Public Enthusiasm for Online Shopping Remains High
Experts estimate that public enthusiasm for Harbolnas will remain high due to the convenience and speed of online shopping.
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Kompas/Totok Wijayanto
State-Owned Enterprise Creative House (RKB) opens a booth at the BNI Java Jazz Festival to introduce the products of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), on Sunday. Apart from selling the products through RKB, which will be established in a number of big cities, products produced by SMEs will also be sold online on blanja.com.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS – Experts estimate that public enthusiasm for National Online Shopping Day (Harbolnas) will remain high due to the convenience and speed of online shopping. Gadgets are the medium people use the most for Harbolnas transactions.
The annual Harbolnas on Dec. 12 was first held in 2012. Market research firm Nielsen Indonesia director Rusdy Sumantri said a Nielsen survey on last year’s Harbolnas found that total transaction value during the day was Rp 3.3 trillion (US$244.2 million). Last year, Harbolnas was held over three days, from Dec. 10 to Dec. 13. On Dec. 12, the total transaction value was Rp 1.1 trillion.
“Of the Harbolnas 2016 consumers that we surveyed, around 68 percent said they used gadgets and tablets for online shopping,” he said.
The Nielsen survey also found that 87 percent of respondents had planned what to buy far in advance. Rusdy said he estimated the total transaction value in this year’s Harbolnas would surpass those of previous events. The estimation was based only on the factor of internet penetration and number of mobile gadget users.
Ahead of this year’s Harbolnas on Dec. 12, the organizing committee has opened registration for e-commerce companies, both corporate and small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Registration is open until Nov. 27 this year.
Harbolnas 2017 organizing committee head Achmad Alkatiri said 150 e-commerce businesses had registered in the first two days of registration. The committee aims to invite around 200 companies.
“The spirit of Harbolnas 2017 is encouraging Indonesian SMEs to immerse themselves in digital marketing. We hold visits to SMEs in Medan, Surabaya and Makassar. There, we provide commerce training,” he said.
The organizing committee said it encouraged Harbolnas participants to increase their service capacity by 50 percent compared to regular business days in order to ensure smooth services. The committee will also be strict about participants offering fake discount offers, including by banning them from participating in next year’s Harbolnas.
ShopBack Indonesia country general manager and Harbolnas 2015 organizing committee head Indra Yonathan said there was a surge in demand for online purchases in many regions in Indonesia during Harbolnas 2015. This, in turn, led to an increased number of shipments made to regions in Indonesia.
Strategic partnership
Separately, JD.ID, an e-commerce company affiliated with online retailer JD.com, announced that it had established a strategic partnership with computer and gadget maker Lenovo. In the partnership, Lenovo products, including Lenovo IdeaPad120s laptops, will be sold exclusively at JD.ID.
Lenovo Asia Pacific chief operation officer Amar Babu said sales through e-commerce platforms was a company policy applied globally.
Babu said Lenovo had seen a 14 percent global increase in product sales through e-commerce platforms. Lenovo will continue to pursue online sales growth without neglecting offline marketing and sales.
JD.ID president director Zhang Li said the company has a Dijamin ORI (original product guaranteed) campaign, in which the company is serious in ensuring that all marketed products are originals. The company partners solely with brand owners.
