iPay88 Holding Sdn Bhd (formerly “iPay88 Sdn Bhd”) (iPay88), an NTT Data company and a leading Malaysian-based provider of online and retail payment solutions in ASEAN, shared some insights into Malaysians e-commerce transactions via their online payment gateway system.
As a key player in the online payment sector in Malaysia, the annual findings provide a much needed glimpse into the e-commerce sector in Malaysia.
Transactions & Sales Volume
In 2018, iPay88 recorded a total of 52.45 million successful payment transactions as compared to 28.7 million in 2017, nearly doubling in transactions.
December once again recorded the highest number of transactions with 6.9 million transactions.
These transactions amounted to a total sale of RM7 billion, a 68 percent increase as compared to in 2017.
Mobile Transaction Growth
Mobile transactions continue to show tremendous growth, leaving behind desktop transactions. Throughout 2018, desktop transactions remained about the same, recording an average of 2.5 million per quarter.
Executive Director of iPay88, Chan Kok Long shares, “In January 2015, we recorded 193,000 transactions via mobile phones. By December 2018, mobile transactions amounted to 5.1 million transactions. Mobile phones have been a key catalyst for the exponential growth of e-commerce over the last few years and businesses should look into enhancing their mobile experience and application performance.”
“Mobile eCommerce began overtaking desktop eCommerce in the second quarter of 2016. In total, 40.8 million transactions were successfully performed over mobile devices in 2018. This further shows that smartphones were the preferred device amongst Malaysians as the device to access the internet,” Chan explains.
“Further to that our numbers show that Android nearly double the number of mobile users and should be a key focus of application developers. It is essential that businesses take heed of these numbers and ensure they have a secure and easy access mobile experience for their customers or they risk losing business opportunities to their more mobile savvy competitors,” he cautions.
Online Banking Supersedes Credit Card
Online banking tripled against credit card transactions on the fourth quarter of 2018, attributing to 13.8 million transactions as compared to 3.5 million transactions for the latter.
“Bank Negara’s move to bring down the cost of online banking transactions in the last few years has definitely made online banking the preferred payment method for consumers. FPX is fast becoming a preferred mode of payment for consumers,” he shares.
“Interestingly Credit card purchases in the fourth quarter of 2018 doubled as compared to the same period in 2017 from 1.8 million transactions to 3.5 million in 2018. While online banking remains the preferred choice, there has been a significant growth in credit card purchases in 2018,” Chan explains.
Biggest Growth Areas for Online Retail (B2C)
Supplements and Healthcare products showed the highest growth in sales in 2018, recording a 336 percent increase in 2018 as compared to 2017.
iPay88’s data analysis also shows some interesting trends that indicate the biggest sales volume growth between Year 2017 and Year 2018 are as follows: –
- Food and Beverage recorded RM44 million: 75 percent increase
- Market Place recorded RM2 billion: 71 percent increase
- Gift & Merchandise recorded RM23 million: 69 percent increase
- Advertising Services recorded RM56 million: 50 percent increase
- Accommodation recorded RM148.3 million: 45 percent increase
- Transportation services recorded RM82.9 million: 38 percent increase
Transportation spending continues to rise in terms of sales volume as they rose from 7th place in 2017 to 5th place in 2018. The top five ranking of transaction volumes in 2018 are as below: –
- Market Place
- Telco Service – Bill Payment
- Virtual/Instant Services (VOIP, SMS, Prepaid, Top Up)
- General Ticketing
- Transportation
“Online retail will continue to show tremendous growth in 2019, with mobile phones being the preferred device of use. Market places such as Shopee will continue to drive transaction volume and as the Official Payment Gateway provider for the Shopee Kongsi Fa Cai campaign, 2019 certainly has an exciting start! Businesses that have yet to go online must relook their strategies or lose out on a significant segment of retail purchases. On our part, iPay88 will continue to provide our customers, both merchants and consumers, with mobile applications and payment systems that are easier to use and feature innovative user friendly features,” he ends.