KUALA LUMPUR: Spending behaviour of customers and the main drivers for cashless transactions in Malaysia according to a research taken by Fave, which revealed insights into the industry trends shaping the cashless scene in Malaysia.
The new report, entitled '2020 retail trends in Malaysia: The merchant's guide to profit-boosting strategies and smarter business growth' has identified five category insights – food and beverage (F&B), retail, beauty and wellness, fitness and activities and services.
For F&B, the report has found that convenience and socialisation are why Malaysians crave spending time at physical restaurants where return customers contributed to 54 per cent of sales for the year 2019, making customer loyalty a potential revenue stream.
Merchants specialising in healthy food offerings on Fave’s platform witnessed a 2.4X increase in cashless payments with returning customers generating 80 per cent of sales.
The highest cashless payments recorded were at health-food outlets in Georgetown, Penang and Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Kuala Lumpur.
For retail, Fave said cashless payments continue to accelerate growth in the retail space.
Home, lifestyle, sports and travel are in the top five highest-grossing retail categories.
It said 77 per cent of total sales generated by new customers are mostly by women aged between 25 to 34 years old and the average retail spend is RM465, an increase of 65 per cent compared to 2018.
Fave co-founder and chief executive officer Joel Neoh said the research shows that transformation is occurring across Malaysia's retail in response to changing customer preferences, advancements in technology and the evolution of payments.
“In a rapidly changing global environment, digital adoption is critical for merchants seeking to drive sustainable growth and remain relevant as competition increases and new ideas disrupt entire verticals.
“At Fave, we are continually innovating and pushing our boundaries to evolve and enable our merchants to meet shifting customer needs,” he said.
The report is based on analytical data compiled from more than 15,000 merchants across Malaysia on Fave's digital merchant platform, Favebiz between January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2019, and is supported with external research on digital payments in Southeast Asia.