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E-commerce promotes economic inclusion, interregional trade: Study
E-commerce is boosting domestic trade and thereby connecting producers with both buyers and suppliers across the country.
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Tokopedia CEO William Tanuwidjaja talks at a seminar in Jakarta. The e-commerce platform says it has more than 90 million active monthly users. (The Jakarta Post/Donny Fernando)
W
hen Laras Anggraini, 26, the owner of Smitten by Pattern, started her business in 2017, she was aware from the beginning that her clothing products filled a niche in the market, because they were unique with bright colors and artsy patterns.
“At first, we only used social media, because we thought we had a specific market. Previously, the buyers were also limited to young people in Greater Jakarta or other big cities of Java,” she said on Thursday.
However, she was surprised after joining an e-commerce platform, Tokopedia, in 2018, which gave her access to a new type of market that she had not found on social media before. She got buyers not only from Greater Jakarta but from as far afield as Papua, Makassar [South Sulawesi], Pontianak [West Kalimantan] and West Nusa Tenggara.
“The buyers are also more varied now; we also meet customers who are mothers or fathers looking for a present for a family member, not only young people," she said, adding that after joining the e-commerce platform her sales increased.
With a wider customer reach, she can sell more than 150 pieces a month today, two to three times the sales she had in the past.
According to research conducted by the Institute for Economic and Social Research at the University of Indonesia’s Economics and Business School (LPEM FEB UI), 90 million active users access Tokopedia every month. The number of sellers on Tokopedia has reached 6.4 million, up from around 5 million in 2018. According to the survey, almost half of the sellers said the platform had helped them reach a wider market.
The study also shows that Tokopedia has propelled domestic trade both within and between regions of Indonesia.
