A day after ban, TikTok Shop’s Indonesia sellers are staying put – for now

Image credit: TikTok

After the Indonesian government banned ecommerce transactions on social media, TikTok Shop has shut down in the country starting 6 pm SGT on Wednesday. But some sellers – many of them MSMEs who the policy is supposedly protecting – are staying put, at least for now.

As users can no longer directly check out from live content, these sellers are sharing links to their storefronts on marketplaces like Shopee and Tokopedia or even on their WhatsApp accounts. For instance, Skintific, one of TikTok Shop’s top-selling brands, featured links to its Shopee store.

But that seems to be the extent of how much sellers have changed their operations. Mia Setiawan, who hosts Skintific sales on TikTok Shop, told Tech in Asia that the beauty brand is still continuing its 24-hour live sales on TikTok. The company hasn’t added to its Shopee Live schedule.

Rahma Nadia, who sells Muslim prayer equipment, told Tech in Asia that her store is still live on TikTok because “there aren’t as many viewers” on other platforms.

Similarly, Andre Oktavianus, a children’s clothing merchant, has continued to sell live on TikTok. He uses links to Lazada and Shopee, the latter of which he believes is the best platform for selling fashion products besides TikTok Shop. Asked whether he would consider migrating fully to Instagram or Shopee Live, he said that “it won’t be easy to get the same amount of sales.”

But TikTok Shop’s model is a boon for those prone to impulse purchases, and without direct checkout, Nadia and Oktavianus have felt the ban’s impact. The latter pointed out that his sales are down 60% compared to a regular day before the new policy took effect. Nadia previously sold 700 packages on average daily, but today, she has sold only 200 packages so far.

Oktavianus’ main concern is maintaining his 15 employees who were focused on TikTok Shop. These include hosts, admin workers, packers, and checkers. A retrenchment will be considered, he said, “only when we have no other choice.”

“We’ve begun moving to Shopee Live, but we’ll still need to see overall revenues,” he explained. Instagram, however, is “not very good” for live shopping, at least for his brand.

For now, the entrepreneur is still holding out hope for TikTok Shop’s return as a standalone app.

Previously, a TikTok Indonesia spokesperson said that the company “will continue to cooperate with the relevant authorities on the path forward.” However, there’s no clarity on whether TikTok Shop would create a standalone app to comply with the regulations.

As Tech in Asia previously reported, to bring back its ecommerce arm, the social media giant must establish a new entity, obtain an ecommerce license from the Ministry of Trade, and create a standalone TikTok Shop app.

See also: TikTok Shop ban in Indonesia: Who is it really protecting?