UNAIR Academics Call Online Business More Promising, 2025 Will Grow Almost 4 Times

JAKARTA - UNAIR Professor of Communication Henri Subiakto said online business will continue to grow. Support from technological developments has made it easier for business growth that is increasingly leading to digitalization.

"Indonesia's online business in 2025 is estimated to grow 3.7 times, this growth is driven by the increase in people's purchasing power and internet access that has reached small cities," he said in the Kominfo Bakti discussion with the theme Seminar Merajut Nusantara "Peran Internet Dalam Bisnis di Era Globalisasi", quoted Thursday, June 3.

He said the increase in online payments during the pandemic, such as through ShopeePay, OVO, GoPay, DANA, LinkAja, increased by 40 percent. Then, he continued, the Omni channeling model also developed and there was an increase in the use of entertainment applications on the internet, games were more than 100 percent, TikTok and others were more than 20 percent.

"The reason why an online business must reach a wide market, everyone throughout Indonesia and even the world can access your products and make transactions, there is no need for a free location to determine the location of the business because transactions are carried out via the internet, cutting costs and the income potential is unlimited", he said.

He further said that the key to online business success is having a good internet connection, having a website and account, website analytics, appropriate funds, continuity, and regularity, protecting customer privacy, researching competitors, and don't give up.

Moreover, the momentum of the COVID-19 pandemic, which makes everyone restrict movement, has increasingly grown interested in doing business online.

"The surge in the use of digital technology during the pandemic, the use of online applications such as studying, working, health consultations increased by 443 percent when the WFH (Work From Home) policy was implemented, online retail also rose 400 percent", he said.

Indonesia's digital economy, according to Henri, remains the largest in ASEAN. Indonesia has the power of 40 percent of the total ASEAN countries.

"E-commerce users during the pandemic increased by 10 million in Indonesia, especially consumer goods, beauty, and medical device items, then there were 55 percent, newcomers, from non-urban", he concluded.