KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian retail industry proved its resilience in 2021, despite challenges posed by the pandemic, with 71 per cent of Malaysian businesses across the retail, food and beverage (F&B), and hospitality sectors growing their revenue by 20 per cent or more.
According to new data released by Adyen, Malaysian companies that outperform the competition are those reaping the benefits of investing in digital transformation—an opportunity now worth RM334 billion.
Adyen Southeast Asia and Hong Kong head of commercial Priyanka Gargav said one in four businesses in Malaysia that were surveyed said they had connected their back-end systems to deliver a better consumer experience.
"We also saw that the use of technology for investments and operational improvements is higher in Malaysia than in most of the other markets we surveyed in the region, including Australia, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
"The reason that majority of Malaysian businesses in the retail, food and beverage (F&B) and hospitality continued to show resilience despite the challenging time was due to the changes they are willing to put in place.
"They will continue to reap benefits beyond the pandemic as well," she told reporters at The Future of Retail in Malaysia: Adyen Retail Report 2022 briefing here today.
The report, commissioned by Adyen and sponsored by KPMG, interviewed over 40,000 consumers across 26 markets, including 1,000 from Malaysia, to understand how they feel about the state of retail.
It also surveyed 11,500 businesses across 23 countries, including 500 from Malaysia, to learn about their concerns, aspirations, strategies, and investments for 2022 and beyond.
KPMG Malaysia executive director and head of technology consulting Alvin Gan said that during the pandemic, Malaysian businesses have learned to work better with third parties and their business partners to automate their businesses more.
"They are collaborating better now to support the businesses' back-end, and in that sense, we saw a better technology take-up among them," he said.
Meanwhile, the report said Malaysians are more optimistic about the sector's future than other Asian-Pacific markets.
"Having adjusted through this turbulent period, they are now ready for the next phase while setting ambitions for what lies ahead.
For businesses, these ambitions might be in the form of improving customer experience, championing sustainable practices, or expanding into new markets, the report said.
The report said that one thing is evident in this research—businesses that embrace technology to enhance the shopping experience, reward customer loyalty and improve operations have the edge over competitors.
Source: https://www.nst.com.my/business/2022/08/818671/domestic-retail-industry-stayed-resilient-2021-according-adyen