KOTA KINABALU, 22 July 2026 — Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (Sabah Electricity) has onboarded to Lapasar, Malaysia's B2B procurement and marketplace platform, to digitise its long-tail procurement, the thousands of low-value, high-frequency purchases that traditionally consume a disproportionate share of procurement time and cost.
For a utility serving more than 600,000 customers across Sabah and the Federal Territory of Labuan, with operations spanning over 74,000 square kilometres, long-tail procurement presents not only a purchasing challenge but also a logistical one. From Kota Kinabalu to Sandakan, Tawau and remote operational stations, essential items such as consumables, tools, office supplies, safety equipment and maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) materials are required on a continuous basis.
However, the relatively low value of each individual purchase often makes a full tender process impractical. As a result, organisations frequently face manual sourcing processes, fragmented supplier networks, inconsistent pricing and longer procurement lead times.
Through Lapasar, Sabah Electricity's teams now requisition these items through a single digital marketplace, with structured approvals, consolidated invoicing, and full spend visibility — replacing manual quotation cycles with catalogue-based purchasing.
Efficiency at Utility Scale
Long-tail spend typically represents a small share of procurement value but the majority of transaction volume. By moving this category onto Lapasar, Sabah Electricity reduces processing cost per purchase order, shortens requisition-to-delivery cycles, and frees its procurement team to focus on strategic, high-value categories. Every transaction is digitally recorded, strengthening audit readiness and governance, a priority for a utility of national importance.
Industry benchmarks consistently show that tail spend accounts for roughly 80% of a large organisation’s purchase transactions while representing only around 20% of total procurement value — making it the single largest source of hidden processing cost in enterprise procurement.
Digitising and Growing Sabah's Local Vendors
A central pillar of the partnership is the onboarding of local Sabah vendors onto Lapasar's marketplace. Many of these suppliers from hardware and electrical merchants to stationers and safety equipment dealers, have historically operated offline, limiting their access to large enterprise buyers.
Lapasar will digitise these vendors' catalogues, bringing them online with structured product data, digital ordering, and streamlined payments. Once on the platform, Sabah vendors gain access not only to Sabah Electricity's recurring demand but to Lapasar's wider base of enterprise and GLC buyers nationwide, turning a single client relationship into a growth channel.
“Our partnership with Lapasar reflects Sabah Electricity's commitment to modernising procurement through digital transformation, enhancing operational efficiency, strengthening governance and improving transparency. At the same time, this initiative supports the growth of local Sabah vendors by expanding their access to digital procurement opportunities, enabling them to become more competitive while contributing to the state's economic development," said Datuk Ir. Ts. Mohd Yaakob Hj. Jaafar, Chief Executive Officer of Sabah Electricity.
Technology Adoption in Sabah's Utility Sector
The onboarding marks a milestone in procurement technology adoption within Sabah Electricity, embedding e-procurement into daily operations across its network of offices and depots. Structured training and onboarding support from Lapasar will ensure adoption across requisitioners, approvers, and finance teams, marking the difference between deploying a platform and transforming a process.
The onboarding places Sabah Electricity among a growing group of large Malaysian organisations digitising procurement at scale. Malaysia’s digital transformation market is projected to grow from US$12.67 billion in 2026 to US$29.74 billion by 2031, and utilities are among the sectors under the greatest pressure to modernise operations while controlling cost.
ENDS
About Lapasar
Lapasar Sdn Bhd is a Malaysian B2B procurement and marketplace platform serving enterprises and GLCs across two divisions: Enterprise Procurement and FMCG Wholesale. Founded in 2018, Lapasar enables organisations to digitise long-tail procurement through mall.lapasar.com, a marketplace of over two million SKUs, while empowering local vendors nationwide to reach enterprise buyers digitally. For more information, visit lapasar.com.
About Sabah Electricity
Sabah Electricity Sdn. Bhd. (Sabah Electricity), established in 1998, is a vertically integrated utility company dedicated to providing reliable electricity generation, transmission, and distribution services across Sabah and the Federal Territory of Labuan. It is 80% owned by Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) and 20% by the State Government of Sabah. As the sole power utility in Sabah, Sabah Electricity plays a pivotal role in driving the development of the region's electricity infrastructure. The Sabah Grid, comprising 66kV, 132kV, and 275kV networks, interconnects major towns throughout Sabah and Labuan, ensuring robust and efficient power delivery. Guided by its tagline, “Energising Our Future,” Sabah Electricity remains focused on enhancing supply reliability, upgrading infrastructure, and introducing advanced innovations to support the region's energy needs and economic development.