Myanmar e-commerce world was abruptly interrupted by the events at the end of January 2021. Online sales stalled, major online giants hibernated and streets become deprived of delivery bicycles and trucks. Suddenly, bringing back (now guilty of fraud) Su Kyi and vote stealing NLD party into power seemed to be the first priority task for the many, ignorant or oblivious of the genuine state of affairs.
Now the dust is more or less settled. Terrorist activities are now being confined to a few towns and villages in Sagaing Region and Kayah State. The government has given them the ultimatum to disband, surrender and go home before the end of February. Just as ‘All the King’s horses and all the King’s men could not put Humpty together again’, regardless of millions of dollars in donations, hundreds of unprovoked assassinations, millions of $ in damage in destruction to infrastructure, hospitals, schools and factories, various bombing campaigns, the NNCP (NUG, NLD, CRPH, PDF) team of terrorist cannot get back the support that they had or they thought they had exactly one year ago. From the government side, the broken unity in the nation caused by this unfortunate saga of trusting the daughter of our national hero to manage the fate of the nation, may take decades to be put together again.
People are getting more knowledgeable, fake news and misinformation are being found out everyday and terrorists are being clamped down every corner of the country. Yangon traffic is getting congested again. Foreigners are slowly seeping back in. With economy on the verge of popping out of doldrum, e commerce world has to lead the movement (not the summer revolution one!).
Live Sales
Prior to 2021, e commerce is centred on Facebook boosting and putting up static ads. Now the trend has totally shifted to live sales. Be it orchids, apparel, vitamins, jewellery or pots and pans, live sales are the star of the e commerce. Not just live sales, but rowdy live sales, where some even shout, or swear at customers. A new branch of selling methods perhaps!
Sellers become popular figures overnight. May be the absence of cinema and video production in the past two years is creating consumer desire for live shows. COVID has stopped most of the movie production altogether. Cinemas are all shut. Combine this with the government’s ban on screening of movies involving jailed actors and actresses. Suddenly you got a population in desperate need of live entertainment. Live sellers not just sell, they also perform at the same time. Some sellers have more than a hundred thousand viewers per live sale show. Orders are taken at the same time via messenger or Viber chat boxes. Sellers conversed with customers directly over live show, queries were answered and deliveries arranged.
Now Myanmar e commerce world is dominated by live sales through FB.
Cyberlaw being just Cyberlaw
Cyberlaw has been much talked about since three or four years ago. May be just affirming the character of the previous NLD administration, it is just all ideas, talks, but no implementation or actions. Associations and trade bodies has given feedback, yet as usual, the NLD government fall extremely short on accomplishing anything worthwhile.
Without a cyberlaw in place, the internet, especially social media, is being used to ignite hatred and cause disunity among the population. With FB or those Myanmar nationals managing FB possibly standing on the side of the terrorists, cyberlaw is now a complete necessity in Myanmar. Anonymous postings and baseless accusations using fake accounts cannot go unpunished.
With this knowledge in mind, it would be wise for the current government to expedite the implementation of the cyber law.
E-commerce regulations and the wild wild net
In this country of lawless e commerce, advertising regulations are taking a back seat. Some property sellers are advertising houses using fake house pictures. Some flowers sellers are showing the beautiful flower pots and then selling the baby plants without any flowers. Some said the item is in stock, yet you have to wait for ten days, while having to paying in advance. Some sellers took transparency to the opposite end, never disclosing any price of their wares, preferring to lure the buyers to their CB (Chat Box). Some said the cars they are selling has all the options, when most of the options are in fact, missing. Blatant cheating is on the uptrend in Myanmar e commerce world. Previously those committing fraud are just limited to advance payments and discount claims.
E commerce regulations, which include some advertising standards, have been reviewed, discussed and given feedback to the government by stakeholders. Yet, the implementation is the missing in action part. Without these regulations, the wild wild net in Myanmar, would continue, as the sellers become embolden without having to pay for their fraudulent activities.
