'Cyber-shopping' era comes to Indonesia

'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.