The COVID-19 pandemic has forced people to step out of their comfort zones and adapt to the digital world.

After eight months of the pandemic, a recent survey shows that this phenomenon also applies to Boomers and Generation X (Gen X).

Boomer is shorthand for Baby Boomer, a term used to describe people born during the uptick in the birthrate following World War II. It generally means anyone born between 1946 and the mid-1960s. While Gen X were born between 1965 and 1979. 

In recent years, both generations have commonly been perceived as Luddites.

However, a survey conducted by Facebook IQ, the social network’s insights unit, found that 43 percent of Boomers and Gen X had begun shopping online during the pandemic.

Facebook Indonesia vertical lead Aldo Rambie said on Tuesday, as quoted by antaranews.com, that 43 percent of Boomers and Gen X in the survey said they had increased their online shopping expenses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Moreover, the research, which aimed to discover insights on consumer behaviors during National Online Shopping Day (Harbolnas), also found that Boomers and Gen X contributed the most to growth in the cell phone and e-commerce industries.

Aldo said the findings were no surprise as Indonesia was a mobile first country, where smartphones were the main reference for a customer's journey. 

Read also: Online grocery shopping to drive e-commerce growth as PSBB reimposed: Experts

With regard to products, the research found that groceries and other daily necessities were the categories that increased the most, as 56 percent of the respondents said they made more purchases online in these categories. 

Moreover, the Facebook IQ study found that the majority of Indonesians were sensitive about prices, with Singles' Day on Nov. 11 and Harbolnas on Dec. 12 being the two most popular shopping events in the country.

The findings were similar to a survey conducted by management consulting company Redseer in August.

More than half of Indonesian respondents in Redseer's survey said their spending on e-grocery platforms had increased during the pandemic, while up to 60 percent said they would continue to buy groceries online in the future.

“Online grocery platforms will continue to see good growth, even as other categories such as fashion and electronics start to bounce back in the second half of the year,” the firm’s Southeast Asia partner Roshan Raj Behera told The Jakarta Post on Sept. 7.

In May, Redseer calculated that the gross merchandise value (GMV) of e-grocery platforms would grow 400 percent this year, while beauty and personal care would grow 80 percent, fashion 40 percent and electronics 20 percent. The firm also predicted that Indonesia’s e-commerce GMV would reach US$40 billion this year, surpassing India’s e-commerce GMV. (jes)