The Myanmar Consumer Survey

In this fourth edition of the consumer survey conducted in Yangon, Mandalay, and Mawlamyine in 2019, we continue to witness a decreasing price sensitivity, and greater demand for discretionary spending. Beyond these constants, however, the survey also revealed a number of new insights that just might change the game for consumer companies.

For a start, the Myanmar consumer continues to demonstrate an openness to new products and services, even as they remain value-conscious in their purchasing decisions. Although this represents the opportunity for companies to introduce new value propositions to the market, the flip side is that investments will need to be made to secure long-term brand loyalty and ensure recall by the consumer: this edition of the survey revealed that several new brands are appearing to gain a foothold in consumer recall, surpassing its competitors with widespread and innovative marketing and promotional campaigns.

Later in this report, we also explore how the Myanmar consumer is increasingly prioritising discretionary spending, and placing an increasing value on connectivity. Specifically, they allocate a significant amount of their expenditure to utilities that will enable them to remain constantly connected, whether it is the mobility of moving from one physical location to another, or staying digitally connected to the Internet.

Finally, we discuss an impending revolution in the digital payments sector that could spark the rapid takeoff of Myanmar’s e-commerce market. Within the span of only a few years, Myanmar’s digital payment services sector has experienced phenomenal growth, and the potential for digital payments to leapfrog card payments in Myanmar’s payments sector is now steadily increasing even as we speak.

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