The Less Sales In Tanah Abang Not Because Of The Rise Of Online Sales

One of the clothing traders in Block A Tanah Abang, Uni. (Photo: Mery Handayani/VOI)

JAKARTA - Tanah Abang Market is now in the spotlight after traders complained about the lack of visitors.

Moreover, there is currently a lot of direct sales through social media or live shopping. However, it turns out that this is not the only reason.

The Director General of Domestic Trade at the Ministry of Trade, Isy Karim, assessed that live shopping at e-commerce and TikTok Shop is not the main cause of sluggish trading in Tanah Abang at this time.

Mentur dia, salah satu faktor penyebab karena adanya penurunan permintaan.

"Not completely. From my perspective, this is not entirely an accumulation of several things. There has been a decrease in demand for everything," Isy told reporters at Tanah Abang Market, Central Jakarta, Thursday, September 28.

People's Purchasing Power Has Not Recovered

Meanwhile, a clothing trader named Uni admitted that selling goods at offline stores is currently very difficult. In fact, he admitted that for three days none of the items were sold.

"It's really quiet. If there is usually a sale of Rp. 6,000,000, this doesn't exist. It's really quiet. There were no items out for three days," said the Union to VOI.

Uni admits that it not only sells directly in stores, but also sells online via WhatsApp Group. He claimed to have many resellers in several areas. However, none of the resellers bought it.

"Usually I install WA status, many orders. This doesn't exist at all," he said.

When asked whether the sluggish sale was due to the impact of live shopping, the Union considered this not the only reason. According to him, the lack of sales is also due to people's purchasing power which has not yet recovered amid current economic uncertainty.

"Because maybe the economy is not stable yet. The Minister of Finance also said that now (again) is a crisis, right," he said.

Sales Of Lesu Since The Pandemic

Similarly, Faisal (54), a cloth trader, said that Tanah Abang Market itself has been quiet since COVID-19. He said that he had indeed gone up again, but not long ago.

"This market has been quiet since COVID-19. Since COVID-19 (sales) tended to decline. The peak (now). But what is clear is that since COVID-19 has decreased, it has increased slightly, then decreased again," said Faisal.

The man who is familiarly called Haji Faisal or Opa Gala explained that he is currently entering the sluggish season. He said, this was also the case before the pandemic.

"Is it because the market's (online sale) quiet? No. Because of the current months, it is quiet every year," he said.

"For me, I don't think so. Influence does exist, we can't deny it. But if it's 100 percent because of TikTok, it doesn't seem like it. Because like it or not, we actually have to adjust (with technological developments), we have to learn too," he continued.

Faisal assessed that the Regulation of the Minister of Trade (Permendag) Number 31 of 2023 was correct. Because, there are clear regulations regarding online sales.

"What was announced by the Minister of Trade, in my opinion, is correct. The regulations are made, in my opinion, that is something good. This is a breath of fresh air for traders," he said.