"It is impossible to fight online businesses, as they are inevitable. We will be left behind if we do not adapt (to digitization)," the deputy minister told merchants during his visit to the Minggu Market in South Jakarta on Wednesday.
Sudaryono emphasized the need for market merchants to adopt digital marketing to adjust to the shift in consumers' behavior marked by increasingly popular online shopping methods.
"People tend to prefer shopping methods that require less time, cost, and energy rather than heading directly to a (physical) market," he explained.
The deputy minister then highlighted the importance of assisting conventional merchants adversely affected by online shopping in adapting to the situation.
"Maybe we will devise a concept that can enable market merchants to receive orders from online shopping platforms. This is crucial," he stated.
Furthermore, Sudaryono suggested that Jakarta provincial government-owned market operator Pasar Jaya bridges conventional markets in the city to online markets.
"I want Pasar Jaya to develop its own digital platform that can integrate markets, ultimately enabling market merchants to receive orders from online shops and send the ordered products more efficiently," he pointed out.
He revealed his plan to bring together market operators and major e-commerce platforms, such as Shopee, Tokopedia, and Bukalapak, to jointly find a solution to the issue.
The official also deemed it necessary to take proactive actions aimed at guiding elderly merchants to embrace innovations and adapt to digital technology so they can compete in the current era of digitization.
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Translator: Muhammad H, Tegar Nurfitra
Editor: Tia Mutiasari
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