KUALA LUMPUR (March 8): The retail industry in Malaysia registered its worst performance in two decades last year, contracting by 16.3%, as the Covid-19 pandemic forced people to stay home and retail stores shut. A majority of the retail sub-sectors contracted by double digits, with the department store and fashion and fashion accessories segments shrinking the most at 38.3% and 37.9% respectively, the latest edition of the Malaysia Retail Sales Report (March 2021) showed.
Retail expansion forecast for 2021 has also been revised downwards to 4.1% from 4.9% after major states nationwide were once again placed under the movement control order (MCO) for the most part of the current quarter. The first-quarter performance is estimated to shrink by 13.4% before experiencing a recovery in the next three quarters.
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PETALING JAYA: Limited variety, frequent out-of-stock situation, troublesome site navigation, and slow and late delivery are hampering online grocery sales.
Retail Group Malaysia managing director Tan Hai Hsin (pic below) said those who are used to visiting open-air and wet markets are not switching to online purchases despite the Covid-19 pandemic.
“They go to supermarkets and hypermarkets instead. So open-air and wet markets, morning and night markets and temporary food stalls are here to stay.
“They will not be replaced by online grocery and ready-food deliveries. Once they are allowed to open and the virus spread is contained, their regular customers will return, ” he said.