THE YEAR IN REVIEW 2020

In an unprecedented year, businesses faced both struggles and opportunities in the midst of a pandemic. With more focus on digitalisation, the business community have found themselves in a shift that is changing the way Malaysian consumers behave with technology, requiring a more seamless and effective experience.

- POOVENRAJ KANAGARAJ

2020 was most definitely the year of tectonic shifts for businesses worldwide and in Malaysia. It was an eye-opener for most, if not all. In order to brace these challenging times, business owners and the government were left with no choice but to embrace the new age that was ushered in by the Coronavirus pandemic.

Consumer behaviours while have been known to change with time, the trends this year have definitely taken a turn that required businesses to keep up faster than ever. According to a study by Bain & Company and Facebook, Digital Consumers of Tomorrow, Here Today, digital consumers will make up 69 percent of Southeast Asia’s population by end of 2020.

The growth was originally forecasted for 2025 in the study, indicating a five-year acceleration within this year alone. The new normal that was ushered in by the outbreak gave birth to new purchasing habits and expectations.

“Malaysian consumers are not just spending more online as forecasted in 2019, they’re also buying into more categories online,” says Gwendolyn Lim, a Partner at Bain & Company.

“The power of digital consumer spend is exceeding expectations with online spend set to triple by 2025,” says Gwendolyn. Nicole Tan, Country Managing Director of Facebook Malaysia highlighted that in Malaysia alone, they are expecting approximately four million new digital consumers this year.

Across SEA, preference to buy from online channels has seen a leap, and with e-commerce becoming a platform for search or intentional buying.”