No supervisory bodies
For e commerce to take shape and take off, there has to be proper and effective supervisory set up, just as we have for Microfinance institutions, for example. (FRD – Financial Regulatory Department, in this case). The responsible ministry itself is unclear; whether it is MOCommerce, MOTransport and Telecom, or MOFinance. In the absence of clear authoritative boundaries, it is best set up as a regulatory board (similar to Securities Exchange Commission set up), comprising of representative from all three ministries and industry representatives such as E Commerce Association of Myanmar.
Without having such a regulatory supervisory body, rampant fraudulent trading activities would only multiply in the e commerce world. Previous attempts to set up e commerce regulations have not be fruitful at best and at worst, it is just a waste of time and resources. Only by cutting down fraudulent commercial activities, the government can move onto the second stage of clamping down on illegal trade, money laundering and funding for terrorism.
SP and effects
The unlawful social punishment (SP) attacks across the country by NNCP terror groups has also caused the major e commerce leaders to hibernate during 2021. Without such companies to set higher standards, the smaller e commerce startups as well as the consumers are deprived of standards to emulate. For example, locally owned rgo47 has been the standard bearer when it comes to refunds, exchanges, COD payments, delivery tracking, etc., in the past. Without effective punishment on SP instigators, large local enterprises that employ hundreds of staff are deprived of the protection they deserve from the government. At the same time, the stage to develop e commerce sector effectively has been suddenly withdrawn from the foundation of this industry.
FB and VPN
Obviously, the development and the direction of the e commerce industry itself is very much dependent on the use of FB, which is currently available for use through a VPN (Virtual Private Network). Obviously the case for shutting down FB in Myanmar is becoming more and more obvious nowadays. From SP to slanders to fake news to mis-information, the platform is inundated with more of the bad and the ugly, instead of the good.
At the same time, there is a better way to get FB to bend to Myanmar needs. By targeting its source of revenues, i.e., local advertisers, the government can effectively get the FB to engage to them, without totally shutting them down. If FB continues down the current path, the government must target local advertisers to stop advertising on FB. As Lee Kuan Yew always said, ‘The only way to change one’s behaviour is to hurt one’s pocket.
The FB action on ad hoc shutting down of legitimate pages (e.g., Myanmar Media Council) versus giving the blue tick of approval on terrorist instigators and sympathisers have to be addressed as part of the engagement by the government.
The future
Businesses will find a way! (Jurassic Park: Life will find a way!). Whether the FB is shut down or the supervisory body being in place, online business would continue. Some of the shift is now visible in telegram channels taking the place of FB marketplace. But one thing is clear, for Myanmar to prosper and peaceful, the government must be able to control the FB. The platform is being used for the country destruction, especially from those abroad.
The live sales channels may be popular now, but it creates no ad revenue for the social media giant. The algorithm would be eventually altered to give less priority to such methods and videos, unless some sort of ad revenue is forthcoming. With the government gaining more political capital compared to a year ago, now may be the best and most opportune time to act, to reshape the whole structure of the e commerce world.
MI talked to Aye Chan, Chairman of E Commerce Association of Myanmar on the future of e commerce. “The last time, we measured in 2018, the online shopping transactions amount to more than $100 million per annum. We measured based on consumption i.e., purchased transactions from survey data.
Now the online sales are back with a vengeance. The government has recently introduced a tax law to impose commercial taxes on transactions done from home, targeting e commerce. But I do not believe the practical imposition of the commercial tax on e commerce activities is in order yet.
There got to be a way to apply the tax equitably to all online sellers. If there is equitable application, the tax would be passed onto the consumers. If not, online shops would operate from border towns, where enforcement is lacking, putting legitimate online shops at a disadvantage. But I do not see this tax dampening the resurgence of e commerce activities or the future of the industry”, said Aye Chan.
Delivery orientation
E commerce and deliveries go hand in hand. Every e commerce companies need to deliver. This area may be another one for growth in the future. Large e commerce companies have their own delivery set up while smaller start ups used third party delivery companies. Eventually, this is one area where foreign competition is not signifiant at present. If this sector can be developed, this would be the one that certainly create a competitive advantage for local players.
