DIGITALISING A HERITAGE BUSINESS
"We recognised this and decided to educate our customers to shop online. It’s easier for them as it is for us." - Lana Ng, Head of eCommerce, Chai Huat Hin
From humble beginnings in the streets of Central Market 50 years ago to moving to Petaling Street and establishing itself as one of the oldest dry seafood establishments in Kuala Lumpur today, Chai Huat Hin's journey has been nothing short of inspiring. Today, Lana Ng, head of Chai Huat Hin's eCommerce development, who is also the grandfather of the founder, is taking the path towards digitalising the heritage business.
The digitalisation journey
In 2016, the family business was continued by Ng’s uncle. He first envisioned the company's digital expansion and brought Lana in to help the business. They quickly realised how much they needed to shift their business online as the number of walk-in customers have drastically slowed down. Although a website was started as part of the early plans, it wasn't designed intuitively and was lacking in many aspects. During the same time, she noticed advertisements by Maxis Business and was intrigued. The interest was piqued even more after hearing plenty of positive reviews from a mutual client of both Chai Huat Hin and Maxis Business. Not long after, Lana reached out to Maxis Business and kicked off Chai Huat Hin's digitalisation journey by signing up with Cloud POS Lite and Business 4G WiFi.
Old business, new ways
From the end of 2016 to early 2017, the website was starting to take shape. The digital expansion of the company opened doors for Chai Huat Hin to reach out to a younger set of audience. Through the right tools, they were able to concentrate on marketing to the new generation of online shoppers and convince new customers that shopping for traditional products and food is just as easy and rewarding. One way Lana and her team did it was by firing up their presence on social media through fun and entertaining content that revolves around traditional food.
A digitalised customer experience
Due to the pandemic's impact, the consensus of the public has shifted towards contactless payment - making it the preferred choice for transactions and payments. With Maxis Business Cloud POS Lite, Chai Huat Hin is able to provide cashless payments. On top of that, the system also enables online sales to be managed easier, better, and faster. Another significant digitalisation upgrade for Chai Huat Hin is also the addition of Business 4G WiFi. The solution enhances the productivity and efficiency of the daily operations by allowing the business to stay connected in all ways with consistent and high-speed Internet.
Together with Maxis Business in their digitalisation journey, Chai Huat Hin plans to fully digitalise the company to reinforce the marketing and logistics of the business, while also develop its own unique branding.
Chai Huat Hin is also a part of the ever-growing UsahaWIRA community, a 21,000 strong network of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) empowered by Maxis Business.
Be an UsahaWIRA with Maxis Business and digitalise easier, better, and faster
Kickstart your digitalisation journey by applying for the SME Digitalisation Grant through Maxis Business. Discover the best digital solutions for your business and optimise digitalisation touch points with the Maxis SME Help Squad.
This article was originally published in The Star on 19 Jul 2022.
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