Promotions Incentivise Purchases

Festive spend was primarily driven by offers and deals

Across the years, Malaysia’s festive seasons have usually overtraded on promotions compared to the rest of the year, with CNY being the most promotion-driven period. In spite of the contrast in festive performances, shoppers purchased more on promotions for both CNY and Raya in 2025. On the other hand, non-promotional purchasing remained flat or even declined slightly for both periods. This indicates that effective promotions are needed to motivate shoppers to spend more during CNY, or even to just maintain their spending levels during Raya, as they are increasingly reliant on promotions for their festive purchases.The most effective promotions are likely to be those that are linked to prices, such as price-offs and bundle packs. This is aligned to the market trend of shoppers buying bigger packs to get better value for money, and seeking lower prices. It is important for brands to execute the right strategies in order to trigger purchases from shoppers who are looking to manage their budget for the festive seasons, but don’t want to forgo the extravagant purchasing associated with celebrations.