Advances in technology thanks to the internet have opened up new business opportunities. The growth of e-commerce is one of them. E-commerce is one of the most advanced technologies that drive the advancement of Indonesia's digital business today.

You must already know about the existence of e-commerce, especially if you like to shop online. In general, you may know e-commerce as an activity or place to sell products and buy physical or electronic products online.

However, not only that, the notion of e-commerce is very broad. In this article, we will explain all of these things, starting from the definition of e-commerce, types of e-commerce, examples of e-commerce, benefits, and developments in Indonesia.

What is E-Commerce?

Electronic commerce or e-commerce is a process of buying and selling transactions which in practice are carried out online through electronic media. According to Laudon & Laudon, e-commerce is a business-to-business transaction that occurs through an internet network intermediary.

In the world of commerce, e-commerce offers many changes. The buying and selling process no longer requires face-to-face meetings as in conventional stores. Sellers and buyers only need to process online transactions.

Transactions occur more efficiently and quickly, especially with the integration of various payment systems which is made easier by API technologies such as BRIAPI. Now buyers, for example, can choose payment transactions easily without having to transfer to another bank, namely through a virtual account such as BRIVA.

Currently, the means of e-commerce is not only by telephone and television, but now they use the internet more often. Some people misinterpret the marketplace with e-commerce and think they are the same. In fact, the meaning of e-commerce is different from the marketplace.

Marketplace is a model of e-commerce that acts as an intermediary between buyers and sellers. Examples such as Shopee, Lazada, Tokopedia, and others. So, the marketplace is not a buying and selling activity, but an intermediary that brings together sellers and buyers online.

Meanwhile, other forms of e-commerce are in the form of websites or online store applications owned by a brand, company, or home business.

The Growth of E-Commerce in Indonesia

E-commerce in Indonesia has increased sharply after the pandemic. At the beginning of 2020, online business transactions increased by about 33% with a fantastic value. Its value from 253 trillion rupiah quickly increased to 337 trillion rupiah.

Reports released by Google, Bain, and Temasek stated that there had been an increase in the duration for access to e-commerce platforms in October 2020, from 37 hours to 47 hours a day.

This increase in e-commerce transactions is projected to continue to increase every year. Of course, this increase is due to the government's contribution to the development of technology and digital banking.

Not only that, the factors that also influence the growth of e-commerce are:

Looking at the data, it can be seen that the national prospect of e-commerce is very good. Moreover, e-commerce also offers various advantages. What are the advantages? Check out the following reviews.

Benefit of E-Commerce

manfaat e-commerce

Here are some of the benefits of using e-commerce which is experiencing rapid growth in Indonesia.

1. Low Cost

Creating an online store costs less than a physical store. Shop owners also don't have to worry about building rent, workers' salaries, or electricity bills. In addition, if you have your own e-commerce, using the API from open banking will reduce the costs that were previously made for conducting host-to-host payments.


Meanwhile, for business owners who open their online stores in the marketplace, there is no need to incur costs related to the procurement of payment systems. For marketplace or e-commerce providers, it is important to integrate with payment gateway providers to enable online transactions. Currently, integration is made easier with the presence of APIs such as BRIAPI. In addition, it can also reduce costs significantly compared to host-to-host integration.

2. Wide Range
Unlike conventional stores that only target local or regional target audiences, the reach of e-commerce is broad. Buyers from various regions, even around the world can shop at online stores. Of course this will bring many advantages for the seller. Buyers will find it easy to get what they want.

3. Open 24 Hours
Indeed, physical stores can also operate 24 hours a day. However, this will require greater operational costs. If you use an online store, the store can stay open 24 hours and shoppers can access the store at any time.

4. Easier Transactions and Delivery of Goods
Now, there are more and more methods of shipping goods and payments in real time. With so many choices of electronic payment methods, transactions in e-commerce are getting easier. Through open banking, BRI builds BRIAPI which allows businesses to be integrated with various banking services from BRI. When integrated with BRIAPI, consumers from businesses will be able to transact or make payments using the virtual account transfer method, transfer, to connect their debit card to enable direct debit.

