There is great optimism behind the jargon of \u2018MSMEs go digital\u2019\u2014the\nbelief that when business owners enter the digital ecosystem, markets\nwill expand, transactions will increase, productivity will improve, and\nultimately, MSMEs will move up a class. This optimism is certainly not\nwithout reason.<\/p>\n
Indonesia possesses a massive MSME base. Government data shows the\nnumber of MSMEs reached approximately 64.2 million units in 2024,\ncontributing about 61.9% to the national GDP, or more than Rp9,000\ntrillion. Given this scale, the digitalisation of MSMEs is not merely a\ntechnological agenda, but a national economic agenda. The question then\narises: is digitalisation truly helping MSMEs move up a class, or are we\nsimply moving stalls from traditional markets to smartphone screens?<\/p>\n
This question becomes increasingly relevant as digital transactions\naccelerate. Bank Indonesia noted that as of June 2026, QRIS has reached\n65.77 million users and 44.86 million merchants. Interestingly, 96.68%\nof QRIS merchants are MSMEs. Throughout the first semester of 2026, QRIS\ntransactions reached 12.55 billion transactions with a value of\napproximately Rp1.12 quadrillion, growing 93.92% annually. These figures\nshow that MSMEs in Indonesia are becoming increasingly digitised.\nHowever, being digital does not necessarily mean moving up a class.<\/p>\n
Let us look at the changes occurring for an MSME operator.\nPreviously, an MSME might only have a small shop in a market. Customers\nwould arrive, select goods, and pay in cash. Now, that shop may have\nsocial media accounts, products are marketed through marketplaces,\npayments use QRIS, promotions are conducted via live shopping, and\norders are sent via logistics services. At first glance, the\ntransformation is extraordinary. But if this entire process only changes\nthe way things are sold, while the methods of production, financial\nmanagement, pricing, market analysis, and branding remain unchanged, has\na true transformation occurred?<\/p>\n
This is where we must distinguish between digitalisation and digital\ntransformation. Digitalisation means using technology to perform\nactivities previously done conventionally. Digital transformation goes\nmuch deeper, as it changes how a company creates value, interacts with\nconsumers, manages business processes, makes decisions, and builds\ncompetitive advantages. In other words, possessing QRIS does not make an\nMSME a digital company. Having a marketplace account does not\nnecessarily make an MSME a digital business. Even having tens of\nthousands of social media followers does not guarantee a healthy\nbusiness.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, a business must still answer the classic questions: what\nis the turnover, what is the margin, what is the cash flow, and is the\nbusiness capable of sustainable growth? This is a paradox that is often\noverlooked in discussions about MSME digitalisation. Digital platforms\ndo indeed open much wider markets. However, a wider market also means\nmuch fiercer competition. Competition then enters the realms of price,\ndiscounts, advertising, shipping costs, consumer reviews, service speed,\nand product positioning within platform algorithms. Consequently, MSMEs\nmay experience a paradoxical situation where transactions increase, but\nprofit margins are actually squeezed.<\/p>\n
A business owner might see turnover increase by 30%. However, after\ndeducting promotion costs, discounts, platform commissions, packaging,\nlogistics, and other expenses, the increase in profit may be much\nsmaller, or there may be no increase in profit at all. Therefore, the\nmeasure of success for digitalisation should not stop at the number of\ntransactions. We must begin to ask: how much productivity has increased?\nHow much has profit risen? How much has repeat purchasing increased? How\nmuch have operational costs decreased? And is the MSME becoming more\nresilient to economic shocks?<\/p>\n
From a payment perspective, Indonesia already has a very strong\ndigital foundation. As of June 2026, nearly 45 million merchants have\nused QRIS, and almost 97% of them are MSMEs. Bank Indonesia even refers\nto QRIS as one of the gateways for MSMEs into the digital financial\necosystem. Digital payments do more than just make transactions easier.\nIf utilised correctly, digital transactions can generate a business\ntrack record. And that track record has economic value.<\/p>\n
MSMEs that previously struggled to demonstrate their actual turnover\nnow have the potential to possess structured transaction data. In time,\nthis data can help financial institutions assess business capacity and\nfinancing needs. However, this is where the next challenge arises. We\nmust ensure that transaction data does not merely become the property of\nplatforms, while MSMEs are unable to convert it into knowledge to\ndevelop their businesses. Business owners must be able to read their own\ndata.<\/p>\n
In its study on marketplaces, BPS (Statistics Indonesia) mentioned\nthat marketplace platforms act as the main engine of e-commerce because\nthey expand markets, increase transactions, and support competitiveness.\nBusinesses using them are also recorded as having higher revenues.\nHowever, BPS also warns of risks such as the imbalance of power between\nplatforms and business owners, limited access to data, algorithmic\nissues, uneven competition, and the risk of unilateral delisting. This\nis a very important issue.<\/p>\n
MSMEs certainly need platforms. However, MSMEs must not become\nentirely dependent on them. Because whoever controls access to the\nconsumer ultimately holds greater bargaining power. If all customers\ncome from a single marketplace, and then the algorithm changes,\npromotion costs rise, or platform policies shift, the MSME will be\nimpacted.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/msmes-go-digital-moving-up-a-class-or-merely-changing-stalls-1790067197", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }