We all know that the e-commerce industry was already thriving but it has now found a new place and it is well known that the industry should always reach out to its customers and that is exactly what is happening right now because of the fact that companies have realized that their real audience is on social media apps and this is why they have started to integrate social media and e-commerce together. One thing we know is that in Southeast Asian markets, e-commerce from social media is absolutely thriving and we also know that when something is thriving without limits then there must be someone who wants to curb it down and it is usually the government.
The same is happening, as per reports, to the social media e-commerce sector in Indonesia as well as it is reported that the government there is thinking of regulating this part of the industry and that usually means restrictions will be placed. Ministers in Indonesia have repeatedly mentioned that “e-commerce sellers using predatory pricing on social media platforms are threatening offline markets in Indonesia, with some officials specifically citing the video platform TikTok as an example”. Indonesia’s President Jokowi said, “We just … decided on the use of social media for e-commerce. Tomorrow it will perhaps come out” and added that “What the people are expecting is that the advancement of technology can create new economic potential, not kill existing economies,”
TikTok Shop is obviously the main target with these regulations and they were asked for their comment on this matter. Their statement read, “While we respect local laws and regulations, we hope that the regulations take into account its impact on the livelihoods of more than 6 million sellers and close to 7 million affiliate creators who use TikTok Shop,” and added that “its app had 325 million Southeast Asian users that were active every month, of whom 125 million were in Indonesia” which means that they have a significant market share in Indonesia which also means that they will have everything to lose if these regulations go against them. These regulations are expected to come out later today.