Indonesia: Nearly 95% of retailers enter digital race: Aprindo

• Jan 25, 2018

While maintaining their physical retail outlets, nearly all retailers in the country had joined the digital revolution in a bid to compete with established online marketplaces, Indonesian Retailers Association (Aprindo) chairman Roy Mandey said in Jakarta recently.

“We cannot totally go digital, but we have to mix both offline and online sales,” Roy said, and that at least 35,000 Aprindo members had launched their own digital platforms.

He added that only about 5 percent of its members did not have an online platform.

Roy pointed out, however, that the wave of e-commerce would still hit conventional retailers in the coming years.

He said that sales growth in 2017 was only around 7.5 percent year on year, compared to 9 percent in 2015 and 15 percent in 2014.

Roy said that Aprindo collaborated with several e-commerce players to organize the Internet Retailing Expo, or IRX, which had been held three times since 2016.

“The event has become the gathering point for marketplaces, brands, multi-channel retailers and online retailers to meet with their key suppliers.

The IRX 2018 opened on Jan. 24 at the Pullman Jakarta Central Park, with at least 2,000 visitors expected to attend through its second and final day on Jan. 25.

Director general for domestic trade Tjahya Widayanti at the Trade Ministry said that collaborations like the IRX would help grow local businesses.

“Technology is growing faster, even our regulations can’t keep up with the trend. However, we have now set a roadmap for e-commerce. This event [the IRX] is expected to support e-commerce in Indonesia.” she said. (srs/bbn)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2018/01/25/nearly-95-of-retailers-enter-digital-race-aprindo.html