/2017/08/01/156074368p.jpg)
BPS - The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) and the Indonesian E-Commerce Association (idEA) will soon discuss how to collect data on the e-commerce sector.
Amid news reports of a slowdown in household spending, many economists speculate that the online shopping trend has changed shopping patterns in the country.
BPS head Suhariyanto said in Jakarta on Monday that BPS was currently studying changes in public consumption patterns, following the emergence of online retailers.
"It is hard to collect data on e-commerce growth. idEA currently also does not have such data. So we will sit together with them to discuss how to get the data," Suhariyanto said on the sidelines of a meeting at the House of Representatives in Jakarta on Monday.
Currently, idEA has 287 members, including big e-commerce businesses like Tokopedia, Bukalapak, Blibli and Blanja.
Suhariyanto said measuring the growth of big online retailers may be easier than tracking unofficial e-commerce activities.
“There are two kind of e-commerce: The official ones, such as Tokopedia and Blibli, and the unofficial ones, like those selling goods via Instagram or Facebook," he said.
According to BPS data, household consumption in the first half grew at a rate of 4.95 percent year-on-year (yoy), lower than the 5.07 percent yoy measured in the corresponding period last year. (Anton Hermansyah)
