Cover Story: Death of the Mega Sale Carnival

MALAYSIA is doing away with the thrice-yearly Malaysia Mega Sale Carnival, once touted as the “mother of all sales”.

Beginning this year, retailers and mall operators will no longer offer shopping discounts and promotions in the months of March, August and December as they are now allowed to hold as many sales as and when they want.

“After close consultation with retailers, the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs has announced that from 2020, there will no longer be any limit to the number of sales that a retailer can hold subject to relevant terms and conditions,” Malaysia Shopping Mall Association president Tan Sri Teo Chiang Kok tells The Edge.

The move is premised on retail industry players being in a much better position to determine when to have their own sales that are most productive and effective to their respective businesses, Teo adds.

“In view of this, the authorities have deemed that it is no longer necessary to have the Malaysia Mega Sale Carnival from this year since it is now open to retailers to have their own sales at any time.”

Sunway Malls and Theme Parks CEO H C Chan concurs, saying the government has done away with the sale and that previously, there was a limit of four sales per year.

“With the removal, there is some liberty to conduct sales. The approval notification time [to the authorities that the retailer or mall plans to hold a sale] has also been reduced,” he says, adding that the move is positive.

“Tourists also benefit as they can enjoy year-long sales and promotions.”

Last month, Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail was reported as saying that the move was meant to help businesses deal with the changing times and compete with online shopping platforms.

The Malaysia Mega Sale Carnival was a highly anticipated yearly national sales promoted by the government. Incepted in 1999, the shopping event was aimed at promoting Malaysia as one of the world’s best shopping destinations.

In 2002, the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board (Tourism Malaysia) established the Shopping Secretariat Malaysia to further develop the country into a world-class shopping destination. Initially held once a year, the nationwide sales was increased to twice a year and then thrice a year in a bid to make Malaysia the preferred destination for shopping, joining the likes of Dubai, Singapore and Hong Kong.

After years of promoting Malaysia as a shopping destination, the activity finally overtook accommodation as the main expenditure component of foreign tourists visiting Malaysia in 2015, constituting 31.3% or RM21.6 billion of the total RM69.1 billion. Data for the first nine months of last year shows that shopping made up 35.3% of the total RM66.14 billion. This was followed by 21.6% or RM14.29 billion spent on accommodation (see infographics on Page 65).

With the Malaysia Mega Sale Carnival gone, Teo says malls and retailers will nevertheless continue to promote Malaysia as a shopping destination.

“For our retail and mall industries to keep growing, we will need to depend on increasing tourist arrivals, especially since 2020 is Visit Malaysia Year. This holds true for malls that are located in the tourist belts and/or have attractions such as theme parks or experiential activities and high-end international branded merchandise,” he adds.

He also emphasises the need for Tourism Malaysia to continue promoting Malaysia as a shopping destination through its overseas offices as very few local malls conduct promotion campaigns abroad.

“Since there will no longer be a Malaysia Mega Sale Carnival, there will not be any single major sale promotional activity. Rather, malls will work with their retailers on their individual campaigns, which will usually be centred around major festive and school holiday seasons,” he adds.