SINGAPORE, 21 August 2020 – Visa, a leader in digital payments, has launched Where You Shop Matters, an initiative that encourages consumers to support their local businesses while helping SMEs to go digital following the onset of Covid-19.
The initiative is part of Visa’s broader small business strategy and follows commitments the company has made to support 10 million small and micro businesses in the Asia Pacific.
As part of Where You Shop Matters, Visa will be working with Shopee to feature more than 2,000 local micro SMEs in its marketplace and create campaigns to enable Visa cardholders to enjoy discounts when they shop at these local merchants, while it supports Shopee’s own range of local support efforts – particularly, its #SGUnited Shopee Support Local campaign.
“Where You Shop Matters reinforces Visa’s commitment to supporting small businesses in this period of difficulty. The impact for these businesses caused by Covid-19 reinforced the need for Visa to launch Where You Shop Matters to support local businesses in Singapore and help them digitise. We are confident that Singaporeans will help support the local economy, especially since our study showed that 98 per cent of Singaporean consumers would purchase from local retailers to support small business recovery.[1]
More than half of the consumers also indicated that they would shop online more often due to the pandemic,” said Kunal Chatterjee, Visa Country Manager for Singapore & Brunei.
Shopee chief commercial officer Zhou Junjie said, “Being a homegrown company ourselves, Shopee has always been dedicated to nurturing and empowering local SMEs and entrepreneurs. This partnership further reinforces our commitment to supporting local, especially during a time where camaraderie amongst one another is key. We are excited to collaborate with Visa on this meaningful campaign and will continue doing our part to boost local businesses striving towards economic recovery as one nation.”
The Visa study also showed that 83% of Singaporean consumers believe it is important for local retailers to have an online presence.[2]
In the wake of Covid-19, the insights from this study have shown the importance of SMEs to have a digital presence and adapt to changing consumers’ behaviours in order to do well.
“By going online, SMEs can expand their customer base, not only in Singapore but also in different countries or regions. They will join a global marketplace that can be accessed by millions of Visa cardholders around the globe,” Kunal Chatterjee added.
To encourage SMEs to go digital, Visa will be providing them with a Visa eCommerce Starter Kit to help them start, manage and grow their online storefronts. Visa is partnering with BigCommerce to provide onboarding support and special discount rates for SMEs to sign up and start selling online. SMEs can also benefit from a variety of offers, including Office 365 business packages and cashback on Google Ads to help them get their online business up and running. For SMEs with physical stores, they can order free Visa POS signage to build trust with consumers.
[1] A YouGov study commissioned by Visa to access Singaporeans’ support for local businesses was conducted in July 2020 on 1,106 Singaporeans aged 18-55 years of age
[2] YouGov Study commissioned by Visa
To find out more about Where You Shop Matters, please visit visa.com.sg/whereyoushopmatters
To find out more about the #SGUnited Shopee Support Local campaign, please visit https://shopee.sg/m/shopee-support-loc
