Breaking Tradition: Pasar Besar Siti Khadijah’s Digital Revolution

It is the second day of the holy month of Ramadhan, and Pasar Besar Siti Khadijah (PBSK) is bustling. The crowd is a mix of Kota Bharu locals shopping for cooking items and camera-trotting tourists, curiously bent over fresh local produce.

Kelantan is known for its markets, and this is easily the most iconic of the lot. Originally known as Pasar Pusat Buluh Kubu, it was renamed after Prophet Muhammad’s wife in 1997 — an homage to its predominantly womenfolk vendors.

Much like the beloved nasi tumpang with its layered flavours coming together in perfect harmony, the market stacks its offerings across designated floors: a smorgasbord of wet market sights, sounds, and smells at the base, a hearty layer of dry goods and food stalls above, and finally, fabrics and fashion.

The Digital Boon

On the second floor, Roslina Suria bt Hussin is busy attending to customers at her shop that sells locally-made serunding, fish crackers, anchovies, dodol and some snacks from neighbouring Thailand.

This business has been in her family for two generations, and she’s been running it for the last decade. A lot has changed since her mother’s time as shopkeeper.

For one, there’s the rise of the digital economy. In 2015, Malaysia’s revenue from e-commerce transactions stood at RM398.2 billion. By 2022, it had grown to RM1.12 trillion. The final quarter of 2024 alone recorded RM310.2 billion in e-commerce income.

According to the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation, the digital economy generated 23% of Malaysia’s GDP in 2022 — a figure expected to rise to over 25% by 2025.

These shifts can be felt even here, where QR codes have become a common sight — a reflection of not only Malaysia’s high digital payment adoption rates but also the shift that is happening at this market.

Recognising this, YOKUK — A Foundation for the Disabled & Underprivileged — launched the Digital Biz PBSK programme to ensure micro-entrepreneurs here don’t get left behind. The programme offers digital and financial literacy classes, plus workshops in marketing and motivation.

This programme is supported through the Hasanah Special Grant, a collaboration between Yayasan Hasanah and the Ministry of Finance.

Roslina, one of 30 PBSK micro-entrepreneurs who’ve gone through the programme, shares that she’s already seen a rise in income since joining. Over the course of a year, she completed Phase 1 of the programme (four months of workshops and coaching) before moving on to eight months of hands-on entrepreneurship training in Phase 2.

I learned Canva, an easy way to create attractive posters to promote my products on Shopee and TikTok… I also learned how to use Shopee more efficiently to promote my business.”

Ahmad Fikrillah bin Moh Yusoff - programme participant

A New Kind of Traffic

Roslina is not the only one. Throughout the market, more vendors are taking purposeful steps into digital territory.

Walking to the next interview location proved less straightforward than expected, but vendors were gracious and quick to guide us in the right direction.

On the third floor — a haven for clothing and fabric, including hand-drawn and block-printed Kelantanese batik — we meet another programme participant, Ahmad Fikrillah bin Moh Yusoff.

“I learned Canva, an easy way to create attractive posters to promote my products on Shopee and TikTok… I also learned how to use Shopee more efficiently to promote my business,” he explains.

About 1,400 vendors occupy this octagon-shaped building and YOKUK identified eager participants by collaborating with Persatuan Peniaga-peniaga Kecil Bumiputera Pasar Besar Siti Khadijah.

With multiple shops offering similar products, competition is fierce. Embracing e-commerce, however, allows vendors to expand their reach and grow their customer base beyond the familiar faces that frequent their shop and tourists who pass through. 

More and more Malaysians are shopping online these days — 70.6% in 2023 according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia. Given the high internet penetration and digitisation rates, among other factors, this number is only expected to grow.

For Ahmad, his adoption of digital sales channels has resulted in a 15% to 20% increase in income.

YOKUK chairperson Datin Suliana Shamsuddin Alias is pleased to report that all programme participants enjoyed increased income. “10% of them experienced an increase of more than RM3,000 while 40% saw an increase of over RM1,000.”

Balancing Both Worlds

Progress, however, hasn’t come without its challenges. According to Persatuan Peniaga-peniaga Kecil Bumiputera Pasar Besar Siti Khadijah President, Ahmad Nazri bin Che Omar, one major hurdle has been time — most vendors are kept busy manning their shops, leaving little room to focus on developing an online presence.

Another obstacle YOKUK had to navigate when rolling out this programme was timing. With vendors occupied during peak hours, workshops often had to run late into the night or start very early in the morning — whenever the market briefly paused.

Hasanah Grant Senior Manager, Siti Noradilah Sabudin explains that this initiative is “in line with Hasanah’s mission to build an inclusive ecosystem that supports small businesses so that they too can compete in the digital economy.” Establishing an online shop, she shares, has been especially helpful for women
entrepreneurs, providing them more time to manage their families and household responsibilities.

Besides an average increase of over RM1,000 in earnings, programme participants also reported having more customers, higher sales and improved business management processes. Datin Suliana notes there is strong potential to replicate this model — not just across Kelantan, but nationwide.

As the PBSK building, which opened its doors in 1985, undergoes some refurbishment, a parallel transformation is also underway in the minds and outlook of its vendors. Embracing e-commerce, they are redefining the future of the market and their own, step by digital step.