SIRCLO today revealed five key trends and insights from the 2020 12.12 Harbolnas shopping festival. Harbolnas promotions recorded strong growth compared with the previous year, with transactions increasing by 328% from 2019.
JAKARTA, 16 December 2020 – E-commerce enabler SIRCLO today revealed five key trends and insights from the 2020 12.12 Harbolnas shopping festival. Despite a challenging year, Harbolnas promotions continued to record positive growth, with transaction value during 12.12 increasing by 328% compared with 2019, according to SIRCLO’s data.
“As a leading e-commerce enabler in Indonesia, SIRCLO remains optimistic that sales through digital channels will continue to accelerate, particularly following the shift brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. Consumer purchasing power in Indonesia has also gradually begun to recover, as reflected in steadily rising participation across shopping festivals from 9.9 through 12.12. This makes it a critical time for brands to pivot and establish a stronger online presence,” said Brian Marshal, CEO and Founder of SIRCLO.
During Harbolnas 2020, SIRCLO also identified several notable shifts in consumer demand and shopping behaviour. Here are five of the key trends:
Significant transaction growth outside Java. Online shopping festivals in 2020 saw substantial transaction growth beyond Java. During Harbolnas 12.12, SIRCLO’s data showed that the number of transactions from outside Java increased by more than fourfold compared with 2019.
This indicated that online shopping was rapidly gaining traction beyond the capital and across regions throughout Indonesia, particularly during the pandemic. According to SIRCLO’s e-commerce report, “Navigating Indonesia’s E-Commerce: COVID-19 Impact and The Rise of Social Commerce”, an estimated 12 million new users began using e-commerce during the pandemic, with 40% expected to continue relying on e-commerce even after the pandemic ended.
Personal Care, Household Goods, and Fashion Were the Most Sought-After Categories. Based on SIRCLO’s data during Harbolnas 12.12, consumers’ three favourite categories were Personal Care, Household Goods, and Fashion. These categories consistently recorded the highest product demand across previous online shopping festivals, including 9.9, 10.10, and 11.11.
According to a SIRCLO report released in July 2020, Personal Care was the most popular category among female consumers, while Electronics remained the top category among male consumers. The report also found that 20% of consumers shopped online more than nine times per month, with 58% of this group being female consumers.
Orders Peaked Around Midday. During online shopping festivals, SIRCLO’s data showed that consumer traffic typically peaked around midnight, lunchtime, and between 8:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. However, during that year’s Harbolnas 12.12, which fell on a Saturday, the strongest growth in orders occurred around midday, between 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. Total orders within that one-hour period were three times higher than during Harbolnas 12.12 the previous year at the same time.
Similar increases in traffic had also been recorded in the evening during the earlier 9.9, 10.10, and 11.11 shopping festivals, indicating stronger consumer anticipation for promotions and special offers from brands and marketplaces.
Digital Wallets Became an Increasingly Popular Payment Method. According to SIRCLO’s survey, the use of digital wallets for e-commerce transactions increased by 11% during the pandemic, while preferences for credit cards and bank transfers declined by 10% and 2%, respectively. In line with these findings, a Snapcart survey found that ShopeePay was the most frequently used digital wallet for online shopping during the Harbolnas period from 9.9 to 12.12, accounting for 50% of usage. This was followed by OVO at 23% and GoPay at 12%. Transactions using ShopeePay were reported to have increased 18-fold during this Harbolnas period.
Online Shopping Extended Beyond Harbolnas. SIRCLO found that order growth through e-commerce was not limited to Harbolnas promotions. A new shopping pattern also emerged around Waktu Indonesia Belanja (WIB), a Tokopedia initiative offering promotions during the weeks when consumers typically receive their monthly salaries.
The positive trend recorded during Harbolnas 12.12 indicated that Indonesian consumers were becoming increasingly accustomed to shopping online for their everyday needs. A 2020 Nielsen study found that the main factors attracting consumers to online shopping were discount vouchers (49%), more affordable prices (47%), and free delivery or return services (33%).
Commenting on online shopping trends in 2020, Christin Djuarto, Director of Shopee Indonesia, said, “Looking at the campaigns we introduced throughout 2020, we saw strong enthusiasm from Indonesian consumers for a range of offers, including free shipping, cashback and discount vouchers, Flash Sale programmes, and more.” Shopee itself recorded an eightfold increase in visitors and set a sales record during the 12.12 campaign, with 12 million products sold within the first 24 minutes.
“Building on this positive trend, SIRCLO is increasingly confident in the significant growth potential of online shopping platforms in Indonesia in 2021. We will focus on expanding our products and services while strengthening our strategic position as a leading e-commerce enabler in Indonesia. We plan to introduce several new features, including a wider range of innovative online store templates, enhanced omnichannel capabilities for enterprise businesses, and collaborations with strategic partners such as Google Cloud Platform for cloud hosting and payment systems, all aimed at providing better service for our customers,” Brian concluded.
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About SIRCLO
Founded in 2013, SIRCLO is an e-commerce enabler that offers four business solutions to help brands sell online: SIRCLO Store, SIRCLO Connexi, SIRCLO Chat, and SIRCLO Commerce. SIRCLO Store is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform that enables local businesses and brands to build template-based online stores. SIRCLO Connexi provides an interactive dashboard for managing sales across multiple e-commerce platforms in Indonesia. Meanwhile, SIRCLO Chat offers a conversational commerce platform through an interactive dashboard integrated with the WhatsApp Business API. Through its end-to-end channel management solution, SIRCLO Commerce supports enterprise brands in expanding into online distribution channels.
In May 2020, SIRCLO officially merged with ICUBE, a Magento Premier Solutions Partner in Indonesia, strengthening its e-commerce technology development capabilities and adding SWIFT, an omnichannel e-commerce builder, to its portfolio. SIRCLO Store had powered more than 100,000 websites and helped 3,000 brands grow their businesses online, including ATS The Label, Benscrub, Evete Naturals, Namaste Organic, This Is April, and Heytimmy Kidswear. SIRCLO was also trusted by