Small businesses are finally focusing on selling their products and services online and Malta now has the highest share of enterprises in the EU which made the shift as a result of the pandemic.
Business lobbies had for years been lamenting about how small businesses were often reluctant to set up online platforms to sell their goods and services.
The business owners would often argue they did not need online presence as they were doing well without it, despite the lobbies’ insistence this would soon no longer be the case.
New data issued by the EU’s statistics office shows that some 32 per cent of Malta’s enterprises started or increased their efforts to sell their goods and services online when the pandemic emerged in 2020.
This was the biggest share compared to all other EU members and, according to Malta Chamber of SMEs CEO Abigail Agius Mamo, confirmed fears that Malta’s businesses had been lagging in this area.
Cyprus, which had the second-highest rate, registered a rate of 23 per cent.
“This clearly shows that Malta’s businesses had been falling short when it came to digitalisation and, so, when the pandemic hit, business owners had no option but to step up,” Agius Mamo said.
“We had been telling them for years that they were competing with the global market but it seems that it had to be COVID-19 to jolt them into action.”
As a lobby, Agius Mamo recalled how the chamber had for years struggled to convince small businesses they needed to step up efforts to digitalise their enterprises. But, in 2020, with unprecedented closures, quarantines and other pandemic-related restrictions, even the smallest of businesses finally realised they had to make the shift.
Change was driven mostly by necessity
“We saw a lot of owners suddenly became very inventive. The owner of a small grocery store that would have never even dreamed of shifting online suddenly started taking orders via WhatsApp,” the CEO said.
“Some had no money but were somehow still trying to invest because they had to keep going.
“They did that by ensuring that having an online presence becomes a priority.”
But while bigger businesses were more likely to implement long-term changes, smaller ones opted for “quick fixes” that saw them move online but with limited resources.
Now, as the world continues to inch closer towards pre-pandemic normality, these businesses must realise they have to keep investing, Agius Mamo said.
“The change was driven mostly by necessity and so those who opted for quick fixes in order to safeguard their business must now focus on the long term,” she said.
According to the chamber’s latest survey, conducted at the end of 2021, more than half of businesses have said they want to continue investing in digital platforms for their enterprises.