Chairman of the Indonesian E-Commerce Association (IdEA) Bima Laga said the policy to limit face-to-face activities also increased online shopping transactions.
Although purchasing power has decreased due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Bima said transactions of basic goods, even products related to hobbies have actually increased.
Previously, IdEA recorded a 25 percent increase in sales on e-commerce platforms during the pandemic.
“The performance is basically improving. It takes a greater effort to maintain good performance in the current economic conditions,” said Bima.
Tokopedia’s External Communications Senior Lead Ekhel Chandra Wijaya said sales of the food and beverage category increased almost threefold during the pandemic in Q3. People who are more active at home also encourage an increase in the household category which more than doubles and the health category increases nearly 2.5 times the pre-pandemic period.
“We will continue to focus on helping local business activists adopt digital platforms to sustain their business and contribute to economic recovery affected by the pandemic,” Ekhel said.
The Vice President of Marketing for Bukalapak Erick Wicaksono said that the Covid-19 pandemic was a challenge and had to be responded quickly and accurately. For business strategy, Erick said Bukalapak is still running the same strategy that is translated into its products, either through the marketplace, online to offline facilities, or the e-procurement business line.
“Even in the midst of a pandemic situation, it can be seen from the increase in transactions of up to about 50 percent in June this year compared to the same month last year,” said Erick. In addition, Erick said the number of transactions by Bukalapak Partners in June this year also increased to about three times from the same month last year.
Based on research from Google and Temasek 2020, e-Commerce remains the main growth driver for Indonesia’s digital economy. The research noted an increase in Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) or the total value of e-commerce transactions by 54 percent annually to US $ 32 billion from US $ 21 billion previously. GMV e-commerce is also predicted to increase to US $ 83 billion in 2025.
“Overall, the GMV of the digital economy is expected to reach a total value of US $ 44 billion by 2020 or grow 11 percent on an annual basis. By 2025, the GMV of the digital economy as a whole could reach a value of US $ 124 billion,” the report said.