From Tradition to Innovation: A Case Study of Digital Transformation in a Malaysian Shopping Mall

The term ‘retail apocalypse’ has become popular because of the rising number of physical store closures worldwide and the growth of online markets. Sunway Mall is Malaysia’s first smart shopping center, evolving from a traditional brick-and-mortar store. This study aims to examine Sunway Mall’s digital transformation journey, focusing on its technological initiatives and strategies to improve the retail experience. The reasons behind the digital shift, along with its challenges, are important to explore. In-depth interviews and focus group discussions with the Sunway management team were conducted. The data were transcribed and analyzed using thematic analysis of the interview texts with NVivo 12. The findings showed that the managers went through the five stages of innovation development: idea generation, idea selection, resource allocation, implementation, and marketing. Market needs, technological advances, and competitors’ strategies were the main factors driving the managers to move from brick-and-mortar to a smart shopping mall. This is one of the few studies examining the adoption of innovation and digitalization in shopping centers in Malaysia.