The internet brought with itself a whole new world of possibilities. Watching TV Shows and movies online, video conferencing in real time and many other concepts which were thought of as science fiction just a few years back became a reality with the materialization of the internet. It affected the entire world economy and continues to do so at a massive scale. The one industry which has had arguably one of the biggest impacts from the internet has to be the commerce or trade industry. With the onset of the internet age, the concept of online shopping or e-commerce caught up with the world. The first movers such as Amazon which saw the trend shifting towards online retail early are now the largest players of the market. 

 

The e-commerce phenomenon which was earlier restricted to the US only in the early 90s has now marked its presence in various new international markets and is on its way to become one of the largest economic sectors of the world. The exceptional growth of e-commerce has affected the performance of the traditional physical marketplace retailers. These players are finding it difficult to keep up with the online competition. Additionally, it has been anticipated that the e-commerce industry is set to witness noticeable growth in the future as well.  

 

The Malaysian e-commerce industry has been thriving majorly on account of continuously increasing internet penetration rate which currently stands at around 70% in the country. A major factor which will be responsible for the unprecedented growth of the e-commerce industry is the rise of mobile internet. Mobile internet will be a huge catalyst for the industry and the 3G/4G and LTE technologies will take the internet speeds further and benefit the stakeholders of this growing industry. The increased government spending on the IT sector will continue to grow steadily which will in turn prove beneficial for the entire IT industry and hence, help in prospering the e-commerce industry in Malaysia. The Malaysian online population is relatively young with a major portion of people in the lucrative 15-34 years age group also known as the prime target demographic for online shopping. 

 

The future for Malaysia e-commerce industry is full of potential and will witness significant growth in the coming years. Given the internet penetration, rise of mobile internet and access devices and the government spending, the sector will witness growth throughout the coming 5 years i.e. 2014-2019. The SMEs are becoming more IT aware and this caused a spurt in their IT spending with a number of SMEs going online to set up shop. This trend will continue in the coming years as SMEs are growing at a rapid pace in order to maintain their market position.

 

The report titled “Malaysia E-commerce Industry Outlook to 2019 - Driven by Internet Penetration and Mobile Access Devices” provides detailed overview on E-commerce market in Malaysia along with its segments and helps readers to identify the ongoing trends in the industry and anticipated growth in future depending upon changing industry dynamics in coming years. The report will help industry consultants, potential entrants, vendors and other stakeholders to align their market centric strategies according to ongoing and expected trends in the future.