PayPal: 80% of Indonesian E-commerce Transactions Occur on Social Media

A 2017 PayPal survey revealed that 80% of e-commerce transactions in Indonesia were conducted via social media platforms. This survey involved 4,000 consumers and 1,400 merchants across seven markets (China, India, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines). PayPal is a pioneer in global digital payment transactions.

The highest proportion of social media-based e-commerce transactions was found in Thailand and the Philippines, reaching 95% and 87%, respectively. Overall, the proportion of social media-based e-commerce transactions in the Asian region was 80%. The high volume of e-commerce transactions through social media, particularly in Indonesia, suggests that the implementation of PMK 210/2018—an effort to profile and expand the tax base to include merchants and traders, many of whom are micro-entrepreneurs—may prove challenging to achieve.