Adyen Index 2026 Malaysia Retail Report
Agentic commerce is moving from concept to reality
AI is already shaping how Malaysians shop but trust, identity and payment experience will determine how far it goes.
Executive Summary
Malaysia’s retail landscape in 2026 reflects a consumer that is still spending, but with greater care and consideration. Rising living costs, driven in part by higher fuel prices and their impact on everyday expenses, have sharpened how Malaysians approach spending, with a stronger focus on value and making each ringgit go further.
Purchases are often timed around festive periods when discounts, cashback and free shipping are the norm and expected by consumers. Consumer behaviour also becomes more fluid, with shoppers moving between online and offline shopping channels for their purchases. Within this shift, social commerce plays a role in shaping buying decisions as they foster consumer trust via user reviews and real-time engagement.
Against this backdrop, retailers operate in a challenging environment. Rising operating and logistics costs put pressure on margins, while a price-sensitive consumer base limits pricing flexibility. To compete during key shopping moments, retailers strengthen their presence across shopping channels and ensure brand consistency as customers move between platforms. In this regard, payments play a role in shaping brand perception – where offering the right mix of payment methods and delivering a secure checkout can directly influence conversion and customer retention.
Looking ahead, agentic commerce is influencing how Malaysians shop. At the point of writing, agentic commerce is nascent, but is already playing a growing role in supporting search, comparison and purchase decisions. For Malaysian retailers, this means building systems that support more automated, data-led interactions without compromising trust, control or seamless experiences across both human-led and AI-assisted journeys.
The Adyen Index 2026 Malaysia Retail Report explores how Malaysia’s enterprise retailers and consumers are responding – tracking shifting behaviors, changing checkout expectations and persistent friction, from cost sensitivity and fraud to failed transactions. It also examines how businesses are approaching innovation, including AI and emerging models such as agentic commerce, as they modernize for performance today and resilience tomorrow.
- Soon Yean Lee, Country Manager, Malaysia, Adyen
Proof the shift is already underway
AI-driven commerce is already taking root across Malaysia, fundamentally altering how consumers evaluate purchases and how retailers deliver value. This dual momentum highlights an industry in transition, where smart technologies are actively redefining the retail journey from discovery to checkout.
Retailers are ready – consumers are cautious
Retail readiness is high, but consumer confidence lags
While Malaysian retailers are moving decisively to embrace agentic commerce, consumers remain hesitant to hand over the keys. Although businesses are technologically prepared for autonomous shopping, building trust and reassuring shoppers around control at checkout will be the ultimate test for widespread adoption.
Trust, identity and security are the gate
As AI plays a growing role in commerce, trust, identity and security become the conditions for consumer delegation
While Malaysians are increasingly using AI to assist their shopping, delegating actual transactions requires total confidence — with shoppers overwhelmingly prioritizing robust authentication, biometrics, and secure checkout controls over mere speed.
When payments fail, trust breaks
Payment experience becomes non-negotiable in an agentic commerce environment
When AI-assisted shopping experiences break at the point of checkout, the cost extends far beyond a single lost transaction. Friction and payment errors actively dismantle brand reputation, leaving price-sensitive and cautious consumers with little reason to return when alternative retailers are just a click away.
The operational reality for retailers
At machine speed, failure compounds
For retailers, execution failures in an automated environment do not remain isolated — they multiply instantly across the entire business operation. Operating at machine speed means a single payment performance issue triggers a costly chain reaction, driving up customer support volumes, dispute rates, and direct sales losses while straining back-office resources.
What agentic commerce demands next
Faced with margin pressures and an increasingly cautious consumer base, retailers are leveraging automation as a vital tool to lower costs and stay competitive. However, the true strategic imperative for agentic commerce is building flexible infrastructure that supports automated, AI-led journeys while protecting the direct customer relationship at every touchpoint.
Source: Adyen Index 2026 Malaysia Retail Report
This survey was commissioned by Adyen and conducted by YouGov Plc online from March to April 2026. The sample comprises 1,031 Malaysian consumers aged 18 years and older, and 314 Malaysian retail employees at the senior manager level or higher working for retailers with an annual turnover of at least RM 75 million.
Download the APAC Retail Report
AI is reshaping retail across APAC. But as shopping becomes more autonomous, trust, identity and payment performance will determine what comes next.
Discover the latest insights from enterprise retailers and consumers across Australia, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore — and what they mean for the future of commerce.