Traders in Traditional Markets Go Online Through Tokopedia

It is undeniable that during the ongoing pandemic, the market sector as a public space underwent some drastic changes where buyers were reluctant to visit for fear of being exposed to the virus. Therefore, an innovation is needed to continue to launch market activities, so that their sales do not decline.

This pandemic that has been running for more than a year has accelerated digital transformation in various sectors. So that digitalization and technology is not an invention or an added value, but becomes a necessity to help mobility and transactions during the pandemic, so that the wheels of the economy keep turning. One effective way to advance the market in the midst of a pandemic is by digitizing the market.

Market traders, who sell their wares directly to consumers on a daily basis, consider that market digitization is a new thing for them because they do not have to trade in the market and meet face-to-face with consumers. Through this digital market, traditional market MSME traders can still make a living by selling, although with different methods.

Sabilulungan Health Market Cicalengka, Bandung is one of the markets that has implemented digitalization as a result of declining sales since the beginning of the pandemic. According to assistant Manager The Raja Cicalengka Market Trader Consumer Cooperative, Ridzky Alfaridzi, said the decline from the effects of the pandemic began to be felt from July - August 2020, at which time there was also a time limit for selling traditional markets.

The presence of a digital market in one of the marketplace Indonesia became a popular topic of conversation in early 2021. The market cooperatives also managed to attract and convince traders to market their products or merchandise online. online. Currently, there are around 300 traders who have actively joined the Sabilulungan Cicalengka Healthy Market online online.

Of the many merchants who joined, some of them were selling the same merchandise. In order to avoid competition, the cooperative as the market manager online who will be responsible for marketing the products of each trader in turn. Not only that, the cooperative is also responsible for the quality of goods from market traders that will be sent to consumers. Usually, for consumers who place orders before 12 noon, the goods they get are still good and fresh. However, if the customer orders after 12 noon, the order will automatically be added to the order the next day.

The way the cooperative socializes how to sell on the online market to traders is also quite easy and is responded to cooperatively. The cooperative educates traders with the registration procedure from the market online this; namely coming to the cooperative office with a list of products to be sold along with photos and price details. After all products and merchandise have been registered, the cooperative officer just announces to the public or consumers that the market merchandise is now available on the market marketplace, so consumers no longer need to visit the market.

One of marketplace which was partnered with Sabilulungan Cicalengka Healthy Market to market the food ingredients for these traders was Tokopedia, which in fact succeeded in increasing the income of market traders during the pandemic. Previously, traders only received 50-100 orders, since the Tokopedia Pasar Sehat Sabilulungan Cicalengka Online account has increased their sales by 50 percent.

Not only benefiting traders, the cooperative which initially only achieved income of around 10-15 percent, has now soared to more than 30 percent. Cooperation between Tokopedia and market cooperatives that carry out quality control properly cultivate trust in the community to use market applications online. In addition, the cooperative also takes advantage of features such as TopAds, Free Shipping, and promos cashback to maximize sales.

Sales online Through Tokopedia, micro and medium businesses are indeed widely used because it is considered more profitable and very promising to survive and rise in the midst of a pandemic. Because, based on research conducted by LPEM FEB UI in 2020It was noted that during the pandemic there were 90 percent of micro-scale sales on Tokopedia and 68,6% percent of merchants who joined during the pandemic at Tokopedia were the sole breadwinners in the family.

The increase in the number of active users on Tokopedia during this pandemic also affects the trust of sellers to market their products on this platform. As of February 2021, the number of sellers registered on Tokopedia reached more than 10 million, an increase of more than 2,8 million from 7,2 million sellers since January 2020. On the other hand, the number of buyers also increased by more than 10 million, from 90 million to more than 100 million today.

In the midst of this pandemic, shopping online it is believed to be one of the main choices of the community to meet needs, while reducing the risk of spreading the virus in crowded places.