Indonesia noted as the fifth-largest internet population in the world with crossed 100 million internet users in May 2016. This number then predicted by a joint Google-Temasek will increase to 215 million internet users by 2020 and making it the fourth-largest globally.
Many people in Indonesia across the archipelago are coming online for the first time. And since their introduction to the internet is through smartphone, they are not necessarily thinking about the internet in the same way as people in the US or Japan.
Instead of using internet for just communicating, Indonesian are demanding and creating new internet that works best with their own specific needs. Indonesian are taking advantage of the internet to be more Indonesian. This internet then will communicate their unique needs more clearly than ever before in the history of the country. Meeting those demands will create completely new segments of the economy.
Indonesia now become more creative by developing the advantage of the internet. Many youngsters are creating new e-commerce and making Indonesia become one of the most important countries for e-commerce on the planet. A Google study with Temasek estimates that Indonesia will be a US$46 billion e-commerce market by 2025, the largest in Southeast Asia.
Indonesia’s current e-commerce market is similar to China’s online marketplace beginnings, with a large pool of entrepreneurial sellers providing goods purchased based largely on social media recommendations. Indonesia presents much opportunity for e-commerce among other emerging Asian economies, with current projections putting this archipelago nation’s e-market at $130 billion by 2020 (coming third behind China and India).
We can name hijup.com which is now a global pioneer in Muslim fashion ecommerce, growing from two employees managing 14 women’s fashion brands in 2011 to now having 150 employees and carrying over 200 brands. And also Go-Jek, a startup transportation service company that serving professional ‘ojek’ management so the customer will get a fair bill and friendly service from the ojek driver. This product is very close and relevant to Indonesian culture which are familiar with ojek as one of the public transportation.
The developer Own Games ID from Bandung also turned the local dish tahu bulat into a game that hit #1 in downloads on Google Play. Another succes e-commerce is tokopedia which is the trendsetter of online shopping.
According to the country head of Google Indonesia Tony Keusgen’s writing on The Jakarta Post, small businesses are doing amazing things, but global tech companies can also play a big part in supporting this movement and helping Indonesia create the internet that Indonesia wants. Those startups is making sure that Indonesian enterpreneurs and small companies now know how to use the most cutting-edge platforms and tools so that they can expand their bussiness and offer world-class services.
As Tony said in his writing, this 100 million internet users in Indonesia is and exciting moment, buts just the beginning. We are on our way to becoming Southeast Asia’s digital powerhouse and also Asia’s next biggest e-commerce market.
Sumber : the Jakarta Post techcrunch
Sumber Gambar :techcrunch
