The  e-Commerce  Consumers  Survey  2018 (ECS 2018), released by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) today revealed that 51.2% of Malaysians use the eCommerce platform to shop and sell online in the past 12 months. This obviously, shouldn’t be a surprise. With the amount of online stores, and now emerging payment methods, we’re more inclined to take the convenience factor of online shopping.

As reported in  a report by  World Bank Group 2018, Malaysia is at number two in the South East Asia region after Singapore in terms of percentage of e-Commerce users.

The survey found that women are more likely to conduct e-Commerce activities  (53.9%)  compared  to  men  (48.8%),  with  clothing  and accessories being the most popular products purchased.

Even  though  the  percentage  of  men  adopting  e-Commerce  is  lower compared to women,  in  terms of value  however, men spent more  than women  in  the  last  12  months  at  an  average  of  RM690,  compared  to RM450  for the women. This finding can be  largely attributed to the type of products purchased by men  who tend to buy computer software and equipment, as well as automotive parts.

When  asked  why  they  choose  to  shop  online,  84.4% of  e-Commerce users cited convenience and comfort  to  access various online shopping platforms at their own place and time being motivation factors  for them to buy online. Competitive  pricing  is  also  a  main  attraction  for  73.0%  e-Commerce consumers.  This  is  encouraged  by  various  strategies  by  online  retailers to  attract  consumers  such  as  discount  vouchers,  festive  sales,  cash rebates, member privileges, and others.

Furthermore,  various types of  payment methods such as online banking is another key reason why consumers shop online. Among the preferred payment method of e-Commerce consumers are e-Money  facilities such as  Boost,  WeChat  Pay  and  Touch  ‘n  Go  eWallet.  Even  though  the adoption  for  this  payment  method  is  still  low,  MCMC  expects  that  the percentage will increase in the future,  which  will be driven by adoption of the e-Money method by various e-Commerce platforms.

This survey also revealed that smartphone is the most popular device for consumers  where  78.3%  uses  them  to  purchase  goods  and  services online, particularly among those below 30 years old. Preference toward  smartphone usage is  not surprising as users are able to  download  e-Commerce  apps  on  their  device  which  makes  it convenient for them to do online transactions.

Social media is also important for consumers to collect information on products  or  services  before  they  make  any  transactions.  44.1% respondents  uses  social  media  to  seek  and  validate  product  quality  to avoid from being scammed by irresponsible parties. Despite the high awareness on e-Commerce, ECS 2018 also found that more  than  half  of  online  shoppers  are  concerned  about  security  and privacy  when  shopping  online.  Concerns  regarding  security  have emerged from a vast range of potential threats such as credit card fraud, fake  online  retailers,  banking  details  theft,  identity  theft,  and  trust issues.

Among  these  threats,  fraudulent  activities  including  credit  card  and debit  card  fraud  appears  to  be  the  highest  concerns  as  mentioned  by 63.9% of online shoppers.  In terms of privacy,  82.7%  shoppers indicated that  they  are  very  concerned  about  the  exposure  of  their  personal details  while 70.0% are  worried about their personal data being  misused for marketing purposes.