5. No Need Stock Items

In the e-commerce industry, one can also become a dropshipper. Dropshipper is an intermediary selling goods or services. A dropshipper is in charge of marketing products and does not need to have stock.

When there is an order, the dropshipper only needs to pass it on to the seller. Later, the seller will send the product to the buyer.

6. Can Study Customer Behaviour

In running a business, it is important to know the habits of consumers. In the digital world, business owners can use several tools to analyze customer behavior or habits and some other data. 

One of the analytical tools that is quite complete and can be integrated with e-commerce is Google Analytics.


Also read: 3 Key Factors to Thrive Your E-Commerce Business

 

Types of E-Commerce
Online trading is not just between sellers and buyers. The types of e-commerce are as follows.

1. Business to Business (B2B)
A form of e-commerce in which a company will sell services or products to other companies is called the B2B model. An example of a B2B model is a company that buys office supplies directly from manufacturers.

2. Business to Public Administration (B2A)
E-commerce with this model is almost similar to B2B. However, the perpetrators are government organizations and businesses. An example of B2A e-commerce is website creation services for urban online management systems.

3. Business to Consumer (B2C)
In this type, the company sells its services or products to customers. B2C e-commerce customers are usually retailers. An example is when someone is shopping from an online fruit shop to fulfill needs at home.

4. Consumer to Business (C2B)
Unlike B2C, e-commerce with the C2B model is an individual business actor who sells products or services to a company. An example of this business model is a graphic designer who offers logo creation services to retail companies and others.

5. Consumer to Public Administration (C2A)
The C2A type of e-commerce works like C2B. However, the transaction process is carried out by individuals with government agencies. Electronic commerce with this model is rarely seen in Indonesia and its activities are usually carried out in the form of services.

6. Consumer to Consumer (C2C)
E-commerce with the C2C model is an online transaction that occurs between two people. An example is when someone sells their used goods online to buyers.

Example of E-Commerce in Indonesia
If previously we have discussed the six categories of e-commerce, below will be discussed examples of each type of e-commerce. However, examples of C2A e-commerce are not mentioned because there are rarely marketplaces or websites that connect freelancers with government agencies. Examples of each type of e-commerce are as follows.

  • Example of E-Commerce B2B
    Some that are included in the B2B e-commerce model are Ralali, Mbiz, and Electronic City.

  • Example of E-Commerce B2C
    Several marketplaces are included in the B2C e-commerce model. For example, Blibli, Lazada, and Gramedia.

  • Example of E-Commerce B2A
    Examples of B2A e-commerce models include Qlue and Accela. Qlue helps the government and companies by providing software, while Accela does public administration in order to help the government with the software as a service concept.

  • Example of E-Commerce C2B
    Websites such as Freelancer, Upwork, and iStock are examples of Indonesian e-commerce models with a C2B model.

  • Example of E-Commerce C2C

Websites such as Freelancer, Upwork, and iStock are examples of Indonesian e-commerce models with a C2B model.

The Largest E-Commerce in Indonesia
In the first quarter of 2022, Shopee and Tokopedia are still the leaders for the e-commerce market in Indonesia. According to iPrice data, the number of visitors to Tokopedia e-commerce reached 157.2 million people. Meanwhile, Shopee visitors were recorded at 132.8 million people.

statistik pengunjung e-commerce

Tokopedia visitors experienced an increase of 5.1% from the fourth quarter of 2021, which previously recorded 149.6 million visits. This increase also occurred in the Shopee e-commerce application which grew by 0.6% where the number of visitors in the previous quarter was recorded at 131.9 million people.

BRIAPI as an API service provider from BRI also supports this transaction increase. Currently, both Tokopedia and Shopee have been integrated with various BRIAPI products to simplify the payment system, including BRIVA (virtual account) and direct debit.

