Problems faced by the Street Market Stakeholders: Malaysian Case Study

Abstract

Street market is considered as an informal business activity. Some of the famous street markets are Bangkok’s Chatuchak Weekend Market, Souks of Marrakesh, Taipei’s Shilin Street market and Barcelona’s La Boqueria (Momondo, 2013). Street market stalls and trucks can be found almost everywhere either in housing as well as commercial areas approved by local authorities. One of the Malaysian initiatives in promoting for a well-balanced retail and micro-enterprise ecosystem is by transforming the street markets distribution and operation via the Malaysian NKEA (National Key Economic Area) (Kemubu Agriculture Development Authorithy, 2018). Stakeholders of street market includes of street vendor (seller), customer (buyer) and local authorities.  The findings of the interviews with the respective local council, and street market vendors and customers showed that price non-standardization, service quality, product preference, infrastructure, convenience and accessibility and sellers’ resistance to change are the key issues. In addition, the street markets could be considered as business incubators for aspiring entrepreneurs since they would need to put in a very small investment to start the business, the risk of failure was minimal, and there was the opportunity to earn a hefty income (Salleh, Yaakub, Yunus, & Wan Sulong, 2012).