Long Queues for Viral Products: Economist Says This Doesn't Necessarily Indicate Strong Consumer Spending

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The phenomenon of long queues at the launch of lifestyle products such as collaborative watches and viral perfumes in shopping malls in the capital has recently become a hot topic on social media.

Most recently, the Swatch x AP product collaboration and the launch of local perfume brand Mykonos triggered long queues in several Jakarta malls.

However, economists argue that this trend cannot be directly used as an indicator of strong consumer spending among Indonesians overall.

“It would be inaccurate to immediately conclude that this indicates strong aggregate consumer spending. In consumer economics, phenomena like this often mislead if not viewed within a broader context,” he told Kompas.com on Sunday (17/5/2026).

He explained that, from a consumer economics perspective, the phenomenon of queues for hyped products tends to contain selection bias.

The queues seen in premium locations such as shopping malls in urban areas only reflect a specific segment, namely the upper-middle class in urban areas with relatively stable purchasing power.

“The viral queues on social media may seem large, but statistically they are very small compared to the overall Indonesian consumer population,” he said.

In addition, Yusuf also highlighted the existence of survivorship bias, where public attention is only focused on products that go viral and successfully create long queues, while similar products in other categories during the same period may actually have few buyers.

From a macro data perspective, he said that the current picture of household consumption tends to be more mixed.

A number of indicators actually show that household consumption is starting to slow down, retail sales indices are not as strong as before, and various consumer spending surveys show a tendency for changing consumption patterns towards more essential products, especially in the middle class.

“So, queues for hyped products do not automatically mean that the purchasing power of the wider community is good,” he said.

He believes that the phenomenon of queues for viral products is better understood as part of K-shaped consumption, which is a condition where consumer patterns are divided. The upper group remains able to maintain or even increase lifestyle spending, while the lower-middle class begins to experience adjustments or declines in consumption.

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