- Indonesia is TikTok’s second-largest global market with 125 million users.
- Indonesia banned e-commerce transactions on social media platforms in a bid to protect small businesses from online competition.
- The decision was announced on Monday (Sept. 25) by Indonesia’s Trade Minister, Zulkifli Hasan.
In a big blow to TikTok’s e-commerce ambitions, Indonesia has banned e-commerce transactions on social media platforms. The company which has 2 million small vendors in the country has said they “”regret” the announcement but will respect the regulations and laws that apply in Indonesia.
The new regulation also sets a minimum price of $100 for certain foreign goods bought from Indonesian sellers on e-commerce platforms.
TikTok had in recent months doubled down on its commitment to South East Asia by pledging to invest “billions of dollars” over the next few years.
E-commerce in Indonesia is largely dominated by Tokopedia, Shopee and Lazada but TikTok Shop had marshalled in and took a 5% share in total e-commerce transactions in the country according to Momentum Works.
On the backdrop of this, Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo had called for social media regulations, saying such platforms impact micro-,small and medium-sized companies and the economy.
