Indonesian Muslims go online for Eid shopping spree

Jakarta: As she scrolled online to find the perfect Eid Al-Fitr gifts for friends and family, Diella Yasmine found herself pampered with the choices offered on e-commerce platforms. 

When a simple keyword search yields thousands of results that also cater to personalized preferences and requests, it makes Eid shopping a lot more convenient for Yasmine, who works full time in Jakarta. 

“I mostly do online shopping for Eid. Not only for the gifts, but also for the stuff I need to cook for the Eid feast,” she told Arab News. “I work 9 to 5 and sometimes do overtime, so I have no time to go out shopping.” 

Yasmine prefers online shopping also for the variety of products, and makes most of her purchases on Shopee, the most popular e-commerce site in Indonesia. 

“It’s the price. Stuff is more expensive at offline stores and oftentimes they don’t offer personalizations … In Shopee, many shops offer personalized Eid gift baskets, the sellers are more flexible and they would cater to my requests,” the 32-year-old said.  

“It’s also about convenience. Each shop will send the items to each of my gift recipients, so I don’t have to go through the trouble of arranging delivery.” 

The majority of Indonesian Muslim consumers intended to do most of their Ramadan shopping online this year, according to a January survey by research firm YouGov, with about 78 percent planning to buy clothing online and about 70 percent making their personal care and cosmetics purchases through the same channel. 

The survey also showed 53 percent of Muslims intended to buy household appliances online, followed by about 48 percent for electronic products.

Shopee is the most popular Ramadan online shopping channel in 2024, followed by Tokopedia and TikTok Shop. 

With Ramadan-themed deals and promotions, which continue until April 11, e-commerce platforms such as Shopee are reporting record engagements and transactions compared with last year.  

“Shopee found that users are spending 68 million hours to watch the series of streams on Shopee Live throughout the campaign period, including live shopping sessions from sellers. Most users look for items that are popular during Ramadan on this interactive feature,” Shopee said in a statement issued last week.

Retta Oktaviani, who works in public relations and lives in Bogor, West Java, is among those shopping online for Eid. Although she is Catholic, Oktaviani does Eid shopping for her husband, who is Muslim. 

“I don’t really like malls, so I choose to do online shopping. Shopee and Zalora are my go-to marketplaces,” she told Arab News.  

“It's easy and convenient — I don't need to leave the house. Moreover, I can easily find and compare deals for the same product across multiple sites; and some stores give good discounts.” 

Online convenience is also the main appeal for other shoppers, including Jodi Baskoro, a 39-year-old creative worker in Jakarta who shops mainly through Tokopedia. “I don’t like to do it offline. It’s crowded, difficult to find parking, and it’s just uncomfortable in general,” he told Arab News. “It’s relatively cheaper. The size is similar and they have this instant delivery. All my concerns answered in one single platform.” 

Natalie Falk, a 39-year-old public relations professional in Jakarta, said shopping online saves her a significant amount of time and effort. She said she switches between e-commerce sites, depending on which one offers a better deal. 

“Online shopping is the way to go. In between work, travel, errands, and socializing, this year I did my Eid shopping primarily online,” she told Arab News. 

“Instead of spending hours in traffic and checking out different stores, I can simply sit in the comfort of my home or office and browse through various online platforms.”