Social commerce trend in Malaysia

Everyday life has become increasingly dependent on social media in the 21st century, particularly among young people, students, researchers, and professionals. One of the main reasons is that social media helps users to share their everyday activities, stay up to date on news and trends, and connect with other people or communities.

Social commerce is one of the most effective ways for businesses to interact with clients and sell their goods and services now that social media is so widely used by people all over the world. As the fourth largest social commerce market in the world, Malaysia has a large number of social media users who are extremely likely to become paying customers as a result.

One fun fact about the Southeast Asia population, according to a Google report, 90 percent of Southeast Asians get online primarily through smartphones. Many of them have never touched a traditional computer. To them, getting online means using a smartphone.

Market size of social commerce in Malaysia

For marketers who are rethinking their Southeast Asia (SEA) strategy, Malaysia has a lot to offer. To begin with, the country has a sizable population of 32 million people, with over half of that number falling into the 18 to 54 age bracket.

According to the country's GDP per capita, it ranks third in Asia in terms of English language competency, with an income level of roughly RM30k GNI per capita. Malaysians are just as tech-savvy as the rest of the world.

Facebook believes that it has 22 million social media users in the country, which has an Internet penetration rate of over 80 percent. Almost 70% of consumers in Malaysia were forecasted to prefer online shopping by 2020.

Social media platforms used in Malaysia

Social commerce is not just about buying and selling. From discovery and research phases to post-sale servicing, it encompasses the entire process.

It involves activities such as brands engaging in dialogue with their consumers via their social commerce tools.

Instagram, a platform famous for young adult

Instagram's 'Shoppable Posts' function is the first step in making it a social commerce platform. Since its inception, Instagram has had an advantage over many of its social rivals because of its visual aspect.

If you make an effort to make your photographs interesting, it is always the ideal social media platform for showcasing products.

Facebook, the largest social network

Using Shops on Facebook, merchants can now set up eCommerce platforms where customers can shop from within Facebook and Instagram. There are a number of shops on Facebook where users may explore and purchase products.

A messaging button is included in every Facebook shop, allowing customers to contact vendors via Instagram, Facebook Messenger, or WhatsApp. As a result, Facebook encourages brands to Livestream, which enables users to get content directly from the broadcast.

Facebook Messenger CRM is an increasingly popular way to sell in Malaysia. Here's a step-by-step guide for connecting Facebook Messenger CRM to SleekFlow.

WeChat, not just a messaging app

WeChat mini-programs have been used to build markets by businesses. With Pinduoduo, the most widely known option, consumers may buy in bulk through mobile payment and receive high discount rates if they team up with others.

Want to know more about mobile commerce? Here is the What, Why and How to adopt

WhatsApp, the most used app to communicate

WhatsApp marketing, or w-marketing as it is more commonly called, has become a benchmark in the eCommerce industry. You can also utilize WhatsApp's modules for PrestaShop and plugins for WordPress for your online companies.

See how all the top brands in Malaysia are unleashing their WhatsApp commerce potential!

Telegram, increasingly popular texting app

Telegram has a wide range of internal features at its disposal that greatly benefit the user. Anonymity can be maintained by creating channels and groups for certain companies using their URLs.

People can join as many channels as they like and create supergroups with up to 10,000 members each. If you wish to automate messages, conduct questionnaires, answer fast, or many other features, Telegram bots might be quite beneficial.

Find out more about the benefits of having a centralised customer communication management platform here.

Widely used trends of social commerce in Malaysia

There is a vast middle class in Malaysia and they are all connected: 

82% have access to high-speed internet;

41% of Malaysians use social media and 98% of Malaysians own a cell phone.

15 million online consumers (of which approximately half of the population) used the internet to do online shopping in 2017. Here are some of the trends that are widely used by businesses in Malaysia and some of them are on the rise.

The biggest and a month-long festival of Ramadan

The month of Ramadan may be a time for overindulgence. Due to Malaysia's greatest Muslim celebration, many Muslims have changed their thinking, searching, and purchasing habits.

It gives marketers the opportunity to connect with their target audience in a meaningful way for online sales. YouTube saw a 25% increase in the amount of time spent watching religious videos throughout the month of Ramadan.

Ramadan in 2020 saw a 120% surge in Google searches. When it comes to finding the latest in fashion and beauty advice, Ramadan brings a 100% spike in searches for beauty and fashion tutorials.

Waze users travel to return to their hometowns from large cities, which results in a 25% increase in their distance driven over the Hari Raya season.

Muslim women are empowered to do business

Muslim women generally hold key positions in industry and academics, and they lack neither confidence nor social skills, as can be seen when visiting shops, hotels, and market stalls. Husbands in Muslim families often defer to their wives when it comes to home matters.

The Malaysian government has a strong interest in empowering women. Women's micro-credit funding through TEKUN, Mara, and Agrobank has been included in the 2021 budget, despite the government's commitment of RM95 million.

Almost five-fifths of Malaysian women were involved in the market. One out of every ten Malaysian women runs her own company.

Exponential growth of Halal beauty

The Halal beauty brand caters to Muslim women who are interested in cosmetics. Consumers in Malaysia are increasingly looking for halal-certified cosmetics and personal care goods.

For these things to make sense to customers, they do not have to be Muslims. Alcohol, blood, and animal parts or ingredients that have not been slaughtered in accordance with Islamic customs are prohibited in Halal cosmetics.

Halal beauty brands and mainstream names like Johnson & Johnson are reshaping the Southeast Asian beauty market. By 2025, the global halal cosmetics market is expected to reach roughly RM200 billion, and Malaysia is aiming to be the global centre for halal cosmetics.

Korean culture is increasingly gaining popularity

Early reaction in Malaysia was a bit negative because of how late in the game the Korean wave was as compared to other countries. In the following months, Malaysia began to adopt the Korean wave more quickly and fiercely.

Following the success of Korean dramas, films, and popular music in the country, other forms of Korean culture have also made their way here. K-pop, the prominent Korean music genre, has captivated Malaysians' curiosity because of its appearance in Korean dramas.

Universiti Malaysia Sabah students found that female respondents consistently had higher favourable sentiments toward Korean wave items than their male colleagues. It is interesting to note that race and religion did not seem to make an impact.

Online video and Korean beauty influencers in particular are popular with Malaysian women ages 18 to 34, according to a Google study.

How to master social commerce in 2022

In conclusion, social commerce has the potential to be a game-changer in Malaysia since social media plays an important role in influencing the buying decision of consumers. Social commerce is still in its infancy in Malaysia and these social apps need to be fully explored and used to the fullest in order for Malaysia to fully benefit from social commerce.

But with all these messaging tools - WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, and so on - it can be time-consuming to manage all of them. If you are looking for the solution to that, you are lucky because an all-in-one platform like SleekFlow is everything you need.

SleekFlow commits to helping businesses sell, convert and support better on chat. You can use SleekFlow to merge all your customer’s favourite chat apps into a single and easy-to-use platform and thus enable you to reach customers faster and offer a better customer experience. This game-changing app not only lets your team collaborate on key conversations but also allows you to personalise your broadcasts.

The E-commerce industry is evolving every day and that is why we are sharing tips and refining our product regularly. Visit our blogs for more guides and start using our platform to take your businesses to the next level.