Furthermore, Lazada, which was previously in fourth position, rose to third position by shifting Bukalapak. The two e-commerce sites have an average visitor of 24.7 million and 23.1 million, respectively.

The decline in position also occurred in Blibli, which fell to sixth place, while Orami rose to fifth. Ralali also decreased to seventh position and Zalora increased to eighth position.

In more detail, you can see Indonesia's top e-commerce in the graph above, along with the average monthly visitors.

Payment System of E-Commerce in Indonesia

transaksi digital untuk e-commerce

The increasingly massive development of digitalization also has an impact on the payment system in Indonesia. Currently, digital transactions in Indonesia have experienced significant developments.

 

This is partly due to the BSPI 2025 policy from Bank Indonesia. BSPI 2025 stands for the Indonesia Payment System Blueprint 2025. This is a payment system policy from Bank Indonesia to navigate the role of industry in the payment system in the era of digital economy and finance.

This blueprint consists of 5 Visions of the Indonesian Payment System 2025 implemented by five groups, namely Open Banking, Retail Payment Systems, Large Value Payment Systems and Financial Market Infrastructure, Data and Digitization, and Regulatory, Licensing, and Supervision Reforms.

The BSPI 2025 policy describes a digital payment system that is increasingly being pushed by the government.

BRI, as one of the important players in the banking industry, also provides open banking in BRIAPI. 

BRIAPI provides integration services to facilitate various community activities. The payment system in e-commerce is one that is facilitated.
There are several non-cash payment instruments in e-commerce that are widely used by the Indonesian people, including:

1. Direct Debit

A debit card is a form of electronic card issued by a bank that is used by savings or checking account holders for various banking transactions. Usually used physically at merchants via EDC (electronic data capture) machines or at ATM machines.

However, BRIAPI as an open banking service provider also facilitates online payments using card transactions, namely through direct debit. Through direct debit, BRI customers only need to connect their debit card number with a marketplace or e-commerce connected to BRIAPI.

This will allow BRI as a bank to be able to withdraw funds automatically from the customer's account. Every payment transaction is guaranteed security by using one time password (OTP).

2. Virtual Account

Virtual account is a virtual bank account account. Generally in the form of a series of ID numbers that can be used when making payments. This ID number will be different for each transaction. Bank BRI helps to simplify the payment system via virtual accounts by providing BRIVA products. Payment in e-commerce is one that is made easier with BRIVA.

3. Digital Wallet or E-Wallet and E-Money
The most popular types of non-cash payment media are e-money and e-wallet or digital wallet. Because of its convenience, e-wallet can be used anywhere, such as toll roads, gas stations, shopping centers, or even at several merchants that support it. E-commerce operators can also integrate BRIAPI services, which allow their customers to top up BRIZZI, BRI's e-money service.


Also read: Use of API to Support Marketplace in Indonesia

4. QRIS

Quick Response Code Indonesia Standard or QRIS is a technology for unifying various QR codes from several Payment System Service Providers (PJSP). Using a QR code makes the transaction process cashless not only at online stores, but also at offline merchants.

From BRIAPI, payment system integration services with QRIS are available which are divided into two types, namely static QRIS MPM and dynamic QRIS MPM. MPM or Merchant Presented Mode is a type of QRIS where the merchant will display a QR code to be scanned by the customer.

QRIS MPM Static means that the merchant shows the QR code to the customer, and the customer actively scans the QR code and inputs the transaction nominal. Whereas in QRIS MPM Dynamic, the QR code is issued by a machine, for example EDC, belonging to the merchant so that it already contains the transaction nominal and the code is only valid for one transaction

Closing

The presence of several payment systems above also has a positive impact on the development of e-commerce in Indonesia. The community has many payment options and it is easier for them to complete transactions.

So, e-commerce is a digital advancement in the retail sector that provides many benefits for people in Indonesia. The development of e-commerce in Indonesia is also on a positive trend and has experienced a significant increase. To read about case studies in e-commerce related to payment integration solutions, click here.