Indonesia, 3 June 2020 – Throughout Ramadan, Tokopedia has collaborated with various strategic partners, including the government and local businesses from various industries, through various programs, including #SatuDalamKopi, #FestivalSantapanLezat, #BanggaBuatanIndonesia and many more.
“This collaboration aims to accelerate digital adoption for local businesses, especially MSMEs, so that businesses that are still fully managed offline can resume operations through online channels; in order to encourage economic recovery in the midst of a pandemic. This initiative is also part of Tokopedia’s #JagaEkononomiIndonesia (Protect the Indonesian Economy) campaign focus,” said VP of Corporate Communications Tokopedia, Nuraini Razak.
This joint effort also garnered high amounts of enthusiasm from Indonesians in celebrating Ramadan even in the midst of a pandemic. This is evident based on Tokopedia’s interesting findings related to shopping trends throughout Ramadan.
Local Indonesian Coffee and Gardening Equipment Sales Skyrocket
Tokopedia’s internal data states that the Food and Beverage, Household, Health, and Electronics categories are among the four most popular categories during Ramadan. In the Food and Beverage category, dates, processed meats, fruits such as oranges and avocados, and packaged coffee are the most purchased products.
Previously, Tokopedia has collaborated with more than 1,000 local coffee businesses through #SatuDalamKopi. Kopi Klinik and Dua Coffee are one of the businesses that continue to adapt in the midst of a pandemic, from accelerating digital adoption to adjusting product variants. Now more than 80 percent of their sales come from online ordering through Tokopedia.
“In addition to purchasing local coffee, gardening has been a highly popular activity among Indonesians during the large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) on Ramadan. This can be seen from the increased sales of plants, pots, and storage areas in the Household category,” Nuraini explained.
The PSBB conditions have also shifted Indonesians’ work pattern and consumption of entertainment. Tokopedia’s internal data shows that in the Electronics category, earphones, light bulbs, and speakers are the most bought products.
In addition, the Health category is still one of the categories that has increased significantly. The most popular products include vitamins, first aid kits, and mouth masks. Tokopedia also collaborated with local designers to promote the use of cloth face masks to reduce the spread of the COVID-19.
PSBB’s appeal on the other hand encouraged people to carry out all their activities at home, including paying electricity bills. The number of recorded electricity bills paid through Tokopedia is enough to meet the electricity needs of more than 3,5 million homes for a month.
Online Festivals and Bazaars turn to Online Platform
PSBB’s implementation has also motivated many festivals and bazaars, in which some of them were held partly or entirely offline, to fully delve into the online platform through Tokopedia. This digital acclimation resulted in major successes from numerous events, such as Big Bad Wolf Book Bazaar, Semasa di Tokopedia, Jakarta Sneakers Day (JSD), Festival Santapan Lezat and many others.
The world’s biggest book bazaar, Big Bad Wolf Book Bazaar, was launched exclusively online for the first time on Tokopedia’s Official Store from 27 April to 3 May 2020. The online launch also resulted in tens of thousands of book sales and were all sold out on the third day.
Tokopedia also collaborated with Semasa to initiate an online event to curate many beauty products as well as food and beverages from 15 to 17 May 2020. Thirty one local brands participated in the event and saw performances that exceeded expectations.
In the fashion category, this year’s Jakarta Sneakers Day (JSD) was also held online at Tokopedia from 28 to 29 March 2020. More than 98 curated brands participated and recorded an increase in transactions more than 5 times compared to normal days. Moreover, JSD also introduced special segments that highlighted rising local brands, with an average of each product sold every 5 seconds within a period of 4 hours.
From the culinary category, Tokopedia routinely holds Festival Santapan Lezat every weekend starting from May until June 2020. This online campaign is a result of a joint collaboration between Tokopedia and more than 500 sellers from many provinces in Indonesia. A number of positive impacts were experienced by participating sellers, ranging from increased sales to wider exposure to buyers.
Enthusiasm for Sharing Goodness and Fulfilling Prayers from Home Increases
The pandemic has not discouraged Indonesians from fulfilling prayers and sharing goodness from their homes during Ramadan. “This can be seen from the total amount of donations and zakat collected through Tokopedia exceeded Rp13 billion,” Nuraini said.
The amount of Zakat al-Fitr paid through Tokopedia, for instance, is equivalent to almost 100 tons of rice. Meanwhile, the amount of Zakat al-Mal collected experienced a triple increase compared to the previous year.
The enthusiasm of the Indonesians to fulfill their prayers by utilizing online channels, in this case through the Tokopedia Salam ecosystem, also increased significantly. “The number of users of digital Al-Quran feature, for example, has increased threefold during the Ramadan period compared to previous months,” added Nuraini.
The digital Al-Quran feature has also received a certificate of legality or tashih from the Ministry of Religious Affairs RI, which proves that the digital Al-Quran feature in Tokopedia Salam has gone through a process of review so that its validity and correctness are guaranteed.
More Indonesians Maintain their Connection Virtually
Tokopedia reveals that virtual gathering had been an alternative for Indonesians to celebrate Ramadan with relatives in the middle of the pandemic. “This can be seen by the number of phone credits sold through Tokopedia, which is equivalent to the amount of phone credits that can be used by everyone in Indonesia to stay in touch through 30-minute video calls,” explained Nuraini.
Indonesians have also chosen to use an online platform to send pastries and parcels during Ramadan. Tokopedia’s data reveals that the number of stacked eggs needed to make cookies, which are sold during Ramadan, is equivalent to 8 times the height of Jayawijaya Mountains.
Parcels, on the other hand, became the most sought after product during the Bagi-Bagi Semangat Ramadan Flash Sale which was held by Tokopedia on 4 and 11 May 2020.
Strategy to Face the ‘New Normal’
Tokopedia will continue to focus on helping the government restore the economy. One of them is by accelerating digital adoption towards as many local businesses as possible, especially MSMEs, in order to adapt and innovate in the midst of a pandemic.
“MSMEs are the backbone of the Indonesian economy, therefore, Tokopedia remains committed to continuing to provide ease of online business opportunities that will further encourage national economic recovery. Adapting with the consistency to innovate and collaborate is the key to fight against the pandemic,” Nuraini concluded.
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About Tokopedia
Tokopedia, as an Indonesian technology company, has a mission to democratize commerce through technology. Tokopedia’s vision is to build a Super Ecosystem where anyone can start and discover anything. To this day, Tokopedia has empowered millions of merchants and users across the marketplace and digital goods, financial technology and payment, logistics and fulfillment, including Mitra Tokopedia.