Malaysian e-commerce market to grow by 19.9 per cent this year

Analytics company GlobalData predicts the Malaysian e-commerce market will expand by 19.9 per cent this year, reaching US$9.2 billion in value.

GlobalData further projects that e-commerce sales in Malaysia will increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.1 percent between this year and 2026 to reach $16.6 billion by then, supported by the fast-expanding shift from offline to online purchasing.

“Malaysia is among the fastest-growing e-commerce markets in Southeast Asia,” said Ravi Sharma, lead banking and payments analyst at GlobalData.

“The growth is supported by the rapid adoption of smartphones, growing internet penetration, and the availability of secure online payment systems.”

Despite the reopening of physical establishments after the epidemic, many Malaysian customers still favor online shopping. Less than 6 percent of Malaysian customers claimed they had never purchased online, while nearly 90 percent said they had done so within the previous six months.

“The pandemic has brought a shift in consumer buying behavior, pushing them towards online, a trend that is expected to continue,” added Sharma.

Alternative payment methods, including ShopeePay, GrabPay, and Boost are gaining in popularity and collectively account for 41 percent of payments.