Looking at social commerce trends in Indonesia, based on Tokopedia case study

Jakarta, Gizmologi – One of the online shopping trends that is currently being favored is social commerce. Social commerce trends are ways to use social media as a vehicle to promote, sell products and services.

The idea of social commerce goes further by involving buyers. Usually, sellers use a number of popular social media applications to market their wares, such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube and TikTok.

Due to the social commerce trend, social media platforms also provide features such as “buy now” and “shop” buttons to make shopping easy directly from the application. Not only social media platforms, e-commerce companies are also anticipating this trend.

One of them is Tokopedia, an e-commerce company that is already 13 years old and continues to take part in increasing the use of technology to make it easier for people to shop and sell online. They develop social commerce services to make it easier for users to shop with social elements.

“A number of uses of technology, especially in this era of social commerce, are Tokopedia Play, a video streaming channel that brings together sellers and buyers through attractive shows and offers, and the Tokopedia Affiliate program, where users have the opportunity to earn additional income by recommending products from Tokopedia,” said Head of Sales Operation & Product Tokopedia, Nirmala Rahmawati Hapsari.

Tokopedia Play’s Social Commerce Features Make Transactions Soar More Than Three Times

Tokopedia Play Social Commerce — Tokopedia Play Channel

Through the Tokopedia Play streaming video channel, which was launched in 2018, people can find inspiration while shopping. This feature provides various interesting shows, such as live shopping, cooking, sports, being creative and much more – while shopping, or vice versa. They can also interact directly with sellers to understand product details as well as take advantage of special offers.

“This added value has resulted in an increase in the number of transactions through Tokopedia Play by more than three times over the last six months, compared to the previous six months. Makassar, Denpasar, Indramayu, Jambi, and Balikpapan are the areas with the highest increase in the number of transactions on Tokopedia Play,” explained Nirmala.

On the other hand, with Tokopedia Play, sellers can build brand awareness, increase sales and get educational modules about online business to develop their business. “Over the past six months, the increase in the number of sellers using Tokopedia Play has more than tripled, compared to the previous six months,” added Nirmala.

Pekalongan, Denpasar, Medan, Bandung, and Semarang are some of the areas with the highest increase in the number of sellers on Tokopedia Play. Meanwhile, Klaten, Cilegon, Madiun, Tegal, and Tasikmalaya are some of the areas with the highest increase in the number of buyers.

Health, Beauty, Food and Beverage, Household, and Fashion are some of the most sought after categories by the public through Tokopedia Play over the past year.

Number of ‘Tokopedia Affiliate’ Registered Reaches Hundreds of Thousands

Through the Tokopedia Affiliate program, people can register as an affiliate and promote millions of products on Tokopedia using special links, on their social media. If the product is successfully sold through that special link, the affiliate will get a commission of up to 10%.

In addition to opening up opportunities for Affiliates to increase their income, this program also helps sellers at Tokopedia to expand market reach and increase sales. This program on the other hand can help the general public access products that have been recommended by Affiliates as well as their trusted relatives or colleagues.

“Since its launch in March 2022, the number of registered affiliates has reached hundreds of thousands. Bogor, Jayawijaya and Sidoarjo regencies are the areas with the highest increase in the number of registered Tokopedia Affiliates in the last three months compared to the previous three months,” said Nirmala.

In addition, Beauty, Health, Food and Drink, Mobile and Tablet, and Mother and Baby are some of the categories most recommended and shared on social media by registered Tokopedia Affiliates.

“At the age of Tokopedia’s 13th, we hope that registered Tokopedia Affiliates can continue to collaborate to help MSMEs adapt to the development of the digital era with Tokopedia – especially because Tokopedia consists of around 12 million sellers, almost 100% of whom are MSMEs,” Nirmala concluded.

The Indonesian version of this article can be read in Gizmologi.ID