WebX is not yet open for orders, so email michael@webx.my if you would like to be told when it opens.

Guides

Selling online without complicating your website

For most Malaysian small businesses, a full online store is the wrong first move. The alternative is a website of a few pages that links to the platforms built for selling.

Running a full online store

A full e-commerce website has to be run every week. Stock levels must stay correct or you sell what you do not have. The payment gateway needs setting up and testing. Shipping rates need configuring for every state, and again when the courier changes prices. The cart software needs updates, because an out-of-date store is a target for hackers. Every one of those jobs lands on the owner, who ends up spending evenings fighting a plugin. Meanwhile the platforms whose whole business is selling handle payment, delivery and buyer disputes for every seller at once.

Where Malaysians buy online

Shopee and Lazada

Good: Malaysians usually search here first for a product, so the buyers are already there with payment details saved. Payment, shipping labels and buyer disputes are handled by the platform, and a listing takes minutes.

The downside: a commission on every sale, and margins squeezed by buyers comparing on price. The customer belongs to the marketplace, so you cannot easily contact them again.

Suits: anything you can pack and post, such as packaged food, clothing, spare parts, homeware and gadgets.

TikTok Shop

Good: selling is built into the app Malaysians scroll every day, and one video can reach thousands who have not heard of you. Live selling works well, and checkout inside the app means no drop-off between wanting and paying.

The downside: it runs on content, so sales stop when you stop posting. It rewards products that look good on camera, and it takes a commission like the marketplaces.

Suits: visual products, impulse buys and anything you can demonstrate, such as food, fashion, beauty and gadgets.

WhatsApp Business catalogue

Good: it is free, and customers browse your products and prices inside the chat, so you stop retyping the list. Personal service turns first orders into regular ones, because their number is in your phone.

The downside: you confirm each order, take payment by bank transfer or payment link and arrange delivery yourself. There is no discovery, so volume is limited by the chats you can answer in a day.

Suits: made-to-order food, services, pre-orders and regulars, such as the home baker taking next week's kek orders or the aircond technician booking appointments.

GrabFood and foodpanda for F&B

Good: a delivery fleet you do not hire, discovery from hungry people nearby and no cash handling. For many cafes and stalls it is a second revenue stream needing no extra floor space.

The downside: the commission cuts deep into food margins, so many owners price their delivery menu higher to cope. The platform owns the customer data, and you are one listing among hundreds nearby.

Suits: any F&B business that wants delivery without buying motorbikes.

Where a website fits

None of those channels makes you look like an established business, and a business that exists only inside an app feels temporary. The website's job is that credibility, and the selling belongs on the channels built for it. Someone who hears about you from a friend or a TikTok video will search your name next. They want to know what you sell or serve, where you are, when you are open and how to contact you.

The website itself stays lean: services or menu, location and map, opening hours and a WhatsApp button, with no stock syncing, security patches or plugin subscription. "Where to buy" buttons then link it to the channels above, and the customer picks the one they already trust. A sambal maker in Ipoh gets the story, product range and stockists plus "Buy on Shopee" and "Order via WhatsApp" buttons. A kopitiam in Klang gets the menu, hours and map plus an "Order on GrabFood" button. If you join TikTok Shop next year or drop a marketplace, the change on the website is one button, with no store to rebuild.

How WebX handles this

WebX builds this combination, with no builder to learn or software to maintain. The WebX plan is RM899 a year for up to 4 pages, typically Home, About, Products or Services and Contact, with hosting and https included. Extra pages are RM99 a year each. The plan includes the free yourname.webx.my address. A managed domain is an add-on at RM199 a year, registered in your name, and it goes with you if you leave. Connecting a domain you already own is free.

Every WebX site can carry those "Where to buy" and "Order via" buttons: WhatsApp chat and catalogue, Shopee and Lazada store, TikTok Shop and delivery-app links. You give us the links during setup and we place them where they work. When a link changes or you add a channel, send a change request. Updating existing pages is included, unlimited and one at a time, usually done within 2 business days. A second request queues behind the first, and your account shows where it sits in line.

WebX does not build e-commerce websites, and a lean info site is not one. A business that needs a full online store is a custom project, and we will point you to Pixl Digital, the studio behind WebX. WebX is not yet open for orders, so email michael@webx.my with questions and we will tell you when ordering opens.