Malaysia has been listed third in mobile shopping growth in the Asia Pacific region as more people turned to their mobile devices to shop, revealed MasterCard’s Mobile Shopping Survey.

The country posted more than 20 per cent growth, climbing from 25.4 per cent in 2012 to 45.6 per cent in 2014.

This comes as the number of people accessing the internet via their mobile devices in Malaysia increased from 81.2 per cent in 2012 to 94.6 per cent in 2014.

The survey showed that 46.2 per cent of respondents cited the growing availability of apps as the most compelling reason to shop using their mobile devices. Other factors include the ability to shop on the go, with 44.8 per cent citing this reason, and the convenience of using smartphones (42.4 per cent).

Those who did not use their mobile devices to shop online said they prefer to shop via their laptop/PC (77.7 per cent), at an actual store (61.4 per cent), and via tablets (48.3 per cent).

The research showed that Malaysians who shopped online using their mobile devices were discerning, with 51.3 per cent comparing online prices at stores and 47.1 per cent researching products online before heading to an actual store.

The top three categories of items bought using mobile devices in Malaysia are clothing and accessories; airline tickets; and phone apps.

According to MasterCard’s Safdar Khan, the significant growth of mobile commerce is expected to be an upward trend among Malaysians as they embrace new technology in their daily lives.