Online Shopping an increasing trend in Malaysia.

Does Online Shopping sound familiar to you? Lately I have seen quite some people browsing through online shops. In order to do that, we need internet access. Internet can be accessible at home, office, public area like internet cafes or even restaurants with Wi-Fi connection and one can also browse the internet in their College or University campus area. Today, online shopping has become a hot topic among the youths as well as people who are internet savvy.

I would often come across conversations like this over lunch, “Have you seen the Cat Patterned Green Hoodie in MOS Fashion?”, “OMG, did you know TheClickShop has this new Instant Polaroid Camera?” or even, “I’ve just received my parcel from ViviFashion this morning!”.

MosFashion

TheClickShop

ViviFashion

Those who are not familiar with online shopping will not understand what the conversation is about but for those who know, it will be nice to eavesdrop once in awhile to get the latest update in the world of online shopping!

Also, did you know that Malaysia’s Internet age started in the year of 1995? During that era, the number of Internet hosts started to grow only in 1996 and not many people have Internet access back then. According to the first Malaysian Internet survey conducted by MIMOS and Beta Interactive Services in 1995, one out of every thousand Malaysians had access to the Internet.

Today, Internet has become very popular in Malaysia especially when it comes to getting information, sharing ideas with the online community, social networking, and even businesses use it as a platform to communicate with their customers. However, online shopping in Malaysia is still at its infant stage.

In Malaysia, online transactions are not as popular as in western countries. The online security as well as the ethical issues involving online vendors might be the main cause of uncertainty from the consumers. In order to learn more about online shopping, we have to ask people who are directly involved in that industry.

First and foremost, we have Leah, a Multimedia student from The One Academy who may look like an ordinary girl but nobody knows that she is actually a businesswoman.

From the (left) Leah & Rina from 8TV

She started her online shop last year and is making money by selling clothings, accessories, branded bags, and many more. Her business focuses mainly on ladies fashion. Leah is previously an online shopper herself. Due to her fancy to follow trends as well as being influenced by peers, she opened up an online shop called “Beyond Retro” alongside with her boyfriend who is her business partner and also her personal clothing model photographer. Her customers are mainly locals but she also has customers from Pakistan which is rare. “Online shopping is very new in Malaysia and I think it is just a beginning for this online industry”. As for Leah’s advice, “I would recommend new online shoppers to request the local vendors especially, to do Cash On Delivery (COD) instead of postage delivery because we don’t know whether the vendor is trustable or not”.

Next, we have Abigail, a Psychology student from UCSI University with a bubbly and humble personality who is very serious when it comes to the online business but she focuses more on female accessories and will slowly add more product lines into her business when her customers’ demand grows.

Abigail's Online Shop "NameWhatYouWant"

She started her small business since last year and has faced many challenges along the way but now she is quite happy with her online business. “Competitors are very tight in this online industry but different vendors have different ways of selling their product. It all depends on the online shoppers preferences. My best advice for people who are new to online shopping is to read through reviews from other people before purchasing from the online vendor”.

Ivy, a Mass Communication student who is also from UCSI University is a freelancer and also once owned an online shop but closed down the business due to her busy schedule and also high competition in the market. She confessed that she is a fanatic of both online and offline shopping and she started to shop online since 2006. Whenever she is free, she can spend hours searching for just a typical item. Most of the goods she bought online is mainly fashion related goods. She thinks that it is safe and reliable for people to shop online as long as the online shopper themselves are smart in making choices. “Everything has its risk. It is best for those who never shop online to do research and consult friends who have experience in online shopping. Reading reviews would also help to reduce the risk of being scammed”. Ivy also advised, “If the price is cheap, the things might not be of good quality. What we pay is what we get”.  

As this online shopping industry is still very new in Malaysia, I think the main concerns for consumers nowadays are security and also scam issues. Being an online shopper for 6 years now, I feel lucky enough because I have not encountered any bad experiences so far. In so many years, I’ve purchased goods from clothing, gadgets, life stocks, and even beauty products. I find online shopping very efficient and the quality of the goods is not too bad for my preferences. By shopping online, sometimes one can discover goods which cannot be found in the offline marketplace. Furthermore, the goods online can be bought at a cheaper price.

Although online shopping is still very new, it is definitely growing in Malaysia. Online shopping is mainly safe but there are also risks involved. Online shopper themselves have to be smart in making choices. Not sure about how online shopping works? Ask around! I’m sure there are many online shoppers out there who can help and you might even be surprised at how popular online shopping is in Malaysia.

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