BPS to start collecting e-commerce data in January

E-COMMERCE - JAKARTA. The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) plans to start gathering e-commerce data in January in order to gain a fuller understanding of the growth of the digital economy and to issue appropriate policies for the sector.  

BPS chief Kecuk Suhariyanto said the agency would distribute questionnaires to e-commerce platforms to collect the data.  

“We will start data gathering in the first and second weeks of January with reference to quarterly data from 2015 and 2016 and monthly data from throughout 2017,” Kecuk said on Friday (12/15).

Kecuk added that the analysis and dissemination of the data could be carried out in February so as to ready for publication.

The data will cover types of electronic transactions, payment methods, merchant, seller and customer information and will be sorted according to business types, such as marketplace, e-retail, travel and transportation.

The agency’s move came after long discussions in public and government circles about the development of the digital economy in Indonesia. (srs/sha/lnd)