TEMPO.CO, Surabaya – Most Indonesians are still afraid of shopping online or through e-commerce, with security being the main factor, according to Bukalapak.com CEO Achmad Zaky on Sunday.

“They opt for offline transactions because they are afraid of fraud in online transactions,” said Achmad.

Achmad said 50 million Indonesians are active in social media daily, while 10-20 millions are active in mass media portals. However, only one to two millions are willing to engage in e-commerce.

According to Achmad, China has seen larger number of online shoppers, and that virtually all micro, small and medium business players in China, and also South Korea, have shifted to online shop websites. “This causes shopping malls in China to be empty,” said Achmad.

Achmad continued that Indonesia had unexplored potential markets. He added that Bukalapak.com, which presently hosted some one million visitors, had recorded transactions worth Rp4-5 billion per day. He said the transactions were dominated by citizens of Jakarta, Surabaya, Bandung, Yogyakarta, Balikpapan, Pekanbaru, Riau and Medan.

Surabaya Mayor Tri Rismaharini has also previously underscored the importance of marketing via Internet with three goals; go global, go digital and go financial.

“Mothers must also be trained to implement various marketing strategies on the Internet by utilizing information technology,” said Risma.

AVIT HIDAYAT