With as many as 63% of active online shoppers as of 2019, eCommerce has boomed and become an integral part of a Malaysian’s lifestyle. The expenditure in e-commerce grew by 24% in 2019 that even the government has recognized the significance of it and has made the growth of the online company a national priority. One of the highest contributors to Malaysia’s online economy is the travel industry with the country’s internet users spending more than US$ 2.7 billion on online travel purchases as of 2018.
From 2012 – 2014, Lazada, Zalora, Rakuten, Hermo & 65daigou were the top & upcoming online shopping platforms, to which Lazada became the most searched by 2014 and 65daigou is now known as Ezbuy. 2015 saw the existence of GoShop, 11street and Shopee. Founded and funded by a SEA gaming company(then known as Garena), Shopee would then become Lazada’s closest competitor. It started as a mobile-first experience and underwent traffic growth due to the growing and competitive smartphone and service provider scene.
Now with the rise of technology and new services and innovations, usability and personalized options are now better equipped to cater to the wants and needs of online consumers. Here are some more user-friendly features.
a) Live Stream Shopping – It’s rising on shopping platforms like Taobao, wherewith this feature they plan to host live sessions from 300,000 merchants per day in 2020.
b) Payment methods – It has evolved from 2012 where credit & debit cards were once the mainstream features, have now adopted online banking & gift cards.
c) Social media – With social media advancing and mobile features have come a long way, things like mobile websites and shoppable posts have become conveniences to the mobile shopper.
d) Search Functions & Advanced Navigation – They are more able to narrow in more specifically into customer ideals and personalize it to them.
e) Site Interfaces – More modern and more able to customize to the comfort of the user
f) Advanced image options – Higher resolution images, availability of 360 view or 3D images with options to include multiple images
g) Digitized businesses – Being able to perform more activities like purchasing groceries, pharmaceutical items & food online all on one platform.
The concerns of today have also changed because while online security measures for payment & personal details have improved and there are more terms in place. Scammers and hackers are always finding new ways to go about and evade the system. Constant education about the dangers of online use and what precautions to take will always be necessary and will always need to be updated as the industry evolves. With such a vast availability of product options, concerns now span to product quality & delivery which have higher chances now of being late, damaged or missing due to the complexity of the deliverables and the system that accommodates it. Another concern of consumers is the overwhelming choices that are now available in the market, where some have questionable sources. All these transactions come with policies and guarantees but not all of them are reliable or clear when it comes to refunds and returns.