TEMPO.CO, Semarang - E-commerce in Indonesia grows 83 percent per year. "E-commerce market in Indonesia is less than one percent of direct business turnaround," said Lazada Indonesia senior vice president Ryn Hermawan on Monday.

According to Hermawan, the data show that online business opportunities in the country can still grow, which is attributable to the fact that online businesses can operate sans warehouse.

Hermawan said online business through Lazada, which was established in 2012, only received five orders per day in the beginning. But the figure had increased to hundreds of thousands per day, he added.

The high number of internet users in Indonesia also supports the online market potential. There are 70 million active Facebook accounts in Indonesia and Bandung is now home to 1.4 percent of Twitter users worldwide.

Hermawan said cellphones as a tool to market and order items also contributed to the growth of online business.

Indonesian Express Delivery Association deputy chairman Johari Zein said he was set to support online business by providing low-cost delivery services. "E-commerce is trending in big cities. This lifedata-style may still continue to grow," said Johari.

However, he said, Indonesian e-commerce was still behind South Korea, where an e-commerce company can send up to one million packages. "This is also an opportunity for the ASEAN Economic Community, where Indonesia is more connected to other countries," he said.

EDI FAISOL