In Indonesia, where eMarketer estimates that mobile phone internet users will make up 76.5% of the online population this year, smartphones are key to the path to purchase of fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) and other retail products, according to April 2015 research from InMobi and YouGov.
More than three in four smartphone and tablet users reported using a smartphone to research ahead of a purchase?8 percentage points above the share who used a desktop or laptop PC for the same purpose. Smartphones also won out in the “inspiration” phase of buying, but only slightly.
Smartphones weren’t nearly as popular for making a purchase-just 12% of respondents had bought this way in the past six months. But most didn’t buy goods via desktop either. And in the post-purchase activity of sharing information on social media or chat apps, smartphones were just 1 point behind PCs.
Smartphones may become even more dominant for shopping in Indonesia: 45% of respondents said they were the primary device they planned to use for such purchases over the next 12 months, vs. 37% who said desktop and laptop PCs and 18% who indicated tablets.
eMarketer estimates that retail ecommerce sales in Indonesia will reach $3.22 billion this year and that 25.0% of internet users in the country will make at least one purchase via any digital channel during the calendar year. eMarketer does not break out mcommerce estimates for Indonesia.
