Yuletide cheer: Shoppers walking around Bukit Bintang in Kuala Lumpur. — AZMAN GHANI/The Star
PETALING JAYA: With just over a week until 2022 comes to an end, businesses are hoping for one final push to boost sales and meet their targets.
With 2022 having been a year of ups and downs in terms of the economy, they are hoping to capitalise on the buoyant year-end festive mood and the current stable political climate.
The Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia’s commerce committee chairman Datuk Liaw Choon Liang said major businesses were seeing positive sales during the year-end festive season.
“We are approaching endemicity and many are confident of meeting or even surpassing sales targets.
“Year-end sales are always great for retail businesses,” he added.
Liaw, who is also Focus Point president and chief executive officer, said this December was the first when Malaysians could travel and celebrate with almost no restrictions.
“We have seen more people travelling overseas this month, and some are also spending more overseas.
“As the holiday season of Christmas and Chinese New Year approaches, we remain positive about sales performance and anticipate a successful close to 2022,” he added.
With the general election concluded and a new government finally in place, Liaw said the improving political climate made Malaysians more confident and has motivated them to spend more.
“Most retailers have promotions such as year-end and Christmas sales.
“This year has been a very good one for most retailers, especially after the country’s borders opened in April.
“We see a strong V-shaped rebound for the retail business,” he said, referring to a decline followed by a rapid and strong recovery.
“We keep a positive outlook for 2023,” he added.
Echoing this, Malaysia Shopping Malls Association president Tan Sri Teo Chiang Kok said malls are seeing the brisk business and increased footfall that usually happens as the year winds down.
However, considering the current inflation and rising cost of living, shoppers tend to be more prudent.
“Most Malaysians have switched their travel budget domestically as some overseas travel restrictions are still there – this will be an additional boost to the economy.
“This will also help accelerate recovery as we transition into endemicity,” he added.
Malaysian Indian Muslim Restaurant Owners Association president Datuk Jawahar Ali Taib Khan said business has definitely been good this year and would end on a better note than expected.
Although still faced with a shortage of workers, he said restaurants were on a positive track.
“Our closing will be a good one this year, and the crowd has also been good – but people no longer ‘lepak’ (hang around) for long hours like before.
“We get the family crowd and the regular customers; most of them come to eat, and they leave after some time, which is good.
“We still need manpower to run the business. The demand is there but we cannot reach the intended target, and we believe the new government will take the initiatives to address this matter,” he added.
On the resumption of 24-hour operating hours for restaurants, he said he felt it was better not to have such hours unless the business was near an airport or factory.
This was because the long hours require more manpower and can promote an unhealthy culture – as such, Jawahar said perhaps there it was a blessing in disguise when restaurants were earlier told to shorten their hours.
Not all in the food and beverage sector are upbeat.
Restaurant and Bistro Owners Association vice-president Jeremy Lim said December has been “pretty weak” for them.
“There are exceptions, but by and large, it’s been very soft. This is felt across the board from business owners to our suppliers.
“We noticed many consumers are travelling after two years of restrictions, but they are more cautious with their spending,” he said, adding that many operators were still far off their sales targets or pre-pandemic revenues.
Lim said the good sales among retailers could be driven by seasonal factors, clearance of inventory and price-related promotions.
However, restaurants can’t run 50%-off promotions, he added.
While consumer and business sentiments have improved with a more stable political outlook, Lim said the fundamental problems remain.
“The food and beverage industry is a complex ecosystem involving many ministries.
“I hope the government recognises this and makes inclusive and practical policies that benefit not just business owners but the supply chain, employees, and consumers.
“I hope the new government can be more engaging instead of taking a ‘big brother’ approach and bulldozing its way through with policies that may not assist in our recovery,” he added.
Malaysian Automotive Association president Datuk Aishah Ahmad said higher car sales in December is likely, but it will not be similar to previous years.
“The year-end sales would not be like before with many more discounts and offers, but it will certainly be better than the November sales.
“Many people will be looking at registering their cars in 2023, adding to the resale value compared with the ones bought in 2022,” she added.
Aishah said electric vehicles or EVs will do well in 2023 due to tax incentives and the installation of more charging stations.
In terms of the delivery of cars, she said this was ongoing, but some had a long waiting list due to higher demand.
Earlier, Aishah said that as of October, a total of 2,093 EVs had been registered.
