1. Consumers are heavy users of social media
To do well in the online business of e-commerce, it is particularly important to understand the habits of local Internet users. Like Thai consumers, Malaysian consumers are heavy users of social media, and more than 90% of Malaysian consumers use smartphones. Most Malaysians use at least one social platform, among which Facebook is the most popular, with up to 96% of Malaysian users recognizing Facebook as their main social media. The main user group of Facebook in Malaysia is relatively young, with the largest number of users aged 18 to 34, accounting for more than 60% of the total, which is similar to the age range of the largest user group of Shopee Malaysia site. Therefore, Shopee Malaysia site has always regarded Facebook as an important channel for precise traffic.
2. Multicultural and ethnic differences
Malaysia is a combination of two different geographical regions, namely Peninsular Malaysia (West Malaysia, hereinafter referred to as West Malaysia) and East Malaysia (hereinafter referred to as East Malaysia). The existence of multicultural and ethnic differences is an indisputable fact. In 2017, iPrice, a Southeast Asian e-commerce price comparison aggregation platform, conducted a study and analysis of East and West Malaysia and found that:
(1) Compared with West Malaysian users, East Malaysian online shoppers spend 75% more time searching for products, so East Malaysians are more likely to shop online than West Malaysians;
(2) Comparing online shopping behaviors throughout the day, East Malaysians and West Malaysians both start online shopping at around 11 a.m. However, during lunch time, most East Malaysians prefer to go offline, while West Malaysians continue to shop online;
(3) Compared with the East, the telecommunications infrastructure in the West is much more advanced. West Malaysians are more likely to use smartphones to access the Internet, while East Malaysians are more likely to use desktops or tablets.