Small Business Use of the Internet: Findings from Indonesia

Abstract

In the current era of globalisation, small businesses are required to be able to compete in the market. Utilising information technology in the form of Internet media is the way out for them. This study aims to explore the use of the Internet by micro and small enterprises (MSEs) in Indonesia. For this purpose, this study analysed secondary data on Internet use by MSEs and primary data were collected from face-to-face interviews with randomly selected 482 owners of MSEs in various cities and types of business. The secondary data analysis shows that only a small fraction of MSEs in the country utilise the Internet for their businesses, although it varies by province and type of business. From the primary data analysis, three interesting findings revealed, namely: (i) manufacturing industry is the type of business with the most Internet usage; (ii) young respondents use the Internet more than older respondents; and (iii) higher educated respondents are more likely to use the Internet in running their businesses than low educated respondents.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Firms Export in Indonesia

“…Similar results also found in the case of Indonesian SME, Tambunan and Busnetti (2018) found that one of the reasons that SME use internet is to search for market and market opportunities including export market. Meanwhile Rahayu and Day (2017) reported in the case of SME in Indonesia, the use of ICT and e-commerce are still in the early stage including for the purpose of marketing and purchasing and procurement activities.…”

“…Firms which export their product, wholly or partially, made up 17.5 percent of the total firms meanwhile 41 percent of the total firms either have email or website in their operation. Similar result found by (Tambunan and Busnetti, 2018) in the case of SME's in Indonesia which revealed that 36.9 percent of the respondent questioned do not use internet in their business caused by they feel no need, lack of knowledge and lack of capital.…”

The influence of financial performance and innovation of services and products on the survival of small businesses in food and beverage in the Jakarta city with mediation of operational improvement

“…It is important to look at this orientation so that the small company survival rate can continue to be warned. Especially in Indonesia, small businesses as part of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are able to contribute 60.34% of national GDP (Tambunan & Busnetti, 2018). Small businesses alone account for 31% of all MSMEs (Nasional, 2016).…”

User Perspective on External Value Creation Factors in Indonesia e-Commerce

“…Data market has proved, the evolution of Indonesia's market growth by 60-70 percent per year since provides opportunities for Indonesian e-commerce companies to their business [12]. Therefore, this momentum must be maintained and continues to be improved by both the government and ecommerce companies.…”