Unesa.ac.id, SURABAYA-The number of digital consumers in Indonesia continues to increase. Southeast Asia, The Home for Digital Transformation compiled by Bain & Company supported by Facebook reports that the total digital consumer population in Indonesia is estimated to grow from 144 million in 2020 to 165 million digital consumers in 2021. There has been a growth of around 15 percent and this makes Indonesia a country with growth the highest digital consumer in Southeast Asia.
This growth is a breath of fresh air for the digital business ecosystem and the Indonesian economy. However, on the other hand, it also becomes a problem if it is not supported by increasing consumer awareness. Of course, it is prone to incidents that harm consumers. It can be in the form of fraud or theft of personal data.
The Ministry of Trade of the Republic of Indonesia reported that last year's consumer complaints reached 9,393 complaints. That number turned out to be a 10-fold increase compared to 2020, which amounted to 931 complaints. The Directorate General of Consumer Protection and Trade Order (Ditjen PKTN) noted that 8,949 consumers made complaints to the e-commerce sector.
Complaints cover the food and beverage sector, transportation services, purchases of goods that are not in accordance with the agreement, goods not received by consumers to theft of personal data and fraud.
Massive Socialization and Education
According to the Digital Business Lecturer at the State University of Surabaya (UNESA) Hujjatullah Fazlurrahman, SE, MBA., that consumer problems can be caused by many factors, one of which is the awareness of consumers themselves in conducting digital transactions.
Reported by the National Consumer Protection Agency (BPKN) page, the level of awareness and understanding of consumers and business actors towards consumer protection is still low. Therefore, continued the Head of the UNESA Digital Business Study Program, efforts to increase awareness as well as consumer protection must continue to be carried out by the government, business actors and other parties involved.
So far, the government has indeed made many efforts, including presenting various regulations to the formation of BPKN. These efforts need to be further improved, including socialization and education must be intensified. The government cannot run alone. However, it is necessary to cooperate with many parties, business actors, academics, communities and so on.
"Consumers really have to know their rights and obligations. Also, understand the various ways of transactions to avoid unwanted things. In essence, consumers must be smart and wise. The way is, digital literacy must be improved," he said.
This National Consumer Day (Harkonas) on April 20, 2022, he continued, should be a momentum to reflect or evaluate the various problems that have plagued consumers lately. In addition, it is also a momentum to increase national consumer awareness towards Indonesia's digital business ecosystem that continues to grow, advance and compete.
Tips for Wise Consumers Ahead of Eid
What are the tips for being a wise consumer so that you don't fall asleep easily with the onslaught of the main offer ahead of the Eid or Eid al-Fitr? 1) determine the priority scale of needs. Avoid buying things just because they want to. But buy it because it's really needed; 2) If you plan to buy a product, look for detailed information about the product;
Furthermore, 3) Don't be quick to buy because of offers, look for product comparisons including quality and price with other products; 4) Buy according to ability and use financial condition as a reference; 5) Ensure that the targeted products are genuine, not KW goods or imitations in the name of products from certain brands. [UNESA PR]
Author: Riska Umami
Editor: @zam*
Photo by cottonbro from Pexels
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