Facebook IQ: During The Gen X Pandemic And Indonesian Boomers Dominate E-Commerce

Illustrations (Facebook IQ)

JAKARTA - The latest study from Facebook IQ about National Online Shopping Day or Harbolnas shows that Gen X and Boomers dominate the growth of e-commerce. Especially during the pandemic, they started to like to shop online.

"As many as 43 percent we surveyed from Gen X and Bookers said they had increased their total online shopping expenditure during COVID-19," said Vertical Lead for Facebook in Indonesia, Aldo Rambie, at the Facebook Summit Indonesia 2020, Tuesday, November 10.

It is said that Generation X or Gen X are those who were born in 1965-1979. Meanwhile, the Baby Boomer generation was born in the range 1944-1964. Now both of them are the ones who dominate the growth of cellular and e-commerce globally.

It is not surprising, because according to Aldo, Indonesia is a country with a fairly large mobile first penetration, where mobile phones are the main reference for customer journeys. In fact, more than 70 percent of them will be more interested in buying online

Facebook IQ research results

In general, Groceries or basic daily necessities are the most sought after category. 56 percent of people surveyed said they made more purchases online in this category.

"In general, from a category perspective we see groceries or high staple needs this year. Of course, the category of basic needs online has very little penetration, we see an acceleration here," said Aldo.

Meanwhile, Facebook IQ research also shows that the majority of Indonesians are price sensitive, indicating that 11.11 and 12.12 are among the most popular big sales events in Indonesia, according to survey results.

Periods of big sales like Harbolnas are times when people explore new product categories. Millennials, as much as 41 percent of those surveyed, are the group most open to new products.

As people become increasingly dependent on online purchases, new online shopping experiences such as live shopping, social buying and gamification or shopping by playing will attract the attention of potential customers.

Especially for Harbolnas, Facebook IQ assesses that consumers want to see videos that show how products are actually used to help them make decisions. Furthermore, how the content is created creatively and provides the latest information about the latest prices, promos, sales and discounts.

This survey was conducted on 1,515 holiday buyers in Indonesia aged 18 years and over about their year-end shopping habits and attitudes, in collaboration with YouGov from 2 December to 24 December 2019.

This study is then complemented by the analysis of various third sources, including Waves 1-3 of the Global Web Index Coronavirus Multi Market Study of internet users aged 18-64 years.