Young Indonesians Look to E-Commerce Sites During Holiday Shopping Season: Survey
Jakarta. A recent study by JakPat, a Yogyakarta-based online survey platform, showed that most young Indonesians shopped online ahead of this year's Idul Fitri celebrations instead of purchasing items at local stores.
JakPat conducted the survey on June 12-17 with over 1,000 participants from across the archipelago.
"The frequent use of the Internet in Indonesia changing people's spending behaviors," JakPat spokesperson Ainun Habibah said on Wednesday (28/06).
"People's habits influence the way they shop during the fasting month of Ramadan, and e-commerce companies offer practical and easy methods."
The survey found 65 percent of respondents had purchased items online at least once or twice during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan – which started on May 25 and ended on June 24 – while 22 percent of respondents said they purchased items more than three times in the same period.
According to the survey, 47 percent of respondents who purchased items online during Ramadan were aged 20-25, while 26 percent were between the ages of 26-29 and 18 percent were between the ages of 30-35.
The most popular items included women's fashion accessories, electronic gadgets, Muslim wear, men's fashion and beauty products.
Shopee, the local arm of Singapore's mobile shopping platform, was the go-to website during the holiday season, as 49 percent of respondents listed it as their primary purchasing site. As many as 20 percent of respondents listed Lazada as their primary purchasing website, while 16 percent chose Tokopedia and 7 percent selected Bukalapak for their shopping needs.
More than 94 percent of respondents said they considered product variety, item discounts and shipping costs when choosing which online store to purchase from.
JakPat's survey can offer clues into the downward trend of traditional brick and mortar retailers in the country, which are starting to lose business to online competitors.
Merchants in Jakarta's Tanah Abang Market, the largest textile and garment market in Southeast Asia, have seen a decline in sales over the past three years, in part due to the enormous success of e-commerce sites in the country, according to CNNIndonesia.com.
"The income during Lebaran in 2015 did not rise much [...] Last year [the income] dropped because many people are buying online," Mimi, a merchant at Tanah Abang, told CNNIndonesia.com.
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