MasterCard: Huge potential of e-commerce in Malaysia

Vice president and senior country manager, Malaysia and Brunei, MasterCard Worldwide Jim Cheah said it was encouraging to see more Malaysians shop online, the Bernama news agency reported. This was in line with the result of the latest MasterCard online shopping survey which conducted across 25 markets between November and December 2012, showing most Malaysians embraced online shopping, with more than three-quarters of respondents making at least one purchase in the last three months.

The survey also revealed that:

•  81.2% Malaysians having Internet access on their mobile phones;
•  Security, price/values of items and convenience of payment facilities are the key decision to shop online;
• 71.4% buy online due to friendly environment;
• Groupon was the most-visited or bought from site in Malaysia with 13.4 per cent of respondents having visited it for online shopping in the last three months, followed by AirAsia (8%) and eBay (7.5%);
• Airlines had the highest share of spend, with an average of RM780.63 (US$257), followed by hotel categories – RM496.93 (US$163.6) and travel-related services (excluding hotels and airlines) at RM379.69 (US$125).