To know how much online shopping has grown in Malaysia, we will provide you with Malaysian online shopping statistics in this article. Malaysia is known for its legendary shopping seasons. And its Mega Sale Carnival is often described as the ‘mother of all sales’, attracting locals and tourists alike and cementing Kuala Lumpur’s reputation as one of Southeast Asia’s shopping meccas.

Since Malaysia began experiencing e-commerce in the early 2000’s, e-commerce trends in Malaysia have grown so much. In the last 12 months, e-commerce has grown into a significant and competitive industry in Malaysia due to its convenience and value for money. That is also why there are several top online shopping Malaysia that function to serve the online shopping and selling transactions.

Malaysia’s Online Shopping Market is Projected to Grow 

Malaysia’s e-commerce market is characterized by rapid growth and all the challenges that can represent. As with other developing e-commerce markets, growth is outpacing established markets: the nation’s business-to-consumer e-commerce value increased 39 percent in 2019 alone. 

Malaysia’s mobile commerce growth is expected to outpace overall e-commerce, rising at a compound annual growth rate of 19.7 percent to 2023, to become a US$8.9 billion market.

The preferred device for accessing e-commerce in Malaysia is smartphones (52 percent), followed by desktops (42 percent) and tablets (6 percent). Smartphone penetration is at 57 percent, just below China’s 60 percent but lower than neighboring Singapore’s 78 percent.

Consumer payment space in Malaysia has disrupted due to the Covid-19 pandemic, also contributing to the gradual switching from offline to online purchases. 

Read also: Which Online Business Platform Malaysia is Best for Selling?

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Top Three Reasons Why Malaysians Prefer to Shop Online 

If you have ever wondered why so many people choose to shop online, here are the top three reasons. The top three reasons why Malaysians prefer to shop online are convenience, price and selection. This has increased the online shopping trend in Malaysia.

47 percent of the respondents stated that they would continue buying online because it was more convenient than going to a physical store as of May 2020. This survey is conducted by Rakuten Insight in Malaysia. At the same time, the surveyed respondents stated they had an overall positive experience with using e-commerce sites. 

Many Malaysian shoppers feel it is more convenient to buy online to avoid crowded stores, or wait in line for hours. Even better, most online stores give you the option to include same-day-delivery at the checkout screen. Not only do you skip the crowds and lines, but you also receive your items quickly.

You may not have realized this, but you can actually buy things cheaper online. This mostly applies to electronics, toys and other recreational items. Moreover, you can use coupons online as well. You will also frequently receive special offers. Take advantage of these offers for additional savings.

The third reason is selection. Since it is online shopping market, it has many sellers across the world. So they should have many products that have different types, colors, and shapes. Malaysian shoppers have more selection than in the conventional stores.

How Much Online Shoppers Spend For their Purchases

Data from Statista’s Digital Market Outlook survey shows that Malaysians spent more than US$6 billion online in 2018, with purchases of consumer goods already outweighing spend on travel.

Malaysia e-commerce statistics 2018 shows Malaysia’s online consumer goods category was worth a total of US$3.1 billion in 2018, accounting for 51 percent of total ecommerce spend.

Purchases of electronics made the greatest category contribution, at 27 percent of overall consumer goods spending. Fashion and beauty products weren’t far behind though, with annual spending of US$771 million accounting for a quarter of the total online consumer goods market. 

However, the average Malaysian ecommerce shopper spent just USD $159 on online consumer goods purchases in 2018 – significantly lower than the global average of USD $634. 

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The Most Popular Categories for Shopping 

Overall, Malaysians have increasingly been shifting buying behaviour away from traditional brick-and-mortar to online. 

Read also: Top 15 Online Shopping Sites in Malaysia 2021

The most popular e-commerce product categories for Malaysian online shopping are travel (63 percent), consumer electronics (10 percent) and fashion (9 percent) based on Malaysia e commerce statistics. The travel segment will drop in 2020 but is expected to recover in the coming years. The average annual basket spend is MYR2,004 (US$484). The average annual online spend per consumer almost doubled between 2017 and 2019.

In May 2020 due to Covid-19 pandemic, 55 percent of the respondents purchased food and grocery items online according to a survey conducted by Rakuten Insight in Malaysia. 

Why Does the Malaysian Government Encourage Its Citizens to Do Online Shopping?

For many years, the Malaysian government has been trying to encourage its citizens to shop at home instead of going abroad. This is done to get cheaper goods.

The Malaysian government is paying close attention to the development of e-commerce in Malaysia. It is introducing new taxes, regulations and domestic incentive schemes accordingly. 

Malaysia is now playing catch-up to bring its e-commerce infrastructure, including product availability, payments, delivery and regulatory requirements, in line with more established online shopping markets.

The government launched a three-month campaign in June 2020 with a budget of MYR140m (US$34.2m) to drive e-commerce adoption among small merchants and help widen their reach across the country.

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Conclusion

In online shopping statistics in Malaysia show that Malaysia’s e-commerce market is characterized by rapid growth. Malaysia’s mobile commerce growth is expected to outpace overall e-commerce, rising at a compound annual growth rate of 19.7 percent to 2023, to become a US$8.9 billion market. 

Data from Statista’s Digital Market Outlook survey shows that Malaysians spent more than US$6 billion online in 2018. And the top three reasons why Malaysians prefer to shop online are convenience, price and selection. 

The best selling product categories in Malaysia such as travel, consumer electronics, fashion and beauty. But in May 2020, 55 percent of Malaysians purchased food and grocery items online. 

The Malaysian government has been trying to encourage its citizens to shop at home instead of going abroad. This is done to get cheaper goods.

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