Heaptalk, Jakarta — The digital platform has become the primary strategy for MSME players in developing their business. Research from the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (INDEF) revealed that around 5.12% of MSMEs have used digital platforms as a new tool to sell their products.
According to the data, respondents utilize social media applications (56.30%) and e-commerce (47.64%) as the two most widely used online platforms. A survey also reveals that around 50% of Indonesian MSMEs used Shopee e-commerce as the most utilized online sales platform, followed by social media applications, including Facebook Marketplace (33,86%), Instagram Shop (28.74%), and TikTok Shop (20.87%) as the most utilized platform in the last year.
Regarding income, the output explained that adopting digital platforms has increased Indonesian MSMEs’ annual turnover and employment creation. Around 88.37% of MSMEs experienced an increase in average yearly turnover after digitizing their business. On the other hand, approximately 66.28% of MSMEs experienced a rise in annual turnover of up to 50%.
INDEF survey also disclosed that around 24.42% of MSMEs who previously only sold offline experienced increased workers. About 71.43% of respondents delivered their achievement in increasing their workforce by up to two people.
The research also revealed three primary reasons for MSME players to digitize their business, including:
- Practicality in selling online (79.13%)
- Wider exposure and traffic (72.83%)
- Business enhancement potential rapidly (69.69%)
Despite this evolution, INDEF’s Center of Digital Economy and SMEs researcher Izzudin Farras claimed that digital skills remain challenging for MSMEs to penetrate digitalization. Based on the research, several main challenges contained strict competition between entrepreneurs on digital platforms (94.46%) and a lack of digital skills (83.46%).
“To encounter the stiff business competition, Indonesia’s MSMEs can participate in the educational or training programs held by various e-commerce platforms,” Izzudin said.
To support the ability of MSME players to optimize the use of digital platforms, multiple e-commerce companies released several MSME training programs. This study also disclosed around 34.65% of respondents discovered the training programs that e-commerce companies held. Besides, the three MSME programs most widely known by respondents, namely:
- Shopee MSME (Export) Campus (25.98%)
- Shopee Export Program (17.32%)
- Tokopedia Seller Express School (6.30%)
