Online shopping has long been a custom for the average Malaysian. With the booming of online stores as well as physical retail outlets shifting their focus towards moving online, there is no doubt that the market for online shopping is continually expanding. But are Malaysians really satisfied with their online shopping experience? Let’s look at the results from the latest Smart Shopping Survey.
Commissioned by Rakuten, the Smart Shopping Survey revealed that most Malaysians are unhappy with their online shopping experience. Out of more than 2,000 online consumers throughout Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Taiwan, only 29 percent of Malaysian respondents were satisfied with goods purchased online in the past 12 months whereas the other 71 percent claimed to have regretted their purchases, mostly due to mismatched expectations.
Out of the 71 percent of unsatisfied Malaysians, 48 percent of them attributed their dissatisfaction to products looking different physically as opposed to the photos which had led them to purchase the goods in the first place, while the other 29 percent mentioned that it was due to the poor quality of products.
It was also found that most Malaysian respondents never or rarely interact with merchants during their online shopping process whereas those who do mostly prefer using e-mails compared to live chats or over the telephone. In other regions comparatively, nearly half of the Indonesian respondents communicate with vendors frequently and Taiwan had the least interaction with only 10 percent communicating with merchants.
Although it takes up a significant amount of time, the study shows that Malaysians are pretty savvy and wise when it comes to finalizing decisions about purchasing goods online because research on the products is done beforehand. Consequently, about 30 percent of these people fail to complete their online purchase due to the research they have done on the products.
When asked about the most important factor influencing their online shopping decisions, 83 percent of Malaysians mentioned a secure website and transaction, 78 percent stated that price was the most significant followed by 70 percent stating quality products with detailed photos.
Another reason why online shopping is so flexible is because consumers get to choose their preferred payment methods. According to the study, more Malaysians favored other payment modes as opposed to credit and debit cards. The Taiwanese however, have proven to be the complete opposite as they would choose to pay for goods via credit and debit cards over any other payment methods. Indonesia proved to differ from Malaysia and Taiwan as they would take PayPal, AliPay and other e-wallet services over other payment methods any day.
Masaya Ueno, President and Chief Executive Officer of Rakuten online Shopping said, “E-commerce offers consumers so much in the way of convenience, value and entertainment. By becoming smarter shoppers, they will only maximize their experience and satisfaction when shopping online.”
The Smart Shopping Survey was commissioned by Rakuten, one of the world’s leading Internet service companies providing consumer and business related services. For more information about Rakuten, visit www.global.rakuten.com/corp/.
What about your online shopping experience? Care to share with us your thoughts and preferences? Do comment below!
