Local consumers lack trust in online shopping

Anissa S. Febrina, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

For most people, first impressions matter. That also goes for shopping.

A one-week delay in the delivery of a book she purchased through the Internet has made Ayu Widhaningrum, a 28-year old store manager, wonder if her order would ever make it.

"The website promised that it would arrive in 14 days at the most," she complained. "I was like, come on. I applied for a credit card in the first place to be able to shop online and this was what it felt like."

Her book came two days later, but Widha never again clicked a button on an e-commerce website.

"It is uncomfortable to wonder whether what you have paid for will be worth it," she said. "I would rather peek at a book that I might want from a website and then order it from a local book store."

A recent survey by the ACNielsen market research firm -- covering 500 Indonesians with Internet access -- shows that while 52 percent of Indonesian online shoppers use their credit cards as a payment method, only 37 percent actually preferred such a procedure.

"People here tend to want to pay cash on delivery because they think it is fair," ACNielsen researcher Catherine Eddy told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

Of the respondents surveyed online, 29 percent preferred to pay cash on delivery. However, most online businesses, both global and domestic, still offered their products only by credit card or bank transfer payment.

"If companies want to respond to the needs of their customers, they have to better provide what customers want in a bid to avoid losing them," Catherine added.

According to the survey, Indonesian shoppers still prefer conventional shopping, compared to online shopping, with only 42 percent of Indonesians with access to the Internet ever making purchases through the Internet.

The survey, conducted in April and May this year, covered more than 7,000 consumers with Internet access from 14 countries in Asia and the Pacific.

The figures for Indonesian were the lowest in the Asia Pacific region and lagged behind the average global figure of 70 percent.

Currently, Indonesia has a low ICT (information and communications technology) penetration ratio of 2 percent, meaning that only about 4.4 million of Indonesia's 220 million people have access to the Internet.

Online shopping has become more common here with more local e- commerce websites appearing on the net, offering products ranging from flower bouquets, food to electronics, all delivered after receiving bank transfers from their customers.

Those who shop online claim that efficiency was the main reason for doing shopping on the Web, aside from comparing prices from offerings on the websites.

"I have never had problems with shopping online, from buying books, computer gadgets to sending flowers to my girlfriend," said Dino Armando, an advertising and promotions manager for a retail company.

"But, I only pay using credit cards on websites that I trust that have gained a respectable reputation. For local e-commerce, I would rather use bank transfers and note the phone number of the company," he added.