KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian retailers are looking to invest more in artificial intelligence (AI) technology to drive retail performance, according to financial technology company Adyen Malaysia.
The Adyen Retail Report 2025 noted that 58% of Malaysian consumers have used AI to assist with purchasing, compared with the global average of 37%.
The findings reflect a growing shift in digital consumption habits and expectations for personalised retail experiences.
Adyen, a provider of end-to-end financial technology solutions, said the trend signals a move from digital convenience to digital intelligence.
The company’s country manager Soon Yean Lee said that Malaysia is seeing a shift from digital convenience to digital intelligence.
“We are likely entering an era where AI acts as a personal stylist or shopping assistant, curating outfits, surfacing new brands and tailoring suggestions to each individual,” he said during a briefing yesterday about the Adyen Index 2025 Malaysia Report.
The report noted that 57% of Malaysian businesses plan to invest in technology that enhances the customer experience, either through new methods to make payments or self-service kiosks.
The findings also said that, as part of efforts to boost efficiency and reduce friction, businesses are focusing on revamping the checkout process with features like queue-busting and one-click purchases to improve the experienc for customers.
Commenting on AI as a strategic asset, Lee said “retailers generate large volumes of payments data daily, and AI helps unlock this value to drive conversions at scale”.
He added that AI-powered payment optimisation could improve success rates, reduce fraud and help identify genuine shoppers with minimal friction.
Meanwhile, the report highlighted the growing importance of “unified commerce”, which is a retail strategy that integrates all sales channels into a cohesive system.
At present, 52% of Malaysian businesses surveyed offer unified systems that integrate online and offline sales channels, while another 26% plan to adopt such platforms within the next 12 months.
Unified commerce allows businesses to consolidate inventory, pricing and customer data into a single system.
Lee added that the approach enables retailers to deliver more consistent service while also improving cost efficiency and operational control.
Despite growing interest in digital tools, the report noted that many businesses continue to face challenges with data fragmentation and system integration.
It said the effectiveness of AI will depend largely on the quality and connectedness of the data supporting it.
The Adyen Retail Report 2025 includes responses from 1,000 consumers and 500 merchants in Malaysia.
Adyen is a global financial technology platform that provides payment processing and related financial services for businesses.
It is an acquirer for merchants, offering a single platform for businesses to manage payments across various channels like online, mobile, and point-of-sale.
The company is headquartered in Amsterdam and has offices around the world.
Beyond Malaysia, the company’s Annual Retail Report for this year shows Gen Z is the largest demographic using AI when shopping (57%), but data finds a 63% increase in older people using the technology year-on-year – the biggest increase in users globally.
In a poll of 41,000 consumers across 28 countries, more than one in ten (12%) said they had used AI for the first time over the past 12 months to help them with their shopping experience.
Additionally, an impressive 55% of people said they would be open to making purchases using AI technology in the future.
