MRA president William Cheng was reported by The Edge as saying that one reason consumers have not been spending lately is because they have adopted a “wait-and-see” attitude.

“When the campaign begins, it will lead to many political and social activities throughout the country. This should motivate consumers to spend,” he said at a conference titled “Retail Transformation, Creativity and Beyond” organised by MRA yesterday.

The election campaign will officially start after nomination day tomorrow. Polling has been fixed for May 9.

“Post-election, consumers’ spending is expected to improve further as Malaysians will focus on their own economic future and release the pent-up demand,” he said.

However, he acknowledged that the retail market would remain challenging in the coming years, partly due to disruption from the e-commerce industry.

“The market outlook can be very different from the current state. We may see a very different and changing landscape from the current situation. It depends on how the malls and the retail businesses will react to the millennial customers and the challenges from e-commerce,” said Cheng, who is also The Lion Group chairman.

He added that more Malaysians would have a higher take-home pay when economic growth was broad-based.

“When take-home pay improves, consumers will have better confidence on their future prospects. This will lead to a higher propensity to spend,” The Edge quoted him as saying.

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