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Indonesia’s ecommerce growth for the coming years will open up more opportunities for online players and service providers. Increasing ecommerce adoption and a maturing population will mean that there’s more demand to make online shopping easier.
According to Statista, the country currently counts approximately 28.2 million shoppers, and is projected to experience a 3-4% increase every year. In 2018, the figure is expected to jump to 31.7 million, then to 42.1 million by 2021.

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The majority of users are in the 25-34 age bracket and account for 12.8 million users who are shopping online in Indonesia. This number is expected to grow to 18.2 million by 2021.

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Indonesia could see online retail makeup 7-8% of total retail sales by 2020, a big jump from the current figure of 1% (2016).

What can we learn from this?

Indonesia does not have a national offline footprint that enables residents outside of big cities to purchase goods from large department stores. As internet adoption increases, more Indonesians are expected to order online to access products they would otherwise struggle to get.
However, online companies still struggle with finding affordable, reliable and speedy delivery to reach remote areas such as Tanjung Selor in North Kalimantan, where the package has to first be sent via plane, followed by a speed boat.
Companies like aCommerce have set up logistics hubs closer to remote places places such as Papua to cut down delivery times and cash reconciliation as cash on delivery is still a major method of payment. Service providers that can tackle and offer solutions to these infrastructural challenges will increasingly be in demand as more Indonesians go online.