Tokopedia's Increasing Popularity Throughout 2017

From the results of research conducted by the Financial Times (FT) on industrial dynamics E-commerce in Indonesia, there were several interesting things throughout 2017 which later became the focus of the research and survey. The survey conducted by FT involved at least 1000 respondents in various parties that intersect in the landscape E-commerce.

One of the findings put forward is the fact that Tokopedia is slowly starting to beat the popularity of Lazada and Shopee E-commerce from Singapore who is often rumored to occupy the peak of popularity with a distinctive strategy, namely: shipping free. Including beating the popularity of his rivals for marketplace local Bukalapak.

Tokopedia and its position are the favorites

After getting funding from Alibaba Group of 1,1 billion dollars (or more than 14 trillion Rupiah), Tokopedia services E-commerce which was founded by William Tanuwijaya continues to experience an increase in the number of users, until finally defeating the service E-commerce Lazada --which has previously also been acquired by Alibaba Group with a total value of $1 billion. This acquisition process also gives Alibaba control of Lazada Group up to 83%.

Tokopedia itself, based on the results of the FT research, has succeeded in strengthening their position on the island of Java, which is the largest consumer for services E-commerce in Indonesia.

Another interesting thing that was later revealed by FT is that JD.id and Shopee are currently starting to interfere with the service's position E-commerce other local communities such as Bukalapak, and are starting to be chosen by the Indonesian people in terms of online shopping.

It was not only Bukalapak that experienced a decline, the survey results also revealed that OLX, Zalora Indonesia, Berrybenka, and MatahariMall also experienced a decline in popularity.

Shopee and JD.id had a fairly strong campaign throughout 2017, namely Shopee with free shipping, while JD.id with a campaign for authentic goods with guaranteed quality, which has been the concern of buyers when making online transactions.

Most purchased fashion products online

The survey also revealed that most buyers in Indonesia are still looking for fashion products, followed by smartphone and accessories, beauty products to household appliances. Regarding the amount of money spent when conducting online transactions, FT said that at most Indonesians spent Rp. 1 million for each online transaction made throughout 2017.

The issue of genuine and quality products is also still a top priority for buyers, followed by delivery times to additional fees charged by the service E-commerce when the transaction is made.

Although currently there are many services E-commerce which is present and widely used by the people of Indonesia, in fact not many transactions are carried out. The survey results revealed that most buyers only make online transactions once a month.

Tax issues for online transactions

It's still not final, the tax issue has also become an obstacle in the service E-commerce in Indonesia. A growing discourse says that the Indonesian government plans to collect a 0,5% tax on all online transactions, 1% lower than traditional retail. Another issue regarding taxes that is still being discussed is that there is no tax imposed on sellers who use social media such as Facebook and Instagram.

According to the perpetrators, E-commerce quite burdensome and a worry in itself, if in the end online sellers prefer social media to run a business, rather than joining a service E-commerce.

However, on the other hand, the survey results also revealed, although sales using social media look sexy and profitable, there are still many frauds and the quality is not guaranteed from online shops using social media, making many buyers prefer services. E-commerce to buy the desired item. According to FT, this number decreased by 7,7% from last year's 12%.

The official online store is claimed to have higher quality products, with the same process quality control strict, shipping free to display sites and applications that are more attractive than social media.