have a permanent physical store as we were just a micro-sized business back then, and lacked the capital to afford monthly rental fees,” she reminisced.
Their products were mainly sold at seasonal pop-up stores at bazaars and relied heavily on word-of-mouth endorsements, which helped to secure a few direct delivery orders.
“Since I started actively co-managing the business, I helped my parents to reinvent their retail model by adopting TikTok Shop. Livestreams and shoppable videos catapulted our business growth from a few seasonal orders to consistently achieving an average of 5-digit sales every month,” she rejoiced.
According to Frisha Fazara, they have now accumulated over 4,300 followers on TikTok Shop, which have become loyal customers not just online, but also in person at their pop-up stores.
“Some customers have even invited us to open up booths at their events. We are grateful for the opportunities and support that TikTok Shop has provided us,” she said.
The evolution of Malaysia’s retail landscape signals a clear shift, indicating that digital and brick-and-mortar commerce are no longer competing paths, but complementary forces.
As more local MSMEs aim to embrace hybrid retail models, TikTok Shop’s full-funnel ecosystem will continue empowering businesses by breaking the boundaries between offline and online retail.
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