'Cyber-shopping' era comes to Indonesia

By Hanny Agustine

JAKARTA (JP): The letter "e" in information technology terminology nowadays means a lot. After e-mail, or electronic mail, we now find e-commerce, e-shopping, e-business, e-training and e-university. The keyword is electronic, i.e. using the Internet to supply products and services.

The Internet population is growing steadily. Globally, the fastest-growing use of the Internet is buying and selling in cyberspace. Through the spread of Internet service providers and the growing number of Internet users in Indonesia, we too may enjoy this new era of shopping. People are able to order a birthday cake, designer clothes, antique furniture, slimming cream or a gift for their family or friends.

Most merchants' sites consist of a company profile, a product list and an order form. Some provide shopping baskets and online consultations. All sites are displayed with beautiful pictures.

If you want to order a potpourri for your dearest friend, you can try GiftNet (http://www.agift4u.com/). Apart from floral products, this site offers you toys and balloons as well.

GiftNet, which has no other outlet than its virtual one, claims that 60 percent of its orders are from overseas.

Established in 1997, the site is efficiently and nicely designed. Click on toys and up come some well-known logos, including Little Tikes, Milton Bradley, Disney and Warner Brothers. You can choose your gift by browsing the pictures and putting what you want in a shopping basket.

If you choose to buy flowers, after typing in your flower code, private message and delivery address, go to Order Form. But, wait, don't count on full electronic ordering and payment yet. As I have experienced with several other sites, I ordered a bunch of flowers which cost Rp 90,000 and was then sent an e-mail from the website asking me to fill in an authorization form. I had to fill in credit card details, print the form and then fax it to them.

You were really hoping to have a full cyber ordering cycle, no manual work or printed paper any more, right? But for most sites in Indonesia, credit card authorization security is the barrier.

Security

Using the servers in Indonesia, almost all merchants are unsure about Internet security. A hacker can break into the history files which are full of the information you have typed in. They need a guarantee from the ISPs (Internet Service Providers) which is not yet possible in Indonesia. It would be different if they utilized a server in the U.S., which is equipped with security software.

The merchants here can not take the risk as they are afraid of fraud, while the customers feel insecure giving their credit card details online.

In cyber business virtual trust is the keyword. Unfortunately, this is one thing we lack.

A virtual bookstore, Kepustakaan Popular Gramedia, has an interesting homepage (http://www.pacific.net.id/content/Gramedia/). But after you choose the book you want and put it in the shopping basket, the same credit card security problem will arise. KPG will call you and send you a fax Order Form, which have to be filled in with your credit card identity, then you have to fax it back. The other alternative method of payment is through bank transfer to KPG's bank account.

Yet, the number of net buyers on KPG's website, established in 1996, is increasing. Nowadays, there are about 20 to 30 orders registered each month -- less than 5 percent of sales in its ordinary bookstore.

Gondo Wangi Sariaji (http://www.dnet.net.id/gws/) sell haircare and bodycare products, like slimming cream and natural shampoo, at US$5 -- $8 each. But for domestic orders payment should be transferred to the company's bank account and the product will be delivered after payment is received. If you have any questions, you can use the Online Consultation and a consultant will reply to all your enquiries through e-mail.

Designer clothes for men and women are offered at ABBA (http://www.diffy.com/abba). "As seen on TV products" such as notebook cases, world traveler bags, brooms and vacuum cleaners, handsfree phones or magazine racks, can be found at MOG (http://www.dnet.net.id/mog/). Both sites provides beautiful pictures of their products.

The growing number of virtual shopping sites here is encouraging, but some of these sites are only passive, not interactive.

Take Wendy's, Domino Pizza or Annie Rose. You can not order directly through the net. Instead, you have to call the nearest outlet and order their products as usual. They argue that frequently changing prices prevent them from being interactive. So they use the web only to maintain their brand image.

The sites above provide company profiles, product catalogues and pictures, nearest outlet list including the phone and fax numbers, e-mail address for comments and job vacancy info. On the Domino Pizza site you can see pictures of your favorite pizzas, including a special topping list and get coupons or discount cards from time to time.